THE LUCILLE BALL BOMBER!

June 11, 1943

Second Lieutenant Donald A. Gaylord, a pilot of the 351st Bomb Group poses with the damaged fuselage of his B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 42-3532) nicknamed “Lucille Ball”. 

PILOT RISKS LIFE TO KEEP FLYING FORTRESS FROM CRASHING ON ENGLISH TOWN

It has just been disclosed that a 23-year-old American pilot 2nd Lt. Donald A Gaylord of Waterloo, IA, risked his life to keep his badly damaged Flying Fortress, “Lucille Ball” from crashing into the centre of Ipswich, England, as the bomber returned from an attack on Gelsenkirchen, on November 5. Crossing the coast of England the Fortress was flying on a single engine and at 3,000ft Gaylord ordered the crew to bail out. He then set the bomber on automatic pilot on a course which would take it out over the channel but the automatic pilot was unable to keep the ship in level flight and it started a dive for the centre of the city. Gaylord, however managed to pull the bomber out of its dive at 200ft and belly landed in a field on the outskirts of the city. 

In January 1944, a second B-17 Bomber was named for Lucille Ball – Lucille Ball II. It was scrapped due to a fire in August 1944. No  injuries were reported. 

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). The B-17 was primarily employed in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, military and civilian targets. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II.  As of October 2019, nine aircraft remain airworthy, though none of them was ever flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. 

In “Lucy and Carol Burnett” (HL S3;E22)

Kim Carter (Lucie Arnaz) pays tribute to Jimmy Cagney does her impression of Cagney saying “You dirty rat.” James Cagney (1899-1986, inset) was a singer, dancer and actor best known in Hollywood for playing tough guys. The only time he ever appeared with Lucille Ball was a 1950 episode of “The Bob Hope Show.”