My great uncle Francis Witt served in the 547th Bombardment Squadron during World War II. He was stationed at RAF Grafton Underwood in central England. He was shot down and survived a harrowing evasion and escape effort in March 1944. Just two weeks prior, he posed for this crew photo. On February 21, the crew of the ‘Rum Pot II’ led by pilot Clarence Stearns stood in front of their girl for a mission to bomb the Lingen railroad yard and Werl airfield in Germany.

On this mission, Francis officially served as the tail gunner. Though odd for an officer to serve as a gunner (officers on B-17s were slotted as either pilot, copilot, navigator or bombardier), on this mission the Rum Pot II served as the Group A squadron leader. This meant that in addition to running the tail gun, Francis’s job was to ensure the other planes in the formation dropped their bombs appropriately. It was common to have a pilot or copilot fly in the tail gunners position on lead aircraft to provide the commander of the mission on the same aircraft a reliable, knowledgeable person that had formation flying and combat experience.

B-17G Rum Pot II, Stearns crew