349th Sqdn. Crew, as above, joined the 100th Group on 21 Feb 1944.

On 5 Jun 1944, Lt. Donald Roth, CP on the F. J. Herres crew, was flying in place of C. E. Adams and was KIA.S/Sgt Glover Nall, from the J. A. Harrison crew, was flying in place of G. B. Donahue and became a POW.

Cecil Davis writing in the Fall 1989 Splasher Six:
"Shilayee was no ordinary airplane, Early on our pilot, Mark Wilson, had the ground crew paint white side walls on the tires. Mark said he wanted the plane "to look sharp" and it did. Ernest Lovato painted the Irish name on the nose and the crew's flight jackets because Wilson counted six or seven Irishmen on his crew. Its number was 2317, it's call letter, 'A" for Able'. On the fuselage was 'XR' for the 349th Squadron.

It was in February, 1944, as a replacement crew in the 349th Squadron, that we first met Shilaylee. We flew our first mission in her on February 29th to Brunswick, but it was the missions to Berlin on March 3, 4, 6, and 8 that really broke us in. We got hit so often that the ground crew were grateful for our white side walls. If Mark dropped the wheels down early, it was a sign we were in trouble. The ground crew saw the white wheels and got ready in advance for a lot of work. Shilaylee was a great plane; it brought us back 20 times.

On May 24, we did not fly in Shilaylee because it had a mechanical failure. We flew to Berlin in 'Hard Luck' or 'old 413', the ground crew called it, and on that mission I earned my Purple Heart. After I got out of the hospital our crew was reassembled, and since we were near the end of our tour, we were given a new plane.

On June 5, when we were over Boulogne in our new plane, the aircraft on our right wing was hit by flak and drifted into us. In the crash we lost our co-pilot, navigator, and bombardier. Mark Wilson and I ended up as POWs in Moosburg Stalag 7 until Patton liberated us on April 29, 1945

Note:
On 5 Jun 1944 the Wilson crew was flying a brand new silver B-17G 42-107095, XR-F since they were now a lead Crew.   Shilaylee was Lt Wilson's aircraft prior to receiving this new plane.

Eyewitness Report:
Observer is unknown.. A/C #591 (Peterson) was flying right wing on A/C #095 (Wilson) which was hit by a ground rocket and collided with #591 (Peterson). The nose section of #095 (Wilson) was sheared off, but it appeared to remain under control and peeled out of the formation. Five chutes were seen from #095 (Wilson) as they attempted to turn back toward the channel. #591 (Peterson) was last sighted about three miles from Boulogne at 1015 hours.

 See MACR #5384; Microfiche # 1957 A/C # 42-31987 "SHILAYEE"

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