#42-102459 was built by Boeing Airplane Company and was delivered at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 5th 1944. Named Little Kenny, it was assigned to the 544th Bomb Squadron as a new replacement aircraft on May 3rd 1944.

Two days after delivery, the aircraft participated in Mission #101, a raid on Friedrichstrasse railway station in Berlin. However, this mission was aborted and was attacked again the next day, on Mission #102. 2nd Lt. James Everett flew the aircraft on Mission #101 and wouldn’t take part in Mission #102 but would be killed in action on Mission #103, his 30th combat mission. 

Little Kenny flew on Mission #109, where significant quantities of broken cloud led to the lead aircraft bombing a Target of Opportunity with visual aim rather than attacking the Primary Target, and Little Kenny is recorded as having attacked an unidentified industrial area with unknown effect. During Mission #114, while attacking military installations in Berlin, Little Kenny’s waist gunner T/Sgt. Warren Joseph Hanley would be killed in action on his 6th combat mission, though the rest of the crew returned uninjured.

During D-Day (Mission #128) on June 6th 1944, the 384th supplied five squadrons of aircraft labelled as I, J, K, L and M squadron, Little Kenny flying with I squadron and operated by 2nd Lt. William Adelbert “Bill” Fairfield Jr. and his crew. These comprised some units of Air Task Force #2, tasked with the striking of transportation constructions behind the invasion beaches, the 384th targeting two bridges in Caen (France). Little Kenny, like the rest of its contingent, dropped its 500- and 1000-pound bombs with unobserved effect.

While flying on Mission #157, pilot 2nd Lt. Raymond Augustus Melzar Jr. was forced to return to base when #42-102459 began to throw excessive oil from its #4 engine. Due to the aircraft’s struggle to maintain altitude, the crew were forced to discard their bombload 2 miles west of Kimbolton airfield (AAF station #117), which was executed safely. Little Kenny returned to action four days later for Mission #159, bombing rail marshalling yards at Laon (France) as a Target of Opportunity following the group lead being unable to attack the primary target.

2nd Lt. Robert Davis Hughes was piloting the aircraft for Mission #194 on September 13th 1944, where Little Kenny would be forced to land at RAF Manston (Kent) with major battle damage. The raid had been on a synthetic oil refinery in Merseburg (Germany), and all the crew returned without injury. The damage sustained during this attack kept Little Kenny out of action until October 18th 1944, when it returned for Mission #213 for an attack on the Ford Motor Works in Cologne.

During Mission #242, targeting rail marshalling yards at Ehrang (Germany), pilot 2nd Lt. Robert Jeremy Fisher had to land the aircraft in Allied controlled Valenciennes (France), seeking medical attention for Flight Engineer and Top Turret operator Sgt. George Mouration, who contracted anoxia but unfortunately later died on what was his first combat mission.

The aircraft was damaged again on January 22nd 1945 during Mission #259 (a raid over a synthetic oil refinery in Sterkrade, Germany) when manned by 2nd Lt. Verlin Dean Reed’s crew. Little Kenny sustained significant damage to engine #4 and the tail, which led to Tail Gunner Corporal Ernest J. Gariepy being hospitalized for a few weeks due to a “high altitude cold injury”. There was further damage to the aircraft’s nose, though this was to a lesser severity. As a result, Little Kenny was out of action until Mission #266 on February 14th 1945, when it replaced #43-38801 Ruth, only to be scrubbed when Little Kenny was itself replaced by #43-38501 Sweet Chariot.

The completion of Mission #289 on March 15th 1945 saw Little Kenny become a century bomber, a raid on the army headquarters in Zossen (Germany). The crew for this flight was that of 2nd Lt. Edwin George Nicolai Jr.

The final mishap with the aircraft occurred on Mission #309 when Little Kenny and it’s crew were forced to land in Beauvais/Tille (France) with engine issues and low fuel, though this was sorted overnight. Following a training flight April 23rd 1945, the aircraft participated in its final combat mission - Mission #316 - to the Skoda Armament Works in Plzen (Czechoslovakia) on April 25th 1945, a mission flown by 2nd Lt. Robert W. Montgomery and his crew.

Following service with the 384th Bombardment Group, Little Kenny was transferred with the Group to Istres for mapping duties with the 9^th Air Force, and salvaged in Germany on December 10^th 1945, after a total of 119 credited combat missions. 

With kind thanks to the 384th Bomb Group website (384thbombgroup.com) for permission in using material from their records in the making of this story. It holds a wealth of information, documents and photographs of the Group’s activities during World War 2.

Research courtesy of Charlie Saddington on behalf of 384th Bombardment Group Museum.