447th Badge447th Bomb Group
USAAF Station 126 - Rattlesden 
43-38719, Blue Hen Chick
Blue Hen Chick 
No. 43-38719, B-17G-95-BO, was completed in the Seattle plant on September 9, 1944. It was delivered to the Air Force at Great Falls Montana, then to Lincoln, Nebraska and finally Dow Field, Maine, before being ferried to England on September 27. It was immediately assigned to the 709th Bomb Squadron, 447th Bomb Group, and reached Rattlesden during the first week of October.
Blue Hen Chick flew 67 combat missions

Blue Hen Chick in formation
between October 44 and February 45


Pilot Ralph Minker in the Blue Hen Chick
Being from Delaware, Lt. Ralph Minker dubbed his Flying Fortress the Blue Hen Chick, the nickname for the Delaware soldiers in the Revolutionary War. The Blue Hen Chicken was a domestic bird, bred for its fighting abilities.


The Minker crew


on the May 12 flyover, photographed by Charles Brown

More photos below
Combat Missions
DATE TARGET PILOT
10/7/1944 Merseburg Otto
10/15/1944 Cologne Westrope
10/17/1944 Cologne Cohen
10/19/1944 Mannheim Johnson, D.C.
10/22/1944 Marshalling yards at Munster Johnson, D.C.
10/25/1944 Oil plant at Hamburg Gilbert
10/26/1944 Industrial plant at Hannover Horton

On October 30, No. 719 ran off the runway. 

DATE TARGET PILOT
11/11/1944 Marshalling yards at Oberlahnstein Horton
11/16/1944 Duren area Minker
11/30/1944 Lutzkendorf Olson
12/4/1944 Marshalling yards at Mainz Minker
12/6/1944 Merseburg Minker
12/11/1944 Marshalling yards at Giessen Minker
12/12/1944 Marshalling yards at Darmstadt Minker
12/18/1944 Marshalling yards at Mainz Beighley
12/24/1944 Airfields at Babenhausen Minker
12/28/1944 Marshalling yards at Koblenz Minker
12/30/1944 Marshalling yards at Mannheim Minker
1/6/1945 Marshalling yards at Worms Minker
1/7/1945 Miscellaneous targets in Western Germany Minker
1/8/1945 Marshalling yards at Frankfurt Minker
1/10/1945 Marshalling yards at Karlsruhe Minker
1/13/1945 Rail bridge at Mainz Minker
1/14/1945 Oil refinery at Madgeburg Minker
1/15/1945 Messerschmitt aircraft plant at Augsburg Minker
1/20/1944 Marshalling yards at Heilbronn Minker
1/21/1945 Mannheim Minker
1/29/1945 Henschel aircraft plant at Kassel Minker
2/1/1945 Rail bridge at Wesel Minker
2/6/1945 Oil refinery at Bohlen Minker
2/9/1945 Munitions plant at Weimar Summers
2/14/1945 Highway bridge across the Rhine river at Wesel Minker
2/16/1945 Railroad bridge at Wesel Minker
2/19/1945 Railroad bridge at Wesel Schwab
2/20/1945 Marshalling yards at Nurnbereg Minker
2/23/1945 Marshalling yards at Crailsheim Coleman
2/25/1945 Rail line at Neuberg Minker
2/26/1945 Berlin/Alexanderplatz railway station Minker
2/27/1945 Communication center in Liepzip Minker
3/1/1945 Marshalling yards at Ulm Mustaleski
3/2/1945 Oil refinery at Dresden Mustaleski
3/7/1945 Oil plants at Datteln-Emscher Lippe Mustaleski
3/8/1945 Marshalling yards at Frankfurt Mustaleski
3/10/1945 Marshalling yards at Dortman (2) Mustaleski
3/14/1945 Munitions plant at Hannover Bricker
3/15/1945 Marshalling yards at Oranienburg Mustaleski
3/17/1945 Oil target at Ruhland Dewey
3/18/1945 Berlin Summers
3/19/1945 Motor transport Industries at Zwickau Summers
3/20/1945 U-Boat yards at Hamburg Summers
3/21/1945 Wittmundhafen Air field Bates
3/24/1945 Airfield at Varrelbusch Mustaleski
3/28/1945 Hanomag Armored fighting vehicle plant at Hannover Mustaleski
3/30/1945 Communications target at Hamburg Mustaleski
3/31/1945 Airfield at Brandenburg Mustaleski
4/3/1945 Submarine yards at Keil Dreyer
4/7/1945 Marshalling yards at Schwerin Lehner
4/8/1945 Marshalling yards at Plauen Mustaleski
4/9/1945 Airfield at Neuberg Dreyer
4/10/1945 Airfield at Brandenburg/Briest Van Etten
4/11/1945 Airfield at Ingolstadt Broughton
4/14/1945 Bordeaux/Royan area-destroying coastal defenses Mustaleski
4/15/1945 Bordeaux/Royan area-destroying coastal defenses Mustaleski
4/16/1945 Bordeaux/Royan area-destroying coastal defenses Mustaleski
4/19/1945 Rail target in the Dresden area Mustaleski
4/20/1945 Marshalling yards at Neuruppin Coleman
4/21/1945 Airfield at Ingolstadt Golden

On May 19, while returning to Rattlesden from a routine training flight, Blue Hen Chick suffered a landing gear collapse.  Read the official accident report: raa051944.pdf. The damage was repaired and she flew home to the U.S. in July, 1945. 

 

In spite of damage from two accidents, Blue Hen Chick returned to the reclamation center in Kingman, Arizona.

In 2003, Ralph Minker was present at Dover AFB for the ceremony naming one of the 709th Airlift Squadron's C-5B aircraft "Spirit of the Blue Hen."