An original cadre ship acquired 5 November ’43 and assigned to Porter’s crew who flew her overseas in December ’43. Crew chief was Sgt. Francis Weaver. The ship was named by the first pilot, Fletcher S. Porter, whose hometown was Georgetown, Kentucky. Porter was KIA on 30 January ’44 while flying as copilot with Ben Kendall’s crew. The original copilot, 2nd Lt Thomas N. Turner was KIA while flying as copilot with Hank Silver’s crew on 17 May ’44. “Big Noise” was downed by flak near Bor, Yugoslavia on 5 May ’44 returning from Ploesti with Paul Harper’s crew aboard. Harper’s crew bailed out. Nine of the crew were ultimately rescued by the “Chetnik” forces and subsequently returned to Grottaglie. The copilot broke an ankle on landing and became a POW. MACR 4661.
