Harass Dragon (Malayan Lady)

323rd Squadron

Lt. Reid's Crew

Begin the Beguine

Serial # 42-31372 OR P

Back Row - Left to Right

Sgt. Ernesto Kretchmer, Engineer/Top Turret Gunner; Sgt. Benton Lowry, Radio Operator; Sgt. Arnold Hovey, Right Waist Gunner; John Gustafson, Ball Turret Gunner; S/Sgt. Terrell, Left Waist Gunner.

Front Row - Left to Right

1st Lt. Edwin R. (Rusty) Reid, Pilot; 1st Lt. Richard (Dick) G. Morgan, Co-pilot; 1st Lt. John (Jack) B. Haus, Navigator; 1st Lt. George (Shorty) Marghita, Bombardier.

Notes:
Note 1: S/Sgt. Terrell, Left Waist Gunner, came down with appendicitis the first time they left Grand Island, Nebraska. They diverted to Des Moines, Iowa where Sgt. Terrell went to the hospital for the operation. They returned to Grand Island and Melvin P. Stoddard replaced Sgt. Terrell.

Note 2: The photo above was taken at Dyersburg, Tenn. The B-17 pictured was not A/C 42-31372.

Note 3: After the photo above was taken, S/Sgt. Anthony W. Czamecki was added to the crew in the Tail Gunner position.

Note 4: The name of B-17 42-31372 was never officially recorded as "Harass Dragon" / "Malayan Lady." I didn't take part in the discussion about the name.

Photo contributed by

Harass Dragon Factoid - Edwin R. Reid was the pilot of the crew of Harass Dragon/Malayan Lady. There is a question as to which name the crew used for this B-17 42-31372, OR-P, 323rd Bomb Squadron. This B-17 was assigned to Reid's crew and had a very short combat career being lost on its fifth mission. It was lost on the Oschersleben mission of 11 January 1944 to bomb the Focke Wulf 190 plant at that location. Harass Dragon was one of five B-17s lost that day by the 91st Bomb Group. The 91st was a part of the 1st Division of the mighty Eighth Air Force and was the lead Group that day. The entire 1st division was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for this mission. The following quote was taken from that citation. "The 1st Bombardment Division (H), is cited for extraordinary heroism, determination, and esprit de corps in action against the enemy on 11 January 1944."

On this raid, the Luftwaffe mounted the most intense attacks on the Eighth Air Force since the costly Schweinfurt mission. The attacks started as the bomber stream crossed the Dutch/German border. Most of these attacks were frontal attacks with four to ten FW 190s and ME 109s abreast flying right through our formations. Edwin Reid and his crew were crewing the B-17 when it was lost. As the Group approached the target, Harass Dragon's #3 engine was knocked out and would not feather so Lt. Reid was forced to drop behind the formation. The Luftwaffe then attacked this single bomber. In the attacks, the main oxygen system caught fire and a hole was blown in the left side of the fuselage. The right stabilizer was shot off. The bail out order was given just as the B-17 went into a hard right spin. Only three of the ten man crew survived and became POWs.

The following is a list of the crew members: (Killed: buried in the Evangelical Church Cemetary at Bad Munder/Deister. Re-interred in Ardennes; initial plot numbers listed)

Harrass Dragon/Malayan Lady 42-31372, MIA 11 January 1944

The navigator, John B. Haus, was listed as alive in the 91st BGMA directory in 2000. His address at that time was in Houston, Texas.

© COPYRIGHT 91STBOMBGROUP.COM