306th Bomb Group Eager Beaver T-shirt

306th Bomb Group Eager Beaver Nose Art T-shirt (SM-2X)  Limited Edition

Eager Beaver B-17F 41-24487

"Eager Beaver," officially known as B-17F-BO-41-24487, was assigned to the 306th Bombardment Group's 368th Bombardment Squadron (H) at Westover Field, Massachusetts on 25 August 1942. The new Flying Fortress made the trek to England with 1st Lt. Marlen Reber and his crew, and flew on the 306th's first mission on 9 October 1942. Under the care of its crew chief, James Edney, the "Eager Beaver" flew her first 25 missions without an abort. The bomber eventually flew 45 combat

missions, including the first daylight raid on Germany on 27 January 1943, before it was returned to the United States in 1944.

After the end of World War II, the "Eager Beaver" was purchased by the Williamsport Technical Institute in Williamsport, Pennsylvania for $350. The B-17 served the Institute as a training tool for aircraft mechanics for 35 years before it was finally broken up in 1980. As the old warbird was being taken apart for the last time, this section of the left side of its nose, with Leland Kessler's original art, the plane's mission tally, and a painting of the Distinguished Flying Cross, was removed and saved. In February of 2000, this last remnant of "Eager Beaver" was donated to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum by the Pennsylvania College of Technology as a tribute to the 306th Bomb Group.

On Exhibit │ Honoring the Eighth Theater

National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force