Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress foreign aircraft landing on Swiss territory and 56 aircraft crashing there. In October 1943 the Swiss interned Boeing B-17F-25-VE, tail number 25841, and its U.S. flight crew after the Flying Fortress developed engine trouble after a raid over Germany and was forced to land. The aircraft was turned over to the Swiss Air Force, who then flew the bomber until the end of the war, using other interned but non-airworthy B-17s for spare parts. The bomber was repainted a dark olive drab, but retained its light gray-painted under surfaces. It carried Swiss national white cross insignia in red squares on
II Bomber Command along the pacific northwest coast (until May 1943) Wings Groups II Bomber Command The II Bomber Command is an inactive United States Army Air Forces unit. It was last assigned to Second Air Force, based at Fort George Wright, Washington. It was inactivated on 6 October 1943. During World War II, the unit trained large numbers of B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombardment groups. It controlled operational training units (OTU) and replacement training units (RTU) primarily in the west and southwest of the United States until late 1943 when its operations were taken over by Headquarters, Second Air Force