KEEP ‘EM FLYING


Chet Peek strikes a pose with a load of bombs below a B-17.


Chester Peek during World War II in England, 1944.


Chet Peek with The Blessed Event B-17, just after landing at a captured airfield at Wiesbaden, Germany, in April 1945.


Tragedy struck in November 1943, when a B-17 banked left and stalled after takeoff. “I remember the crash quite well,” Peek says, “it was the only one that caused fatalities that I recall. I was sitting in my jeep near the end of the runway, and the planes were taking off to the west. One plane looked troubled from the start. It couldn’t climb, and as it made a slow turn to the left, about 90 degrees or so, it finally stalled and fell. There was a huge explosion, but we couldn’t do anything for the crew. There were no survivors.” Peek was promoted to Captain in November 1943, and around


12 DOMmagazine.com | june 2020


Chet Peek with The 95th Group Contrails book in 2014. Photo by Sparky Barnes


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