A bad penny always turns up.
— 18th Century Proverb
On assignment for Colliers in November 1942, photographer Robert Capa snapped the crew of the B-17 "Bad Penny" as they gathered before a daylight bombing raid on a U-boat pen in Germany.
During another raid—only its sixth—on November 28, "Bad Penny" crossed paths with the German ace Toni Hafner, who shot the bomber down. It crashed in the Mediterranean.
Capa recalled the pilot, Captain Jack Bruce, saying, "After this is over, the longest trip I’ll ever take will be from my house to the nearest river, on my bicycle with my fishing gear on my back.”
Bruce would be dead before month's end.
The pilot Bruce died, as did his co-pilot Bob Earl, bombardier Chuck Tannehill, navigator Chuck Knop, top turret gunner Hank Hughes, radio operator Len McGriff, ball turret gunner Al Backus, waist gunner Sam Scott, and tail gunner Merle Gilger.
Capa's photo, scheduled for the cover of Colliers that week, was yanked when the editor realized it revealed more of the B-17 than the Defense Department would approve.
