'Tuffy' staged her way from Australia through to New Guinea before being withdrawn from service in October 1943 after which she returned to the U.S to be used for training purposes.

Notice the .50 and .30 calibre machine guns in the nose. This photo was taken at Seven-Mile, Port Moresby, circa mid 1943

Perhaps the most noteworthy of the 63rd's Fortresses was The Last Straw, B-17E #41-2432, which served the Squadron faithfully throughout all 1943. At a drinking session in the Group's officer's mess after an arduous mission during which Japanese Imperial Navy fighters had conducted more than their fair share of head-on attacks, someone proposed bolting a pair of fixed 50calibre Brownings into the aircraft's nose. A few days later The Last Straw carried the awkward modification, although how successful or otherwise the new weapon proved is lost to history.

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