B17 vacuum pump?

Hi all,

The enclosed photos depict a vacuum pump (it says so on the data plate!) that was gifted to the Aartselaar (Belgium) local history group by an elderly lady whose dad had picked it up as a souvenir on 12.04.1943. It apparently fell off a B17 that crashed near Aartselaar whilst on route to attack the ERLA works at Mortsel near Antwerp. The B17 in question was called “L’il Abner”.

Can anyone of you with B17 knowledge tell me a bit more about this type of vacuum pump? I assume it was to provide suction for some of the flying instruments like the artificial horizon.

TIA,

Walter