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| B-17s of the 381st Bomb Group, Ridgewell Airfield, England, en route to targets over Nazi-occupied territory. |
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| Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress serial number 42-38008 from 367th Bomb squadron. |
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| B-17G of the 301st Bombardment Group, Italy, 1944. |
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| 358th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group B-17G VK-F on a bomb run. |
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| "The Thomper" (coded BG-X) B-17G-55-BO Flying Fortress s/n 42-102560 334th BS, 95th BG, 8th AF Lost on the November 30, 1944 mission to Merseburg, Germany. 5 KIA, 4 POW. In the photo the plane is under attack by German fighters and the tail gunner is returning fire. Note the damage in the right wing and wisps of fire starting to show. |
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| B-17G serial number 42-97462 of the 379th Bomb Group, crash landed after mission. This aircraft was repaired and returned to combat duty. |
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| A B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 44-6483) nicknamed "Ruby's Raiders" of the 385th Bomb Group. |
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| A U.S. Army Air Forces Lockheed/Vega-built B-17G-85-VE Flying Fortress (s/n 44-8871, 30-B) of the 601st Bombardment Squadron, 398th Bombardment Group, in flight, in 1945. The aircraft was assigned to the 601st BS from 3 February to 23 May 1945. Note that the aircraft was modified to a B-17GSH with a retractable AN/APS-15 radar replacing the ball turret. |
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| B-17G-15-BO, s/n 42-31360, no name, code L, 452nd BG, 730th BS; 1944. |
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| Lieutenant Arthur Fitch of the 457th Bomb Group, prepares to climb into his B-17G Flying Fortress. |
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| B-17s of the 486th Bomb Group, flying out of RAF Sudbury, England. Boeing B-17G-75-BO Flying Fortress, serial number 43-37891, "Old Man's Folly" of the 833rd Bomb Squadron (nearest aircraft, lower left). |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 43-38729) of the 490th Bomb Group at Eye; 1944. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress of the 490th Bomb Group taxis along the runway at Eye; 1944. |
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| The nose art of a B-17 Flying Fortress (serial number 43-37907) nicknamed "Carolina Moon" of the 490th Bomb Group; 1944. |
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| Combat and ground crew of the 850th Bomb Squadron, 490th Bomb Group with their B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 44-83254) nicknamed "Old Doc Stork"; 1945. |
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| Crew of "Gotham" C-Charlie, 851st Squadron, 490th Bomb Group, 8th AF, with a B-17G Flying Fortress nicknamed "Lotta Stern"; 1945. 1st row kneeling left to right: Robert Showalter, ball turret gunner, Norman Borgman, tail gunner, Milton Sanford, radio operator, Gordon Handrell, flight engineer, Russell March, waist gunner. 2nd row standing, left to right: Chas Molloy, navigator, John Smith, co-pilot, Gerald Leland, pilot, Donald Nate, bombardier. |
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| B-17G-65-BO #43-37516 "Tondelayo", 492nd BG, 858th BS. Painted all black and used for Night Leaflet missions. Photo taken at Attlebridge, home of the 466th BG. |
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| "Chug-A-Lug IV" B-17G-45-BO s/n 42-97330, 535th BS, 381st BG, 8th AF, RAF Ridgewell (USAAF Station 167), England; 1943. Lost on the November 6,1944 mission to Hamburg, Germany. |
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| Vega B-17G-1-VE Flying Fortress s/n 42-39847 "Battlin' Betty" 614th BS, 401st BG, 8th AF, RAF Deenethorpe (AAF-128), England; 1944. Shot down by flak and fighters on the April 11,1944 mission to bomb the synthetic oil refinery at Politz/Sorau. The entire crew became POW's. |
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| 772nd Bombardment Squadron B-17G Flying Fortresses in formation; 1945. |
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| In foreground is Lockheed/Vega B-17G-20-VE Flying Fortress serial number 42-97627, of the 413th Bomb Squadron, 96th Bomb Group, based at RAF Snetterton Heath, England. |
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| 96th Bomb Group B-17G with radar; 1943. |
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| B-17G's of the 8th Air Force, 384 Bomb Group with 40 aircraft on their way to conduct mission #279 on a low temperature carbonization plant and refinery of Deutsche Petroleum A.G. in Rositz Germany on 2 March 1945. |
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| B-17G-30-DL (42-38091). Douglas-built B-17G-30-DL s/n 42-38091 was a stateside B-17G used for training. It was first delivered to Cheyenne, WY, in December 1943. |
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| Boeing B-17G "Wee-Willie" s/n 42-31333 LG-W, 323rd Bomb Squadron of 91st Bomb Group, over Kranenburg, Germany, after port wing blown off by flak. Only the pilot, Lieutenant Robert E. Fuller, survived. He was witnessed deploying his chute after being blown free of the cockpit. Unfortunately, he was listed KIA, having failed to have been located and seemingly not taken prisoner. |
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| A U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress flying through flak over a target. The plane could be from the 452nd bomb Group, which had "L" in a square as tail code. |
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| Boeing B-17G formation bomb drop. The bombs are probably 100lb bombs. Closest aircraft (SO-H) is B-17G-70-VE (S/N 44-6898) of the 384th Bomb Group, 547th Bomb Squadron, which survived the war; circa 1944. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 42-3483) of the 482nd Bomb Group takes off from Alconbury Airfield, England. B-17G-1-DL s/n 42-3483 codes MI-A was the first in a batch of twelve B-17s modified in the USA with pre-production AN/APS-15 H2X "Mickey" PFF radar sets under the supervision of the 812th Bombardment Squadron's commanding officer, Captain Fred A Rabo. |
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| U.S. Army Air Force Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress bombers of the 381st Training Group from RAF Ridgewell, en route to a target over Nazi-occupied Europe. The aircraft marked "VE" belong to the 532nd Bomb Squadron, the ones marked "MS" to the 535th BS. In front is B-17G-20-BO s/n 42-31443 ("Friday the 13th"). This aircraft was shot down by German fighters near Munster in Germany on mission to Oschersleben on 22 February 1944 and crashed near Bielefeld. Four of the crew became POWs, six were killed. |
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| Boeing B-17G "Happy Warrior" of the 835th Bombardment Squadron, 486th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force USAAF. Lost over Parchim April 7, 1945. |
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| B-17G Flying Fortress s/n 43-37726 carrying two external bombs on underwing mountings; one the bombs has just been released. |
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| Emergency wheels-up landing of Boeing B-17G-45-BO s/n 42-97272 codes BN-T "Duchess Daughter" of the 303rd Bomb Group, 359th Bomb Squadron. Lt. Mathis was lead bombardier for a mission on March 18, 1943, when the "Duchess" was hit by flak. Lt. Mathis, although seriously wounded, completed the bomb run. He died soon after. |
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| 483rd BG 840th BS Douglas/Long Beach B-17G-50-DL s/n 44-6405 "Big Yank"; 1944. Credited with 3 Me 262 kills and one probable March 24, 1945. Salvaged at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas December 28, 1945. |
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| A U.S. Army Air Force Boeing B-17G-50-VE Flying Fortress (s/n 44-8167, built by Lockheed) of the 15th Air Force, 2nd Bomb Group, 96th Bomb Squadron, dropping its bombs in 1944/45. The 2nd BG was based at Amendola, Italy, from 9 December 1943 to 19 November 1945. |
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| A U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing (Douglas-Long Beach built) B-17G-15-DL Flying Fortress (s/n 42-37875, "Flying Bison" aka "Empress of D Street") of the 427th Bombardment Squadron, 303rd Bombardment Group, on the way to bomb Oschersleben, Germany. The photo was probably taken during the raids of 11 January or 20 February 1944. Note the fighter in the upper left of the photo. It appears to be an escorting North American P-51 Mustang. |
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| As part of Operation Chowhound in May 1945, a B-17G unloads a load of food for the starving Dutch population above the completely destroyed Schiphol; May 1945. |
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| B-17G Flying Fortresses over Hungary; 1944. |
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| A German Luftwaffe Focke-Wulf Fw 190A shoots down a U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress during the attack on the AGO Flugzeugwerke Aircraft factory at Oschersleben, Germany, 11 January 1944. |
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| Lockheed P-38J Lightning of the 27th Fighter Squadron 1st Fighter Group with right engine failed (loosing oil) under the protection of B-17G of the 2nd Bombardment Group above Blechhammer, Germany on July 7, 1944. |
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| Douglas Long Beach B-17G-45-DL Flying Fortress s/n 44-6153, of the 96th Bombardment Group based at RAF Snetterton Heath. This aircraft survived the war and was sent to RFC Kingman 30 October 1945. |
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| Lockheed-Vega B-17G-35-VE s/n 42-97849, 390th Bombardment Group; 1944. |
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| Boeing B-17G-20-VE s/n 42-97557 "Mercy's Madhouse" codes VK-X of the 303rd Bomb Group, 358th Bomb Squadron, after a wheels-up emergency landing; 7 December 1944. |
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| A B-17 Flying Fortress code OR-Q s/n 43-38083 of the 91st Bomb Group at Bassingbourn January 1945. |
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| Ground personnel of the 94th Bomb Group work on a B-17G Flying Fortress s/n 43-39096 nicknamed "The Mighty Mike" of the 94th Bomb Group; 1945. |
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| Major Byron Trent of the 94th Bomb Group with a B-17 Flying Fortress s/n 44-8158 nicknamed “Bobby Sox”; 1945. Nose art on the airplane created by Sergeant Jay Cowan, 490th Group. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress code XM-H s/n 44-83494 of the 94th Bomb Group with a P-51 Mustang at Chalgrove Airfield; 1945. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress of the 94th Bomb Group takes off April 1945. |
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| B-17G Flying Fortresses of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group lined up along at Bury St Edmunds (Rougham); December 24, 1944. |
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| B-17G Flying Fortresses (TS-D, serial number 42-97768) nicknamed "Mainliner II", pathfinder (TS-Q, serial number 44-8178) and pathfinder (TS-M+, serial number 44-8170) of the 94th Bomb Group lined up at Bury St Edmunds (Rougham) 1945. |
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| A pathfinder B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 44-8258) of the 401st Bomb Group prepares for take-off; 1945. |
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| Ground personnel of the 401st Bomb Group stand with a B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 42-31662) nicknamed "Fancy Nancy IV" after fixing her engines; 1944. |
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| B-17G-10-VE s/n 42-39970, "E-Rat-Icator", code P, 452nd Bomb Group, 730th Bomb Squadron. Photo taken upon return from her 100th mission; 1944. She survived the war. |
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| Airmen of the 452nd Bomb Group with their B-17G Flying Fortress (serial number 42-192622) nicknamed "Borrowed Time"; 1944. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress (code K, s/n 44-8081) of the 452nd Bomb Group just after taking off from Deopham Green airfield; 1945. |
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| The 303rd Bomb Group's control tower at Molesworth, Huntingdonshire, England (Station 107) on September 28,1944. Note Lockheed/Vega B-17G-60-VE s/n 44-8328, 303rd Bombardment Group, 359th Bombardment Squadron (code BN) parked next to tower. |
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| A B-17G Flying Fortress of the 306th Bomb Group; November 11, 1943. |
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| Boeing B-17F-85-BO (S/N 42-30043) of the 384th Bomb Group, 547th Bomb Squadron; circa 1943. |
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| An Army sentry guards new B-17 F (Flying Fortress) bombers at the airfield of Boeing's Seattle plant. The ship will be delivered to the Army and the Navy after they have successfully undergone flight tests; circa December 1942. |
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| Boeing B-17F-5-BO (S/N 41-24406) "All American III" of the 97th Bomb Group, 414th Bomb Squadron, in flight after a collision with an Me 109. The aircraft was able to land safely; 1 February 1943. |
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| Women workers install fixtures and assemblies to a tail fuselage section of a B-17F bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, California; October 1942. |
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| 20th Bombardment Squadron Boeing B-17F-85-BO Fortress 42-30082 being serviced at Ain M'lila Airfield, Algeria. Aircraft markings include a red circle around its fuselage "Star and Bars", used only briefly in the fall of 1943. Later assigned to the 419th Bomb Squadron (301st BG), this aircraft survived the war, returning to the United States in September 1945. It was scrapped shortly afterwards. |
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| Testing pneumatic life raft prior to a long over water flight. Every member must know exactly what to do. They are standing on the starboard wing of a B-17 Flying Fortress; the compartment the life raft was in is open behind them. The raft was inflated after removing it from the compartment; the bottle to inflate the raft is seen at the bow of the raft. |
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| Five men in a Dingy. Left to Right: 1st Lt. Rockwell Rasmussen, T/Sgt. Rollie Hill, 2nd Lt. Lloyd H. Keller, S/Sgt. Price Dougherty, S/Sgt. Leland Fleming posing in Dinghy during inspection. Sail is erected; additional equipment, including radio, is displayed on the ground in front of the raft; note the radio aerial behind and between the second and third crew member from the left. |
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| A waist gunner of a B-17 with a Browning .50-caliber machine gun. Note the flight control cables, overhead, and expended cartridge casings. Body armor saved lives. An 8th Air Force study found that body armor prevented approximately 74 percent of wounds in protected areas. Once adopted in World War II, body armor reduced the rate of wounds sustained by aircrews on missions by 60 percent. Besides saving lives, body armor boosted aircrew morale during stressful missions over enemy territory. |
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| Boeing F-9 Flying Fortress, aerial reconnaissance version of the B-17. |
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| Boeing-Lockheed Vega XB-40. The prototype XB-40 was modified by Lockheed Vega (Project V-139) by converting the second production B-17F-1-BO (S/N 41-24341); circa Nov. 10, 1942. |
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| Close-up of the array of 50-cal guns on the Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress; 1943. |
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| World War II emblem of the 327th Bombardment Squadron, featuring characters (Alley Oop and Dinny) from the Alley Oop comic strip. |
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| Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress, 42-5736 ("Tampa Tornado") on display at RAF Kimbolton, England, 2 October 1943 when it was shown to those attending a party for local children. |
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| A rare photo of a silver Royal Air Force B-17G landing at Denver, Colorado, in January 1944. Denver was a modification center for new B-17's before delivery. |
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| Boeing Fortress Mark III, s/n HB762 'H', of the A&AEE, over Cornwall while flying back to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire. |
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| An airman, 96th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, prays in the 12th century Chapel of St. Andrew. The memorial window was dedicated to men of the group, killed during the war and was purchased with over $1,600 of contributions from the airmen. |
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| B-17s flying through flak over a target. |
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| B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 2nd Bombardment Group on a mission from Amendola Airfield, Italy, 1944. |
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| The crew of B-17G Fortress “I’ll Get By” arrive at their airplane by jeep at RAF Horham, Suffolk, England, 1944. Assigned 412th BS/95th BG [QW-Z] Horham 4 May 1944; Missing in Action Paris 2 August 1944 with Capt Bob Baber, Co-pilot Jasper Kaylor, Navigator Ray Dallas, Bombardier Frank Sohm, Flight engineer/top turret gunner Oscar Walrod, Radio Operator Bill Hill, obs-Capt Elmer Bockman mission pilot (7 Killed in Action); Ball turret gunner Don Phillips, Waist gunner Barney Lipkin, Tail gunner Walt Collyer (3 Prisoner of War); flak set left wing on fire, crashed Cesny-aux-Vignes, southeast of Caen, France. |
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| B-17G Fortresses of the 381st Bomb Group are escorted by a P-51B of the 354th Fighter Squadron, c. Summer-Fall 1944. |
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| T/Sgt. Benedict “Benny” Borostowski, ball turret gunner of Capt. Oscar D. O’Neil’s B-17 Flying Fortress “Invasion 2nd” (42-5070) of the 401st Bomb Squadron, 91st Bomb Group. |
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| Removing spent shell casings from a B-17 after a completed mission. |
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| The forward half of a B-17 torn in half by a collision with another Allied bomber plunges earthward. No survivors were reported from either aircraft, and such accidents were a tragic consequence of the maneuvering that took place in the crowded skies over Europe. |
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| Two B-17 bombers fly over the snow-capped Italian Alps. |
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| B-17G 44-6537 97 BG 341 BS dropping a load of fragmentation bombs over a target in Italy. Delivered Hunter 4/9/44; Grenier 22/9/44; Assigned 483BG Sterparone 9/10/44; Returned to the USA Bradley 25/7/45; Independence 27/7/45; Reconstruction Finance Corporation (sold for scrap metal in USA) Kingman 21/12/45. |
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| B-17 Flying Fortress "Maiden America" 43-38736 385BG is escorted on a mission by two P-51 Mustangs. The closest Mustang is P-51D 44-63195 G4-K "MARYMAE", pilot Lt. Richard "Rip" Potter, 362FS, 357FG. |
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| B-17G-45-BO 42-97175 Lady Satan. |
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| The crew of the B-17 "Great Speckled Bird" poses in front of their damaged Number One engine, which caught fire during a mission over Austria. The pilot, Captain Clifford Foos, earned the Distinguished Flying Cross for returning the crew safely home. |
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| B-17 42-97175 / Lady Satan. Delivered Cheyenne 5/2/44; Hunter 24/2/44; Presque Is 13/3/44; Slated 447BG, Assigned 728BS/452BG [9Z-C] Deopham Green 14/3/44; on Cologne mission Radio Operator: Alf Battaling (Killed in Action) 5/1/44; Missing in Action 85m Strasbourg 6/2/45 with Jim Bayless, Navigator: Harry Brodd, Bombardier: Sgt John YoungWounded in Action, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Ray Jarrill, Radio Operator: Hubert Salyer, Ball turret gunner: Dave Sullivan, Waist gunner: Alex Jacobs,Tail gunner: Carl Porterfield (8 Prisoner of War); Co-pilot: Harry McComb (Killed in Action); flak, crash landed Simmeral, 30 miles NW Kaiserlautern, Ger. Missing Air Crew Report 12240. LADY SATAN. Eyewitness Statements: A/C # 175 was hit by flak over Wiesbaden, setting the #3 engine on fire. Shortly afterwards the engine fell off and the fire went out. Four chutes were seen from the A/C at 4952-0749 (Gee Fix) at 1248 hours and then the A/C, losing altitude in a glide, disappeared into the clouds still under control. |
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| With flak bursts exploding in their midst, B-17 bombers of the 69th Bomb Squadron head to their targets over Austria. |
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| B-17 42-31330 / Dog Breath. Delivered Cheyenne 22/10/43; Walla Walla 9/11/43; Assigned 728BS/452BG [9Z-O] Deopham Green 3/1/44; return from mission 26/3/44 with Herman Beuchat, Co-pilot: Everett Phillips, Navigator: Capt Art Miller, Bombardier: Bob Davis, Bombardier: Lt Jack Miller (KIA-died in nav’s arms), rest unknown; Missing in Action Bordeaux 19/6/44 with Clark Graham, Co-pilot: Bob Jones, Navigator: Chas Weinberger, Bombardier: Herb Fletcher, Flight engineer/top turret gunner: Wayne England, Radio Operator: Jim Warnick, Ball turret gunner: Bob Stittsworth, Waist gunner: Gordon Hansen, Waist gunner: Jesse Roberts,Tail gunner: Bill Holmes (10INT); flak hit in #1, the #2 failed, force landed Luceni, near Zaragoza, Spain. Missing Air Crew Report 5931. DOG BREATH. |
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| B-17 burning, Hickam Field, December 7, 1941. |
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| Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ball turret. |
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| This B-17 radio operator uses his AN/M2 .50 caliber MG, which is equipped with a recoil-damping Bell machine gun adapter. |
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| Unit photo of 601st Bombardment Squadron members, 398th Bombardment Group, on and in front of a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, England. |
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| In memory of the crew of "My Gal Sal", Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 41-9032, who on 27 June 1942 were forced to successfully perform a gear-up landing on a Greenland ice field. With only 40 gallons of fuel remaining, in abysmal weather that prevented an airfield landing, Lt Stinson and his crew did a remarkable job resulting in no injuries and minimally damaging the airplane. So began a 10-day survival ordeal. |
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| The classic B-17 waist gunner, with his AN/M2 .50 caliber MG on a “flexible mount” and aiming with a simple ring and post sight. |
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| Captured P-40E fighters and B-17 with Japanese markings. |
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| A Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress flies over Yankee Stadium during Game One of the 1943 World Series. |
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| The tail gun position of a B-17F. The twin tail guns of the US bombers dissuaded many Axis interceptors from making attacks from the rear. |
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| B-17F production line in Seattle back in 1943. |
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| Chevrolet Model G506 E5 turret trainer with B-17, B-24, B-25 and B-26 dorsal turret. |
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| Chevrolet Model G506 E-5 turret trainer for B-17, B-24 Sperry ball turret. |
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| Japanese carrier under attack by B-17's, June 4, 1942. |
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| Boeing B-17 waist and ball gunner stations after a mission. There must have been some intense action. A B-17 carried around 5,000 rounds, at around 500 rounds per gun. The tail, chin, and dorsal (the ball turret on the belly of the plane) turrets carried slightly more proportionately. Each of those would have around 1,000 rounds per gun, although as they had two machine guns, it would have lasted about as long. |
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| Mapping using aerial photography and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. |
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| Mapping using aerial photography and a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. |
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| Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress "Chow-Hound". |