'B17 - Mission Completed'

B17 returning to base after another mission - composite of Duxford

05 images and sunset skyscape. Your comments appreciated.

Interesting to see this aircraft. I have actually been on this B-17 while it was here in Alaska. My father was a B-17 pilot stationed in England during WWII and flew this same model B-17G. He has also been onboard this one and the "Aluminum Overcast", which he actually had the opportunity to get behind the controls of and fly for awhile. It's to bad that so few of these old war birds are still flying today. The history they could tell us would be amazing.

Good to know that the image brought back some fine memories. Would dearly love to follow you with a trip in one of them - rather unlikely I fear. Have a few more images of DF-A and other B17s which I may post in the future. Regards, Pat.

Hey guys, are you sure you want to talk about the history related to B17, Lancaster or B-18 .... I mean, be as they may fantastic planes, but the undisputable fact is, they were used on civilian "strategical" targets....Dresden, Hamburg, Hannover. Mainz ... The same league action as the sinkings of Wilhelm Gustloff, Goya, Thielbek, Cap Arcona and Genral Steuben. Remember it is the winner who writes the official history.

Dresden: 25 000 - 35 000 deaths

Hamburg: 50 000 deaths only between July-Aug 1943 (Operation Gomorrah)

Kassel: 10 000 deaths

Strategic bombings to Germany altogether: 750 000-1 000 000 deaths, about 650 000 tons of explosives.

Sources: Wikipedia and this.

Mighty planes, but definitely not a proud history.

I regret that any depiction of WW2 aircraft that I have posted on this site has caused you any offence. The experiences of a serving officer (some 20 yrs as a RAF Navigator) serve to ensure that any sense of triumphalism or glorification of war you may have seen in my images is illusory and quite certainly unintentional. Surely we can approve the remembrance of such aircraft and revere them for what they are ? first class examples of ?warbirds? that gave sterling service to their crews and their cause in a grim fight for liberty. That there were excesses (on all sides) is an undoubted truth but you should be observant of the emotion of the times when laying fault. I can well remember the sky painted vivid orange/red above Clydebank (1941) ? and we lived 30+ miles away ? such events can act as moderators for future actions. The aphorism that the victors write history is less applicable in modern times when authors such as Davis and Hastings can provide such detached analyses ? always, of course, with hindsight.

 

Finally, while I do regret that you feel offended, I think it quite appropriate to remember those ?machines? that served us so well in the past ? and not forgetting the many (50% in Bomber Command) young men who ?served? the aircraft and failed to return. As ex-aircrew I am pretty sure in stating that we all had a love of flying above all else superseding any operational concepts of the aircraft use. Read ?High Flight? ?poem by P/O Magee RCAF kia 11/12/1941 ? he says it so much better than I can.

 

Pat.

 

I seem to have got a gremlin in my PC that is converting standard puntuation into ? . Apologies. Pat

 

Actually, personally, I did not get offended. I just wanted to point out that referring to the history and to "the stories" one really should never forget the whole picture. It is a bit of a can of worms. I have very mixed feelings about these planes: I love them as aeroplanes but I hate the function. Functionally they were really only transportation for bomb tonnage meant to kill effectively. B-17 and Lancaster are the worst in this respect. In the link it was stated that about 70 000 RAF members died one way or another during the war. This is obviously a diabolic issue.

I like your photos.

Thanks for your generous comments, I can well understand your appreciation of the aircraft being offset by such a distaste for the way they were operated. By operated I do not mean the individual crews but the political demands that required the operations they carried out. I hope that you can continue to accept my images as a celebration of the aircraft - they were in so many ways icons of their time and define much that we, of a certain age, regard as part of our heritage. Thank you for the pointer to the Davis history, I have skimmed through some extracts and will use the winter months to read more. May I recommend Bomber Command by Max Hastings and The Lost Command by Alistair Revie if you have not read them. I guess you are as absorbed in the history of the period as I am. Glad that we are not at serious variance - regards Pat.

Continued long after the war usage of the aircraft. Regardless of how one feels about war and the outcomes of it, the fact remains that the B-17 was and still is a very proud aircraft.

 

For many years after WWII some of these aircraft were used to fight another war. The war against wildfires. Many B-17's were used to drop water bombs on raging forest fires in many parts of the US, Alaska, and I believe Canada as well.

 

The sound of the engines still makes people raise their eyes to the heavens to see what kind of aircraft has such a powerful presence.

Beautiful shot!