OT - Amazing B-17 story, WWII

[soon 2 retire]

I just received this video link from an old friend. An amazing story of a lone B-17 on an unescorted mapping mission in the south Pacific. Enjoy.


http://www.theospark.net/2010/06/video-old-666.html


Bob in NE Indiana

[klhill]

Great story! Thanks

[gak]

Yes, great story. My father flew 17s in the war, training pilots. Said it was an incredible plane, his favorite of many flown.

[Ben_Rumson]

Thanks... Good to know this piece of history.. Is it me? .. But it seems the Brits take more notice of these kinds of stories and produce more documentaries about it...

[Rusty]

What is really amazing is to see a B-17 in person and see (IMHO) how small they are when you consider how much was done with them. Those men rally were heroes.

[Old No7]

"What is really amazing is to see a B-17 in person and see (IMHO) how small they are..."

True! Especially when you put them next to a single-seat P51 Mustang or the larger/beefier P47 "Jug" Thunderbolt!

My late father worked on Spitfires, T-Bolts and then the Mustangs on a RAF fighter base in England in WW2 (was eventually taken over by the 8th Air Force). They had many B17s land there during the war -- any friendly base was a good base on a cloudy/foggy day -- and the ground crews were amazed by the same thing. A couple of times they would have B24s or Lancasters land too...

Old No7

[donw]

it is amazing how fast we're losing these great vets...

my dad was one of them...he finished the war in Europe and then was headed for the China-Burma theater when the war ended. stayed in the army long enough to attend Korea and then retire after 23 years. he passed away in 1998. he would never talk of any of it.

my wife's dad is now deep into Alzheimer at age 90. he spent 30 years in the USMC starting off on Tarawa, getting a navy cross and a ridge named after him on siapan, being in the 'frozen chosin' and ending up at the battle of da nang in 'Nam...finally retiring after 30 years in the marines.

they were, indeed, heroes not to be forgotten.

and yes, the B-17 is quite small by comparison of today's military aircraft. what gave it it's enormous prowess was the wings air surface and four powerful engines. I've seen them and been inside one and watched one fly, but never flown in one. truly an amazing war bird

[Nazgul]

WOW! humbling to hear these guys.

Don

[El Chivo]

I can't view videos but it sounds like a B-17 mission where the Japs shot at it all day and it came back with thousands of bullet holes. It was a chapter in Martin Caidin's book about the B-17 that I read as a kid. That was a great book about the B-17, stories about missions and how tough it was.

[pokey]

my dad.

bellygunner b-17, [among other things.]

whs.JPG

[El Chivo]

my dad.

bellygunner b-17, [among other things.]

whs.JPG

Was he a ball turret gunner? I thought they were always little guys, your dad looks pretty big.

That must have been a hairy ride, just a little plex between you and thin air. And a heightened awareness of the dangers of flak.

[pokey]

my dad.

bellygunner b-17, [among other things.]

whs.JPG

Was he a ball turret gunner? I thought they were always little guys, your dad looks pretty big.

That must have been a hairy ride, just a little plex between you and thin air. And a heightened awareness of the dangers of flak.

yup, ball turret on the bottom. 6', but skinny, like me. i have a pic somewhere [can't seem to find it right now?]
of him, someone had opened the hatch to the turret and he was turning to knock them out [p.o.ed]. when you
pop the hatch, the turret can no longer turn. i guess that little joke wore thin after a while.
he was one that did not like to talk about those times, so i don't know many stories. sometimes wish i did,
probly should be glad i don't.

he did say, they were very hardy planes. they could fly with large portions of the ship missing [shot off].

[1894cfan]

The History channel had a CGI show that included the story of this bird. I think it came out about 3 years ago.

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Great Reading ! I saw that History program also.
Thanks for posting this.
I had the prvaledge to know a feller from an antitank outfit who went in D Day +3. He had numerous tales from the hedgerows to the Bulge that were well worth the time to hear. "Chuck" especially enjoyed telling me about tank encounters.
Mike Armor 71-74

[Rifleman336]

The computer animation of this documentry was used on the History Channel's series "Dogfights". It was a awesome show before the change of focus of the channel to reality programming. I hardly watch the History Channel since it went to hell.

But I digress, the men on this mission deserved the awards they were given. The men and women that went through World War II, were for sure the Greatest Generation and deserve our respect and admiration.

Rifleman 336