Flying to Glory: The B17 Flying Fortress in War and Peace

Flying to Glory: The B17 Flying Fortress in War and Peace

Ref: 2747

Price: £14.00

During World War 2 the four-engined Boeing B-17 - better known as the Flying Fortress because of its bristling
armaments - was the spearhead of the USAAF's bomber offensive against the Axis Powers in Europe and the Pacific.
The Fort was in its element in adverse conditions such as flying over enemy territory in broad daylight. It was able to absorb the level of horrendous battle damage that would have downed a lesser aircraft and still get its crew safely home.
Martin Bowman relates the life and times of this Seattle warhorse, from its development and early years in service with the USAAC, its primary involvement in the USAAF's hard-fought bomber offensives in the European and Pacific theatres of war from 1941 to 1945, and service with RAF Coastal Command and No 100 Group on electronic countermeasure duties.
The author draws on the personal accounts of men who actually flew the missions, from Guadalcanal in the South Pacific to the Ploesti oilfields of Romania. Their vivid recollections are supported by more than 200 historic photographs.
Post-war, some Forts had a brief but colourful career with the US Navy, the US Coastguard, and the Israeli Air Force, while others were converted into pilot-less drones and Borate bombers.
Of the 12,371 built, only a handful of Forts are known to have survived. Some are in museums - and one has made a name for itself as a movie star. A restored Fort featured in the remake of William Wyler's classic World War 2 documentary Memphis Belle, the filming of which is covered in the book.

by Martin Bowman
Published by PSL 1992 1st edition. 224pp profusely illustrated, some colour, index, appendix. 19x25 fine, including d/j.

Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.

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