Colour Photos of the Mighty 8th in 1942.

[Adrian]

These are some good shots of B-17s and their crew..........

Eighth Airforce Flying Fortresses and their crews......

[BenVK]

Great photos, terrible journalism. "600 pilots perished in a single raid in Germany"

[big ned]

These are some good shots of B-17s and their crew..........

Eighth Airforce Flying Fortresses and their crews......

Interesting Photo's. Here's some info regarding some of them.

The 97th Bomb Group transfered to North Africa in November 1942 to take part in 'Operation Torch'

B-17 F 41-24419 'Honey Chile II' (Originally named 'Virgin Sturgeon') was destroyed on the ground on the 10th of January 1943 by a German bomber raid at it's home base of Biskra, Algeria.

B-17 F 41-24412 'Flying Flit Gun' also went to North Africa, and famously took the photo of B-17 F 'All American' that was almost cut in half by a German fighter over Tunis but successfully made it back to Biskra with no casualties on the 1st of February 1943.

B-17-battle-casualty1.gif

'All American' photographed from 'Flying Flit Gun' on the Tunis raid of 1st February 1943.

B-17 F 41-24370 'Berlin Sleeper II' was the first B-17 to complete 100 missions, and was transfered back to the States for use in training at Eglin Field, Florida, where she was eventually written off as scrap after several accidents in January 1945.

B-17 F 42-30197 'Mission Belle' transfered to the 551st BS, 385th BG based at Great Ashfield from where on the 11th of April 1944 she left on a mission to Politz. En route she was hit by flak and diverted to a wheels up crash landing in Kristianopel, Sweden. The aircraft was a complete write off, but all the crew survived and were interned. They were released later that year in November 1944.

Regards, Ned.

[Adrian]

Great photos, terrible journalism. "600 pilots perished in a single raid in Germany"

Unfortunately the Daily Mail journalists aren't quite as good as the photos they write about.

[relicz]

Great pictures at any rate, thanks for sharing. Thanks for the follow up info Big Ned.

[big ned]

Unfortunately the Daily Mail journalists aren't quite as good as the photos they write about.

I wonder if they'd give me a job...?

[Spitace41]

Are we sure they are not just stills from Memphis Belle? Lol, just kidding. I really like that one of Berlin Sleeper II. Such good quality photographs, you can see every detail and they just confirm to me why the B-17 is my favorite bomber of WW2.

[Gunny Hartmann]

Are we sure they are not just stills from Memphis Belle? Lol, just kidding. I really like that one of Berlin Sleeper II. Such good quality photographs, you can see every detail and they just confirm to me why the B-17 is my favorite bomber of WW2.

Yep i'm impressed by the quality of the war time shots!...

[big ned]

Are we sure they are not just stills from Memphis Belle? Lol, just kidding. I really like that one of Berlin Sleeper II. Such good quality photographs, you can see every detail and they just confirm to me why the B-17 is my favorite bomber of WW2.

Here's a few seconds of film of 'Berlin Sleeper II' plus other aircraft including 'Memphis Belle' later on into the reel.



From 'Pride of Seattle.' by Steven Birdsall:

"Assigned to Lt George D. Burgess who had piloted The Berlin Sleeper, 41-9042, on the August 17, 1942 Rouen mission and renamed this plane The Berlin Sleeper II. Flew its first mission on August 28, 1942 to Meaulte and its 100th mission on September 13, 1943 piloted by Major Carl D. Hoffmann. She was the first B-17 to reach the century and her ground crew chief, M/Sgt Ray Lambert, had gone along on the historic flight. The aircraft flew its final mission to Ciampino, Italy on September 17, 1943 for a grand total of 103. In the afternoon of September 26 she took off for home with Dave Hoffmann and a specially selected crew of veterans aboard. The old B-17 was apparently written off after being involved in an accident at Eglin Field, Florida in January 1945."

Regards, Ned.

[Paul D]

Unfortunately the Daily Mail journalists aren't quite as good as the photos they write about.

Great photos from the war and typical inaccurate , poorly researched modern journlaism !!