Posts Tagged ‘B-17 Flying Fortress’
"Hotfoot Two", 333rd Squadron, 8th Air Force, 944th Bomb Group, B-17 Flying Fortress, Bury St. Edmonds, Le Mans, Stuggart
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, World War II on March 17, 2013 at 2:38 am
Clayton Raynes of La Casa mobile home park in North Port, Fla. is pictured as a 22-year-old second lieutenant when he graduated from flight school in 1943 during World War II. Photo provided
On an overcast April night in 1943 a lone B-17 bomber dubbed “Hotfoot Two” flew from Newfoundland to Greenland on its way to Scotland, Ireland, England and the war zone in Europe. The “Flying Fortress” was destined for the 8th Air Force to became one of the thousands of American, four-engine, heavy bombers to wield Hitler a knockout punch.
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Attenborough, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, Merseburg, Messerschmitt-109s, Schweinfurt
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on September 26, 2012 at 4:33 am
A B-17 like this one was similar to the one 2nd Lt. Leonard Pogue of Port Charlotte, Fla. was shot down in over Holland during World War II. Photo provided
This was like 2nd Lt. Carl Citron of North Port, Fla.’s B-24 bomber that attacked the German sub base along the coast of France. Photo provided
America’s airborne military might in Europe during World War II was hammered home by thousands of four-engine B-17 “Flying Fortress” and B-24, four-engine “Liberator” heavy bombers that dropped thousands of tons of bombs on Hitler’s “Fortress Europe” from 1943 until the end of the war two years later. By then, there was little left of most of Germany’s major cities except piles of bricks and rubble from bombing raids by Allied air forces. Read the rest of this entry »
398th Bomb Squadron, 486 Bomb Group, 833 Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Manheim
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on June 25, 2012 at 4:38 am
Waist Gunner Bob McCullough pokes his head out the gaping hole in the side of the same B-17 bomber T/Sgt. Howard Dillingham of Port Charlotte, Fla. flew in during World War II. Photo provided
It was the railroad yard at Mannheim, Germany that was almost T/Sgt. Howard W. Dillingham’s and the other seven members of his B-17 bomber crew’s undoing. Read the rest of this entry »
"Sitting Bull", 305th Bombardment Group, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Dulag Luft, Koln-Hohenlind Hospital, Moosburg, POW, Schweinfurt, Stalag Luft No. 3
In U.S. Army Air Force, World War II on May 25, 2012 at 4:38 am
This is 2nd Lt. Martin Fetherolf of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. who served as a navigator aboard a B-17 bomber shot down over Germany during World War II. He kept a “War Log” while in a German POW camp. Photo provided by Tess Fetherolf
“The DAY of Aug. 17, 1943 was to be, perhaps the most important and certainly the most eventful of my life to date,” the late Martin Fetherolf of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. wrote in his “War Log” from Stalag Luft-3 in the heart of Germany during World War II. It’s where he spent most of his 20 months and 12 days as an American prisoner of war. Read the rest of this entry »
"Ferrets flights", B-17 Flying Fortress, B-29 Superfortress, Cold War, Iron Curtain, MacDill, SAC, Yokota Air Base
In Cold War, U.S. Air Force, World War II on May 4, 2012 at 4:38 am
The “Suella J” was 1st Lt. Smith’s B-29 “Super Fortress” he flew over the Soviet Union while spying on the Russians shortly after World War II. Photo provided
“Ferrets flights” are what they were called. They were aptly named because the super-secret missions in modified B-29 bombers immediately after World War II were made to ferret out information about the Soviet Union’s most sensitive military sites. Read the rest of this entry »
Attleborough, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, Norwich, RAF, St. Lo
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U.S. Air Force, Uncategorized, World War II on March 14, 2012 at 4:38 am
The crew of “Lucky Penny” a B-24 crew is being debriefed on the runway at their home base in England following their first bombing raid along the French coast on D-Day during the Second World War. Photo provided
Jimmy Stewart taught former 2nd Lt. Nick Radosevich of Englewood, Fla. how to fly a B-17 and B-24 bombers during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
305th Bomb Group, 422 Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, bombardier, Distinguished Flying Cross, General Curtis Lemay
In Distinguished Flying Cross, U. S. Army, World War II on February 17, 2012 at 4:38 am
2nd Lt. Ed Lukach of Port Charlotte, Fla. is pictured with his wings shortly after graduating from bombardier school in 1944. He flew 30 combat mission in 8th Air Force during World War II. Photo provided
Like a lot of other young men his age, Ed Lukach wanted to be a pilot when he signed up at 19 for the Army’s Aviation Cadet Program in 1942 near the start of World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Kiel Germany, Nuremberg
In U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II on October 26, 2011 at 4:38 am
This was former Staff Sgt. George Lentz’s B-17 bomber crew. He is the fellow squatting second from the left in the front row. The pictures was taken at a training base at Avon Park, Fla. in 1944. Photo provided
George Lentz of Rotonda, Fla. was a staff sergeant in the 385th Bomb Group, 549th Bomb Squadron, 92nd Wing of the 8th Air Force in World War II. He flew 29 combat missions as an engineer and top turret gunner in a B-17 “Flying Fortress” at the end of the war from a base near Ipswich in southeast England. Read the rest of this entry »
447th Bomb Group, 47th Wing 8th Air Force, 711th Bomb Squadron, B-17 Flying Fortress, Drew Field
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on September 2, 2011 at 4:38 am
A flight of B17 Flying Fortresses, part of the 447th Bomb Group, 711th Bomb Squadron, 47th Wing of the 8th Air Force, come under attack over Nazi-occupied Europe by German fighter planes. Art courtesy of Lou Drendel/Aviation-Art.net
Harold Kloth of Lexington Manor in Port Charlotte, Fla. flew 30 combat missions as the pilot of a B-17 bomber nicknamed “Royal Flush” as part of the 8th Air Force in Europe during World War II. Read the rest of this entry »
4th Air Depot Group, B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator, F2A Brewster Buffalo, General Douglas MacArthur, Nose art, P-38, P-40 "Warhawk"
In U.S. Army Air Corps, World War II on August 17, 2011 at 4:38 am
Pvt. Otto Glass is pictured when he was drafted into the Army Air Corp in March 1941 when he was 23 and working in an Ohio factory. Photo provided
Otto Glass was the first young man in his hometown of St. Mary’s, Ohio drafted in World War II. He went in the Army Air Force almost a year before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Read the rest of this entry »
15th Air Force, 301st Bomb Group, 419th Bomb Squadron, B-17 Flying Fortress, Distinguished Flying Cross, Focke Wulf-190, Messerschmidt 109, Presidential Unit Citation
In Distinguished Flying Cross, Presidential Unit Citation, U.S. Air Force on July 29, 2011 at 4:38 am
Capt. Bill Schultz is pictured when he was flying a B-17 bomber as part of the 15th Air Force in World War II. Photo provided
Bill Schultz flew from a field in Foggia, Italy, as the pilot of a B-17 “Flying Fortress” in World War II. The 87-year-old North Port, Fla. resident, who lives in the Lazy River manufactured home park, was a member of the 301st Bomb Group, 419th Bomb Squadron, 15th Air Force 65 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Keesler Field, VE-Day
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on July 6, 2011 at 4:38 am
John Ross of North Port, Fla. is pictured in his flying jacket when he graduated from Primary Flight School at Hemet, Calif. in 1943. Photo provided.
John Ross, who until relatively recently lived in North Port, Fla. for 33 years, was the pilot of a B-17 Bomber during World War II. He and his bomber crew were members of the 388th Bomb Group, 8th Air Force flying out of a field near Cambridge, England. Read the rest of this entry »
379th Bomb Group, 527th Bomb Squadron, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, English Channel, Kimbolton England, Langley Field, Seymour Indiana, Sullivan brothers, Vienna Austria, White Cliffs of Dover
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on January 19, 2011 at 4:38 am
Leslie Nielsen holds two vintage pictures of himself and his B-17 bomber crew. The box in the center contains a Distinguished Flying Cross and an Air Medal he received during his 30 combat missions. Sun photo by Don Moore
It was June 20, 1944 and 1st Lt. Leslie Nielsen was on his 28th combat mission over Nazi occupied Europe during World War II with only two more missions to fly. Their target: an oil refinery in Hamburg, Germany. Read the rest of this entry »
407th Squadron, 92nd Bomb Group, B-17 Flying Fortress, Berlin Special, Foker Wulf-190
In U.S. Air Force, World War II on September 22, 2010 at 4:38 am
Staff Sgt. Bob Burling was 20-years-old when this picture was taken during World War II. He flew 31 combat missions as a ball turret gunner in a B-17 “Flying Fortress” over Nazi-occupied Europe. He now lives in Lazy River Mobile Home Park in North Port, Fla. Photo provided
A family tradition
Bob Burling’s father, Samuel, served as a motorcycle dispatch driver on the front lines in Europe during World War I. Bob served two years, four months and 10 days as part of a B-17 bomber crew in World War II, and his son, Robert, served with the 1st Cavalry in Vietnam.
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569th Squadron, 8th Air Force, B-17 Flying Fortress, Babe in Arms, Camp Lucky Strike, Fuhrer, Patton's 3rd Army, POW, World War II
In U.S. Army Air Force, World War II on May 17, 2010 at 6:00 am
Sgt. Charles McLaughlin of North Port, Fla. is all smiles when this picture was taken a lifetime ago during World War II.
They were supposed to fly their final bombing mission, their 35th, over Cologne, Germany on Friday 13th, 1944. They didn’t do it. That was a big mistake. Read the rest of this entry »
