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Tuesday, September 18. 2012

1943

A mid-air collision on February 1, 1943, between a B-17 and a German fighter over the Tunis dock area, became the subject of one of the most famous photographs of World War II.


Story here.


Posted by The Barrister at 13:44 | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)

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As a youngster I used to peruse a copy of 'Colliers photographic history of world war two' that my parents had on the shelf. That image really stuck in my mind.
There's another view of "All American" here on 'fuselage page 2'...

http://www.daveswarbirds.com/b-17/contents.htm
#1 MnJack on 2012-09-18 15:29 (Reply)
American ingenuity. Courage. Resourcefulness.

Seen any of that in our government lately?
#2 Dangerous Dean on 2012-09-18 16:54 (Reply)
What a great story - loved it.
#3 Tom Francis on 2012-09-18 17:00 (Reply)
I've been a huge B-17 fan since my youth. It's an awesome aircraft. Boeing interpreted "multi-engine" criteria as 4-engine, unlike it's competitors, who competed with inferior 2-engine aircraft. But, more awesome than the aircraft, were the crews who braved fighters, flack, -40 degree cold, and poor weather to bring the fight to the Germans well before D-day. Great story and photo.
#4 Mark on 2012-09-18 19:41 (Reply)
According to the commentary, after making its bomb run, the B17 returned to its base in England. From Tunisia. Did the bomber also take off from England and fly to North Africa? Photos of the B17 on the ground do not indicate verdant England, but sand and rock North Africa. The story is amazing, of a perservering crew and a magnificant airplane, but someone should have checked geography.
#5 Sgt. Bob (Link) on 2012-09-18 21:49 (Reply)
The YB-17 cannot be separated from the B-15 -- a one off machine that spent the war shuttling around Hap Arnold.

That's why no XB-17 ever existed -- Hap already wanted the big boy.

Very few YB-17s were made. Instead it went into production even before it was teethed.

Generally suppressed/ skipped over was the serious redesign that occurred AFTER the RAF used the B-17 over Europe.

It's this revised machine that everyone loves and remembers. The original design had handling problems, natch.

Serious bombing began with the B-17E -- and Fs...

The final Kraut bomber was the G -- and only one of this type is still flying.

With the G model, Boeing adopted the chin turret long in use on the B-24 -- the Martin aircraft design originally intended to be a four-engined float plane. (!)

It was actually the B-24 that won the war for the Allies -- as this machine was decisive against the U-boats.

That made all other victories possible.
#6 blert on 2012-09-19 03:15 (Reply)
What won the war was NOT
a. Frenchie giving up to save their art (note the new Islamic wing of the Louvre - the irony is tres bien!)
b. American isolation and neutrality
c. The B24

It was British resolve and two atom bombs.
#7 thehawkreturns on 2012-09-25 04:35 (Reply)

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