B-17 Flying Fortress

The Flying Fortress was America's most famous bomber in World War II and served the Allied cause well both in the European and in the Pacific War. Developed from a variety of prototypes in the 1930s, the B-17 was first sent to Britain to be used by the RAF even before the United States entered World War II. Perhaps its greatest role was with the Eighth Air Force in Britain from 1943 until the end of the war. The B-17s made daylight air raids over Germany and the occupied European countries, and although bomber losses were heavy up to 1943, they were the workhorses which achieved the devastation of Germany. Used in the Balkans and the Italian campaign as well as throughout the Pacific, the B-17s had to undergo many major changes as the USAAF made adjustments to early deficiencies. They were vulnerable to attack from above; the tail gunner was exposed. The history of the Flying Fortress is told brilliantly by H.P. Willmott, historian of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.