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My grandfather was a tail gunner on a B-17 during the war. He must've seen some really terrible things because he never talked about it much-- unless he was drinking, and then the stories flowed. We'd watch the show 12 O'Clock together and as the show progressed, he'd tell what the producers and actors did right or wrong. I'd listen intently as he told of how he and his buddies fended off attack after attack by ME 109s, Focke Wolf 190s, and ME 262s. He flew in the 306th Bomb group out of east Anglia though I can't recall the name of the airfield. He flew with General Ira Eiker, who commanded the air base just like Frank Savage did on the TV show. As a small boy, I was enthralled by the stories he told. But as a man, I came to understand the sacrifices he and others like him made to keep us free. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 after 26 years of flying. His last assignment was that of a tail gunner in a B-52 jet bomber for SAC out of Omaha Nebraska and served under Curtis LeMay and Jimmy Stuart. RIP grandpa and thank you for your service.

@mcsenn

Жыл бұрын

Duxford? Thank you for his service. We are alot of people in the Scandinavian countries that owe our freedom to guys like your grandfather. My grandfather sow how the bombers went in over Denmark before going south to hit east Germany. His eyes was like stars when he told me about his experiences from the war. Later on he became a freedom fighter, was out in the fields collecting drop in the night. Made use of ambulances to carry the gear out and away from the poor German soldiers how was tricked and out smarted. He would also tell me as a 10 years old boy, how stop a panzer with a block of firewood or one granat in the right spot. I was swimming all his storys and later on I joine the army.. after 4 years of service i went to Irak where i at a smoke pit met a German soldier.. met him with a common respect and had a lovely talk and a lot of laughs. But couldn't forget about my grandfather and his view on the Germans..

@kencarney6667

Жыл бұрын

@@mcsenn Wow! That's some story! Even today, I find hard to believe the sacrifices our parents and grandparents made so we can live as a free people. Their experiences are not taught in schools today and by God they should be. I ran around with a friend of mine whose father was in the OSS during the war and he used to tell us hair raising stories of how he too would harass the Germans Any chance he got. As I recall, he served with the resistance and then with the partisans too. And like the stories my grandfather told me, I'd hang on every word my friend's father would say. His stories kept us kids entertained and out of trouble. He told us that he would be taken by plane to whatever country that was resisting the Nazis where he would help the resistance do whatever it took to defeat Hitler and and the third Reich. When his mission was done, he met up with an extraction team who got him out of the country. Toughest thing he said was that he had to watch the attrocities committed by the Germans and could do nothing to stop them lest he give away any details about his mission or why he was there in the first place. But so long as we tell our young people the stories of these Brave people, freedom will never die. I'm 68 now, and I still tell these stories to any one who'll listen. That way, the exploits of the Greatest Generation will live forever.

@jamesdavis727

9 ай бұрын

Amazing story. Those men paid in full.

@felixcarpediem8238

6 ай бұрын

@ kencarnney6667 and lookronjon - Thanks to your grand and step fathers and the entire crew for helping to free us from the cruel Nazis

My stepfather would be proud of this. He was a B-17 pilot. He was 23 on his 23rd mission flying out of Italy and was shot down over Austria in tail number 911 and was the only one to make it. He was injured and caught by the Austrian youth and was in a German Red Cross unit for 6 months. Pow for the rest of the war. He was a sock boy portrayed in the great escape. He was there. He flew B-29’s during Korea. Had ptsd for life. He’s at rest now in Arlington National cemetery. His name was Major John Thomas Farrington

@unitedairco.5140

2 ай бұрын

No one gives a shit

My dad was a radio operator and machine gunner when needed he did 35 missions to Germany and back he was a member of the Lucky Bastard Club years later i wanted to take him for a ride in a B17when the Wings Of Freedom was here he would not go a week later he passed away RIP Dad miss you so much

@Dronescapes

4 ай бұрын

Bless him

@leonardlloyd1089

Ай бұрын

God bless him, he was one of the brotherhood of WW2 heroes! I thank them all for saving us from what may have been.

Thanks one for the best B17 videos I've watched excellent... Everyone here in the UK owes these B17 airmen a debt of gratitude those guys where the bravest of the brave operating over Europe in daylight.... Iam so glad my favourite heavy the B24 got a mention though what a versatile aircraft the 24 was.... The unsung hero in my opinion.... Just like the British hurricane is the unsung hero of the battle of Britain overshadowed by the excellent spitfire... Thanks again great vidio much appreciated from UK 🇬🇧👍

@mcsenn

Жыл бұрын

I totally understand you! But then again.. all the people and life that was spent though out the war, what ever nationality or duty they had, I'll bow.. I'll kneel for them and the effort they made to stop the German military.

My Dad was a navigator on a B17 . I was at work and heard a loud prop job and looked up and it was a B17 that had just taken off from our local airport.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Bless him and thank you for his service Paul

This is most definitely one of the best documentaries about the B-17 that I've seen. Great job putting this together...

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

My dad was a belly gunner on a B-17. Took a piece of shrapnel thru the knee which saved his life as on the next mission the plane went down killing all but 4, including his replacement, who were pow for the rest of the war. It was the Army Air Corps and wasn't Air Force until 1947. If you want to see the real History of the USAF go to Dayton Ohio and see the Air Force Museum. Very interesting.

Uquestionably the most beautiful bomber ever to fly.

@stargazer5784

4 ай бұрын

Agreed. There is something about that old warbird... Words fail me at this moment. Maybe it's the knowledge of what was accomplished with them by the incredibly courageous crews that flew in them, so many years ago.

@scottmurphy650

4 ай бұрын

@@stargazer5784 Nearly 50% of all B-17's ever built were lost in combat and accidents. Times 10 for crew members.

Correction at 13:21 - 50 caliber machine guns not 50 mm (5cm). Caliber 50 is also known as 12.7mm. 50 mm is what the defending ground crews would fire up at the incoming bombers.

55 millimeter machine guns? Come on guys?

Yeah I know the b-24 was the most produced ( and there's a reason for that in my opinion ) but the b-17 has better lines in it's design . Just my thought or opinion . Ps it's .50 cal not 50 mm.

Capable of carrying 2,000 missiles at over 200 mph? Did they have some missiles I don't know about in the 30s?

@hogansheroes2793

Жыл бұрын

He meant 2000 miles range.

@scottallberry6713

Жыл бұрын

Was early in the program. At 13 minutes he talks about 50mm guns on the aircraft

The B17 was the Pin up an Curves of Betty Grable and the Poster child of War drives ( the G is my favourite ) , but more should be said for the B24 more built an bigger Payload ..but Respect for the Men who Served an Died in these Aircraft that you can't Overlook or ever be Forgotten.

Excellent video. I love the B-17 Flying Fortress , one of my favorite aircraft. It was so nice to see B-17G Sentimental Journey again. She was at the Hamilton Ontario Airshow in 1993 along with another Flying Fortress and many other WW2 aircraft. That wartime footage which I have seen in other documentaries was cool to see as well. Well done thanks DroneScapes 😊👍

19:35 "In fact it is possible that the B-17s shot down more enemy aircraft over Europe during the war than all other US aeroplanes combined" It really isn't

The greatest machine ever made, flaws and all...absolute beauty

Excellent! Looking forward to watching your other videos.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Awesome, thank you!

To have been part of the emerging technology of the time must have been mind-blowing. I was U.S.A.F. during Vietnam in an Air rescue unit and the aircraft I served on are by now obsolete, but at that time, the UH-1was cutting edge.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for you service Roy. Did you watch the interviews about the UH-1 (great helicopter by the way). kzread.info/dash/bejne/eHaksraSl7vIidY.html and kzread.info/dash/bejne/mZ9nk9euddCcZNY.html You might be interested.

Awesome Presentation! Great magnificent Aircraft: the B-17!

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Indeed it is!

The most beautiful bomber of the World War II.

For the airplane, being as massive as it is it's incredibly small on the inside

Can anyone tell me the name of the music? The video is fantastic thank you!

Before they had the P-51 to escort they should have taken a few of those b-17s remove the Bombay and turn them into gunships. There was a B-17 crew in the Pacific that got their fortress taken away because they liked to do things their own way so they found an old B-17 set it up their own way they doubled all the guns they were getting so many kills they had to start recording them because nobody believed them. They could have used the fortresses to protect the fortresses

Lamay formations were not respected by my friend and lead B17 group navigator Roy. He said that Lindburgh flying advice and full fighter protection made all the difference

モデル２９９とY1-B-17の貴重な映像を有難う！！！

Well done!

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Thank you

Great Video.. New Sub!

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Awesome thank you!

Hero's all, who flew in this inadequate aircraft. Along with the Norden bomb sight.

Good but not as good as some other videos. All original footage and some different points such as after the war used as targets for new missile testing. Thanks for sharing.

13:19 "50 mm machine guns" ... You mean .50 BMGs...

Is this the aircraft that was in the very dramatic scene out of "The Best Years of Our Lives"?

8.200 chasseurs allemands abattus par les forteresses et le libérators durant la seconde guerre mondiale 8 eme air force respect

The sequence of developments is slightly wrong - the B-17G chin turret was pioneered on the B-40 escort, then adopted on the mainstream bombers, along with the B-40's innovation of staggering the waist-gunners to give the crew more room to operate.

Many landed in some real states on returning from Germany. Could take a lot of damage and still fly, somehow.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

Yes, it could!

@huwzebediahthomas9193

Жыл бұрын

@@Dronescapes 👍 These aircraft made Boeing, rather than the 707, we could say.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

@@huwzebediahthomas9193 Brilliant people back then, unlike the people that made the 737 B-Max

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

@Shawn 🏴‍☠️ Stafford It was a resilient aircraft. What do you think about the Lancaster?

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

@Shawn 🏴‍☠️ Stafford there is a wonderful documentary called "Lancaster" that was recently released. It was more or less the British version of the B-17

B-17s would run out of fuel returning from Germany and ditch in the English Channel. My dad flew 35 nighttime missions.

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

God bless him and thank you for your Dad's service. Many people in Europe owe him and all the ones that served with him, a lot

@Dronescapes

Жыл бұрын

@@jacktattis Just an example: "...This project was assigned to my crew because, I think, we were the closest to completing our tour. One of the Stinky B-17s was painted black, flame suppressors put on the turbo-superchargers, and a camera - complete with an automatic timing mechanism - was fitted to the radar scope. The plan was to fly as high as possible (above 25,000 feet) during the eight or nine moonless nights per month that R.A.F. comber command’s heavy bombers flew at that time. We flew pre-determined tracks with the camera taking the scope photographs at regular timed intervals, which enabled a map overlay to be produced. Flying at that high altitude we saw much of Germany and watched the whole of the R.A.F. missions develop, in stages, through the night. After flying only daylight missions over Germany, it was an incredible sight to behold, and the experience made believers of us all..." 482nd Bombardment Group (P)

@dukecraig2402

Жыл бұрын

​@@jacktattis As usual, you run your mouth without knowing what you're talking about. "I have 3 whole books, that makes me the definitive authority on the subject". Try reading them instead of just looking at the pictures.

@dukecraig2402

Жыл бұрын

@@jacktattis You need to "see above", try reading the reply from the channel to your accusation. And you got your nerve talking about "hyperbole", you're the biggest big mouthed troll in any videos that have anything to do with the USAAF during WW2. So take your medicine boy.

The men who flew in them were incredibly brave. But the concept was flawed. They couldn't defend themselves without fighter escorts.

B24 was a much superior bomber for speed, range and payload. Flew more sorties and 6000 more B24 were built than B17s.

Stud Breaker engines?

@hogansheroes2793

Жыл бұрын

Studebaker, I think?

commentary voices can make or break videos like this and this was a break for me

50mm guns? Ooof, what a huge mistake

And so the term "going the whole 9 yards" was born, the length of the 50cal belt's.

@dukecraig2402

Жыл бұрын

Nope, that's a myth that's been disproven time and time again. The fact is the earliest use of that saying was in the mid 1800's long before machineguns and aircraft were invented, it has to do with the measurement of fabric (in yards as how it's still measured today) and some old joke about a woman using the "whole 9 yards of fabric" to make a shirt for her husband. Not the ammo load of a B17 or any other bombers guns nor the guns of a fighter had a belt 9 yards long, same goes for Vickers machineguns from WW1 as some people have claimed was the origins of the saying. It's an urban myth that it came from any kind of machinegun or their use in aircraft.

This is a well put together and very well researched production by the creator of this video. So it begs the question of why he would make such a cringe worthy error (twice) of identifying the armament of the B-17 as 50 millimeter machine guns instead of 50 caliber machine guns. There's a big difference. A 50 caliber bullet is only around 12.7 millimeters. Large automatic weapons whose ammunition is in the millimeter size are generally referred to as cannons, i.e., 20mm cannon, 37mm cannon, etc. Something firing a 50mm projectile would clearly be well beyond what would be called a machine gun.

@dukecraig2402

Жыл бұрын

About as cringe worthy as making such a big deal out of a slip of the tongue.

Lot of clipped out audio makes this not as enjoyable a video to watch as it could be. What happened?

bro... the poor makers of this video, they make videos and people just go to a dif video in the first 5 minute

Studbreaker!! Good lord pretty sue you meant Studebaker how did no one catch that!!!! If that had occurred at the beginning of this video I'd have moved on