Three snapshots show their homeward-bound Fortress, serial 44-6681, parked on turf in Italy. Destination: Florida.
The caption for that flight tells quite a tale: “B-17 we flew from Italy to U.S. Lost 2 engines beyond point of ‘No Return’…we all had to throw out our personal gear (including German Mauser sniper rifle). Made it to coast of Florida at 25’ above water.”
G'day Jesse,haven't tuned in for a little while...rectifying that now. Not being piccy,but at least one of of those pics screams B-24 to me. Tricycle undercarriage. ie. nose wheel. And I do know how,when you're feilding so many hits you may overlook a detail;so,it maybe comes down to this modern "technology" shit we all keep getting hit with. Still lovin'n your work,man. nil bastadio carborundum, my friend. Best regards,Rob.
ReplyDeleteso, what happened? Where have you been?
DeleteAnd yes, there are a couple B 24s, and one B 17. The photos were those that Mel left behind, and he took photos of a variety of things, but the story of how they barely made it back on a B 17, only 25 feet from the hard deck, was the thing that made me post about the photos that were found in an antique store... (25 feet, and only 2 engines, that's cutting it way too close!)
so, I didn't overlook the B 24s, I included those photos because it was cool that Mel took photos of those planes, but the reality of just how narrowly the guys coming back escaped death ironically after surviving 50 combat bombing runs? Unreal.. if they'd died on the trip home, that would have been incredibly tragic!
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