Incredible picture of B-17G "The Thomper" under fire

[Vitali]

Very brave men and we'll never see another generation like them.Because of them, we are here and free today!

[mozart]

Very brave men and we'll never see another generation like them.Because of them, we are here and free today!

Hear, hear.

Max

[LSP_K2]

Brutal.

 

Agreed. These type of photos really bring home the reality of what these men experienced. This MBI book is chock full of the same kind of photographs, and it's very sobering indeed.

 

[Thunda]

Difficult to imagine what those last few seconds were like for those trapped inside- so sudden with flak- one minute you are flying along, next youve lost a wing. If you werent right next to an exit with your parachute you had little or no chance as the G's or centrifugal forces would pin you down. Ive read terrible accounts of guys trapped in turrets when the hydraulics fail, or in a part of the aircraft away from your chute with zero chance of retrieving it, stuck in the dilema of staying with the aircraft or jumping.

Im sure the aircrew were more than aware of all these possibilities, and lived with them all the time, and yet most of them still managed to get back into the aircraft again for the next mission...and the next....and the next. No such thing as PTSD back then- us Brits used the acronym 'LMF' 'Lack of Moral Fibre' on the log books of guys who couldnt ignore 'the twitch' anymore- the ulimate humiliation. Being sealed up in a four engined bomber for 6-7 hours plus, day or night must have been a living hell, and Ive nothing but respect and admiration for those that did it.