Mighty Eighth AF Museum

Museum is in Pooler, Ga. - Close to Savannah

B-17 Photo 002

HollyWood and the Mighty Eighth Air Corps

Jimmy Stewart - Nina's Cousin




Clark Gable in the Eighth Army Air Corps

B-17 Glenn Miller Background Music

Dad's B-17 Crew photo

Flight Officer (F/O) Douglas E. Whitefield, Navigator (Back Row Standing - First Left), was in the 379th Bombardment group and flew 4 missions with the 524th Bomb Squadron from 4/15/45 to 4/25/45. F/O Whitefield flew on 4 different aircraft. All the aircraft flown by F/O Whitefield and crew were metallic or silver. The 379th Bomb group markings are attached. The number 1 at the top of the triangle signifies that the aircraft was in the 524BS (1-524;2-525;3-526;4-527) the aircraft serial number is below the black triangle. Miss Liberty 43-37570, a Boeing built aircraft was flown by F/O Whitefield and crew on their 2nd mission to Esterwerda, Germany 4/19/45. The letter K was their call sign. Looking down from the top of the aircraft a plain triangle K would be shown about 1 foot from the right wing tip. On the left wing and both sides of the fuselage in front of the waist would be the US insignia. A statue of Liberty was painted on the nose in front of the name and went up past the windows in height. (See attached photo) Miss Liberty was written in white letters on a painted black back ground on the nose 1 foot below the windows in a straight line toward the nose. (not clearly shown on this photo) Miss Liberty is in the 379th Century Club flew 110 combat missions.
Enjoy this slide show with Background music - Turn your speakers on. - "Special Thanks to Dennis & Daniel Whitefield for Scanning these photos from the Whitefield Family Photo Collection"

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry outperformed both the other competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract due to the prototype's crash, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 B-17s. The B-17 Flying Fortress went on to enter full-scale production and was considered the first truly mass-produced large aircraft, eventually evolving through numerous design advancements.

The B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, civilian, and military targets. The United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank, to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord.[4] The B-17 also participated, to a lesser extent, in the War in the Pacific, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.

From its pre-war inception, the USAAC (later USAAF) touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-ranging bomber capable of unleashing great destruction, able to defend itself, and having the ability to return home despite extensive battle damage. It quickly took on mythic proportions.[5][6][7] Stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage widely circulated, increasing its iconic status.[8] Despite an inferior range and bombload compared to the more numerous B-24 Liberator,[9] a survey of Eighth Air Force crews showed a much higher rate of satisfaction in the B-17.[10] With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as a superb weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany by U.S. aircraft, 640,000 were dropped from B-17s.[11]