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Weaponry: B-17 "Flying Fortress"
On July 28, 1935, the first of the B-17’s was flown. It would mark a turning point
in military aviation. Even though its era has long passed, it is still considered of the
world’s most majestic aircraft. Even its nickname, the Flying Fortress, is suggestive
of an aircraft that is enormous, powerful, and perhaps even magical. The B-17 was truly a
force with which to reckon.
Although hardly used upon its construction, the
B-17 later became the most important American aircraft of World War II. Its design was,
for the era it was housed in, perfect. With four engines instead of the standard two, the
Flying Fortress could carry more weight, which meant bigger bombs were stowed inside of
it. On top of that, its engines had a lot of power. Each propeller was equipped with its
own Wright R-1820-97 Cyclone turbocharged radial piston engine. With the 1,200-hp. that
these engines produced, the B-17 could go higher in the air than any other bomber of its
time. Although known as a bomber, the B-17 is most well known for its ability to defend
itself deep into enemy territory without any other friendly aircraft’s assistance. To
do this, it needed on-board anti-aircraft weapons, and lots of them.
The only weaponry suitable enough to meet the exact needs of the B-17 was the .50 Caliber
machine gun; thirteen of them, actually. Being state of the art, the B-17 had a very
interesting array of machine guns protruding outward from every possible angle and a
gunner for each. Among these was two guns on the nose of the plane, one up top, one to the
side, one in the tail, two "waist gunners" (they were strapped in and lowered to
help protect the airplane’s belly), and even one down below. The bottom machine gun
"nest" was most fascinating. It was a glass dome equipped with a free rotating
machine gun. During combat the gunner would go down there and have his own little
compartment, and during takeoff and landing he would leave the bubble, so that he didn’t
have to worry about being smashed into the ground if something went wrong.
Along with machine guns, the Americans relied on formations for the defense of their B-17’s.
Such formations would include the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd combat boxes. Utilizing these
formations, bombers could fire literally thousands of bullets per second at enemy
aircraft. It’s no wonder they came up with the expression "a hail of
bullets." Even still, the Germans were more experienced pilots. The 8th Air Force
alone had over 47,000 casualties dealt to them during raids over Europe. Enemy aircraft
wasn’t the B-17’s only problem. Weather was extremely cold in Germany, and as
you might imagine, that cold air crept inside of the B-17, freezing anyone onboard. Since
they flew such long flights (the B-17 had a 2,000 mile range with a 5,000 pound bomb
load), things became numbingly cold at 30,000 feet. Although it didn’t have a heating
system, the B-17 did have some impressive specifications.
The B-17 was a big, capable aircraft. Its
wingspan was 103 ft. 9 in., and it was 79 ft. 9 in. long. It had a very high
clearance(height) of 19 ft. 1 in. Its weight was 65,000 pounds when fully loaded. With all
of the gigantic proportions, the B-17 was surprisingly agile. It could fly at up to 287
MPH. Its range was up to 3,700 miles (nearly twice that of its competitors). With all of
this, its total cost came to be around $287,000, a fair price for what you get. The B-17
was a truly incredible aircraft.
The Flying Fortress served in every World War
II combat zone, and nearly 13,000 of them were produced. They were truly an American
symbol of World War II.
-Posted by Joe, founder/member of History of War club.
War stories:
The loss of HMS PUNJABI
On the 1st May 1942 the tribal class destroyer HMS PUNJABI was
part of the covering force for the Russian convoy PQ15.
The covering force consisted of the capital ships KING GEORGE V,
WASHINGTON, WICHITA, TUSCALOOSA and VICTORIOUS together with their attendant Destroyers.
Frequent snow showers and dense patches of fog resulted in visibility being down to two
cables (400 yard) and if visibility worsened then the Destroyers were allowed to halve
this distance at the discretion of the leader in order to remain in contact with the big
ships.
At 1600 hrs, visibility closed in yet again and the starboard
leader closed in towards the big ships. Each ship towing a fog buoy that the next in line
could follow. For some reason HMS PUNJABI lost sight of the fog buoy of the ship in front,
and as a result ran into the fleet line at an angle of 80 degrees. To late to take
avoiding action the 35000 ton Battleship King GEORGE V crashed into the PUNJABI's port
side, slicing through the little Destroyer like a knife through butter.
The Punjabi's Stern sank almost immediately and as it did so the
ready use depth charges exploded damaging the Battleship's side below water, and causing
severe injuries to those men in the water.
WASHINGTON astern of KING GEORGE V had various fire control
mechanisms and radars damaged by the shock of the explosion. MARTIN and MARNE following
the unfortunate PUNJABI had to go full astern to avoid a similar fate at the hands of the
WICHITA and VICTORIOUS respectively.
PUNJABI's forepart however sank more slowly, and 169 crew were
rescued including her Commander.
In Wartime, it is not always the enemy that you are endanger from.
Source: Brice, Martin- The Tribals (Ian Allen 1971)
-posted by Hobilar, a club member
Heroes:
'Uncle' Bill Slim
The Allied General whom I most admire is William Joseph Slim, the commander of the 14th
(Forgotten) Army who achieved victory in Burma in 1945.
Bill Slim was born in SAugust 1891 of humble background. After University his most desired
wish was to join the Army, but his father could not afford to enrol him in Sandhurst. With
the outbreak of World War 1 however he was awarded a commission, and served at Galipoli
and in the Middle East, being awarded the Military Cross.
During his time in the Middle East, he so admired a particular Gurkha Battalion that he
resolved to enter the Indian Army after the War.
At the outbreak of World War 11, Slim was the unknown elderly Commanding Officer or a
Gurkha Battalion., but was soon given command of a brigade consisting of one British and
two Indian Battalions. A year later his Brigade was sent to East Africa to fight the
Italians. The Brigade's first action was a complete disaster and Bill had to personally
intervene to rally the panicking British Battalion.
Wounded, he returned to India where he was given command of 'Burcorp' during the
withdrawal from Rangoon. Despite the casualties and loss of the armys heavy equipment,
Bill Slim was not downhearted and was soon given command of 15th Corps . However, he did
not get on with his superior Lieutenant-General Irwin and was for some time likely to be
sacked from his post. In the end it was Irwin who was sacked . With his new superior,
General George Giffard, Bill Slim had a much better relationship, and he eventually took
over as C-in-C Eastern Army when General Giffard became commander of 11th Army Group.
Mountbatten, the Supreme Commander South East Asia took an instant liking to Slim and Bill
was given command of the newly forming 14th Army which he eventually led to victory.
After the War, Bill Slim became Commandant of the Imperial Defence College, then Chief of
the Imperial General Staff, and finally as Governor General of Australia. He died in
December 1970.
Truely a Rags to Riches story.
-posted by Hobilar, a club member
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