It was an iconic aircraft of the Second World War. Reliable, durable and instantly recognizable, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was a mainstay of the daylight bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe between 1942 and 1945.

Crewed by 10 and bristling with up to 13 .50-calibre machine guns, formations of as many as 2,000 “Forts” would fly long missions in tightly stacked nine- to 12-plane “combat boxes” designed to concentrate defensive and offensive firepower.

Equipped with the much-ballyhooed Norden bombsight, they penetrated deep into Nazi-occupied territory and Nazi Germany itself. While the United States Army Air Forces’ accuracy by day marginally outperformed that of Royal Air Force Bomber Command’s nighttime missions, both paid mightily in aircraft and lives.

Neither had the luxury of comprehensive fighter escort until the long-range P-51 Mustang arrived with its drop tanks early in 1944. They had to contend with Luftwaffe fighters as they headed in and out of target areas and, on lower-altitude missions, anti-aircraft fire.

The B-17 and Britain’s seven-man Lancaster took up residence in-theatre around the same time in 1942. During their three years of WW II service, 7,377 Lancasters were built and 3,932 lost, an attrition rate of more than 53 per cent; 12,732 B-17s were built and 4,735 were lost, a 37 per cent loss rate.

More than 6,100 Handley Page Halifax bombers were produced for the RAF and Britain’s empire air forces, and 1,833 lost, a 30 per cent attrition rate; about 14,000 B-24 American Liberators were built, over 6,000, or almost 43 per cent, were lost.ccv

More telling, perhaps, only about a quarter of U.S. Eighth Air Force crew completed their 25-mission tours—the rest, or 75 per cent, were killed (more than 27,000), wounded or captured, while 59 per cent of RAF Bomber Command crew ended up casualties (57,205 killed).

Production was at such a rate, and weight at such a premium, that the USAAF dispensed with paint by late 1943. This did not preclude nose art, which was a war-long tradition perpetuated mainly by ground crew.

Faced with prohibitive daytime losses at the outset, The Mighty Eighth suspended deep raids in Europe in mid-October 1943 until the long-range fighters arrived in February 1944.

Flying at 25,000-35,000 feet (7,500-10,500 metres), B-17s typically carried 4,000 pounds (1,800 kilograms) of bombs on long missions, though they could carry up to 8,000 pounds (3,600 kilograms) internally for shorter distances at lower altitudes.

The toughness of aircraft such as the Lancaster and the Fortress was the stuff of legend.

The bottom of the English Channel is littered with machine guns, oxygen bottles, ammunition boxes, tools and other dispensables jettisoned to lighten loads during harrowing return flights in heavily damaged bombers.

Among the B-17’s best-known stories is that of “All American,” a Fortress from 414 Squadron, 97th Bomb Group, that was returning from a mission over Tunisia when it was hit by a plummeting Messerschmitt Bf 109.

The fighter’s wing sliced through the aft section of the bomber, leaving a diagonal gash from the base of All American’s vertical stabilizer and severing the left horizontal stabilizer from the plane. The metal airframe near the right tailplane was the only thing keeping the tail section—and the rear gunner—attached to the aircraft. The fighter broke apart, leaving pieces in the bomber’s fuselage.

The radios, oxygen system and electrics were severely damaged. Though its control cables were severed, the pilot, Lieutenant Kendrick R. Bragg, managed to fly the plane using the bombsight’s autopilot, which ran off electrical wires connected to electric motor servos mounted next to the rudder and elevator.

Still an hour-and-a-half out from their base in Biskra, Algeria, the squadron maintained formation to protect the damaged aircraft until they were beyond the range of enemy fighters.

Expecting to bail out, All American’s crew donned their parachutes. But Bragg got them home, uninjured, though their plane was not quite in one piece. The tail section collapsed on landing.

Incredibly, the aircraft was repaired and returned to service as a “hack”—a reconstituted service aircraft—with the 352nd Bombardment Squadron, 301st Bombardment Group. It flew until it was taken out of service in March 1945.