suggestions for books on the B-17

[rramblingsnj]

Hello everyone,

I've been doing some research on the B-17, both her history as a WWII bomber and her use as an airtanker. I have already read the thread that Larry Kraus started on his experiences piloting a B-17 tanker, http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18840. I learned a lot.

I have been reading a couple of books on the military history of the B-17:

1. The Bomber Boys (2009) by Travis L. Ayres
2. B-17 Fortress at War (1977) by Roger A. Freeman

The choices of those books were, in part, dictated by books that were owned by my local library.

I am writing to ask if any of you have any suggestions for books that I might to obtain through my local library. It is my hope that my library will be able to work with me to borrow books that they do not own. I am also interested in knowing about magazine or journal articles, although obtaining copies of these will cost me some bucks if my library does not have a subscription (electronic or otherwise).

Thank-you!

RR

[DC3R4DC47]

3 engines 1/2 a wing and a prayer, Brian D O'neill
the War Lover , John Hersey
Paper Doll ,Jim Shepard
Serenade to the Big Bird , Lt. Bert Stiles

All great reads, the last one is my favorite, God bless him !!!

[Pat Carry]

"B-17 Flying Fortress" by Edward Jablonski is a great one. Also, I would recommend "Fortress Against the Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific" by Gene Eric Salecker

[bipe215]

"The Flying Fortress Story" by Roger Freeman
"B-17 Nose Art Name Directory" by Wallace Foreman
"Final Cut" by Scott Thompson
"The Memphis Belle" by Menno Duerksen

Steve G

[rramblingsnj]

Hello everyone,

Wow, thanks. Forgot to mention that I am especially interested in books written by pilots.

bipe215 and pat courry, if you could only choose one from your list, can you say which one you would choose? Or is it hard to choose one?

It is getting a little late, so I'll check be checking around on the internet tomorrow to do a little homework before going to my library. They will be requesting the books from another library, I can only request three at a time, I may only have them for two weeks with one renewal.

In the meantime, I'm happy for any suggestions the rest of you might have. And I may be back after I do some my checking on the internet.

RR

[bipe215]

RR,

If I could only have one, it would be the Jablonski book, which was my first B-17 book as a kid. It covers a lot of ground,
including a chapter on the 15th at Foggia, where my Dad flew.
The Freeman book and Foreman's book on my list are must haves for research.

Steve G

[oscardeuce]

A Mark Too High by Gene McCutchen ( Pilot in WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam)

[The Inspector]

Agree on the Jablonski book, a Christmas gift request fullfilled in 1964, also you'll have to get out your atomic powered excavator to find another treasure I've had for decades-"Flying Fortress" the story of the boeing bomber by Thomas Collison, copyright 1943 by Charles Scribner's Sons

WHOOPS!! nearly forgot Alwyn LLoyds DETAIL & SCALE softcovers (3 volumes), Al does (or did) work for the lazy "B" for years, and his research is spot on-(probably thru AMAZON is easiest)

Last edited by The Inspector on Tue Dec 14, 2010 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[SaxMan]

For the B-17s in Israeli service, there is a new book "Hammers: Israel's Long Rang Attack Squadron" by Zvi Avidror. It deals with the history of the IAF's 69 Squadron which was equipped with B-17s, F-4s and, most recently, F-15Is. The B-17 section makes up a good portion of the book and has dozens upon dozens of pictures, many of which have never been published before. It's worth the purchase price just to get a peek at the jury-rigged tail gunner stations in the '48 war.

[DryMartini]

I also would recommend the Jablonski book.
That's *THE* book that got me into what I'm
doing now.

Also, for a more fact/historical perspective on the
B-17, (Including some cool pictures post war)
look for "Fortress in the Sky" by Peter Bowers,
or as I like to refer to it, the B-17 Bible.

[Mike]

I very much enjoyed reading Elmer Bendiner's 'Fall of Fortresses' a few years back. He was a B-17 navigator in WWII.

I also have in my collection Martin Bowman's 'Castles in the Air' which gives a good overview of 8th AF B-17 operations - I believe he's also re-hashed the same material (in typical Bowman style) in several other more recent books.

[K5DH]

"Flying Forts: The B-17 in World War II" by Martin Caidin. Great read!

[JDK]

Not a B-17 expert or particular fan, but one I have not seen mentioned so far is 'Claims to Fame the B-17 Flying Fortress' by Steve Birdsall (who posts here) and Roger A Freeman (Arms & Armour Press 1994). On *my* desk at the moment, Steve's also done Flightpath an excellent two part feature in the last and next issues (Vol 22 Nos 2 & 3) on RAAF Navigators on USAAF B-17 Fortresses in the Pacific.

And on the plug front, like SaxMan's Israeli material, we (MMP Books) have published two 'other service' B-17 titles:

Boeing B-17 Fortress in RAF Coastal Command Service
http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/books.php?book_id=123

Swedish Fortresses - The Boeing F-17 Fortress in civil and military service
http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/books.php?book_id=133

Regards,

[TonyM]

I also started out with the Jablonski book.

Here is another recommedation:

FORTRESS OF THE SKIES -- The B-17 Flying Fortress in Combat
by Martin Bowman


And for a personal account:

SCREAMING EAGLE
by Dale O. Smith



TonyM.

[Pat Carry]

Hello everyone,

Wow, thanks. Forgot to mention that I am especially interested in books written by pilots.

bipe215 and pat courry, if you could only choose one from your list, can you say which one you would choose? Or is it hard to choose one?

It is getting a little late, so I'll check be checking around on the internet tomorrow to do a little homework before going to my library. They will be requesting the books from another library, I can only request three at a time, I may only have them for two weeks with one renewal.

In the meantime, I'm happy for any suggestions the rest of you might have. And I may be back after I do some my checking on the internet.

RR

I would choose the Jablonski book. A good book written by a pilot is "The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle" by Robert Morgan