by Steve Birdsall
Squadron / Signals (1998)
ISBN 0897473892
64 pages, photos

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The Story of the First 300 B-17Fs

This book covers the history of US Army Air Force B-17s in service in the Pacific, Mediterranean and European theaters by serial number. Kudos to author Birdsall for his outstanding research and photos presented in this volume.

The earliest B-17F's were sent to the Pacific, and served with the 43rd BG, 11th BG. The legacy of these first B-17s is a legacy of tough combat missions, losses, accidents. For those that survived service in the combat theater these B-17Fs met unglamorous ends: returning to the states for training and scrapping.

Each aircraft is profiled, by serial number with all its critical detail: date of acceptance by the US Army, service details and so forth. Lavishly illustrated with photos of nearly every B-17 with significant service. Also, the book includes an extensive color profile section of B-17 side artwork depicting some of the most interesting bombers.