B-17 Fortresses of the Bloody
Hundredth - the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group return
to Thorpe Abbotts following a raid on enemy oil refineries. Shown
here is the imaginatively named B-17, Heaven Can Wait,
on final approach to Thorpe Abbotts after the intense battle
on September 11, 1944.
Skilfully piloted by Harry Hempy, the seriously damaged B-17G
has struggled 500 miles home on two engines to make it back to
England - they lost their tail gunner that fateful day.
Below the descending bomber stream, an agricultural traction
engine peacefully ploughs the wheat stubble in preparation for
next year’s vital crop, the farm workers oblivious to the
unimaginable traumas experienced by the crews of the returning
B-17 Fortresses.
Signed by four B-17 pilots of the 100th Bomb Group. - Harry Hempy
- Henry Cervantes - Joe Keenan - James Mack. |