The Painted Lady

By Armorman 67

My name is Painted Lady. I am a B17F flying fortress, straight from the factory in Seattle.
My life started on an assembly line with impact wrenches, screwdrivers, drilling, and soldering.
Most of the people working on me were women.
All the eligible men were going into the military.
Oh, there were some men around but not a lot. I remember one day they were putting my nose section on.
After, my wings, fuselage, and landing gear were intact.
Then I got my chance to fly. It was just around the airfield, but what a feeling. Then I sat there waiting for something to happen.
On a bright sun shining day, several of us B17s were lined up, and two women climbed on board and did pre-flight.
Then we took off and went to Saint Louis, then on to Dover Delaware, where I was gassed up and looked over, the same two ladies got on board again and we took off for where I dont know. But this starts my story.
Sit back and journey with me through my trials and tribulations as we embark on my adventure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483606620

Armorman 67

The author was brought up in upstate New York near Griffiss Air Force Base. As a child, he went to air shows frequently and got acquainted with several World War II veterans who flew the B17s during the war. The author was intrigued with the aircraft and felt right at home in all the positions. The author felt like he had been in these aircraft before during a different time. It was no wonder that he choose a career in the military, his desire to serve his country and go around the world made him realize how important it is to be an American. The author was stationed in Kitzingen, Germany during the seventies and felt like he had been there before a long time ago. While touring the city of Kitzingen, he happened upon a monument in the middle of the square. In English, it was written, “Here is the spot where a school stood during the war, but was bombed by allied aircraft at a tremendous loose of live to school children who were in the school at the time of the raid.” The author is retired now and writes freelance because he loves the thought of giving back some of his experiences of life. Although this is a fictional book, it relates to how the author feels about his own vehicles and the vehicles he was entrusted with during his stint in the military.

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Copyright © 2013 by Armorman 67.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 03/13/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One First Flight I Remember My First Mission

Chapter Two Stand Down Hurry Up and Wait

Chapter Three Second Flight Learning Experience

Chapter Four Mission Three Bombs over Dortmond

Chapter Five Mission Four Milk Run

Chapter Six Mission Five Not So Good

Chapter Seven Mission Six Flight Lead

Chapter Eight Mission Seven Terrible Bomb Run

Chapter Nine Mission Eight Hell to Pay

Chapter Ten Mission Nine A Sortie of Sorts

Chapter Eleven Mission Ten Bremen

Chapter Twelve Mission Eleven Kitzingen

Chapter Thirteen Mission Twelve Nurnberg

Chapter Fourteen Maintenance No Mission Today

Chapter Fifteen Mission Thirteen Frederickshafen

Chapter Sixteen Mission Fourteen Coming Home

Acknowledgments

To Twelve O’clock High which I watched on TV every week during my childhood

To the crews who flew these magnificent birds during the war.

Especially to the crews who did not come back during the war.

To all the B-17s that flew during the war and are still flying, they have a personality all to themselves.

Introduction

My name is Painted Lady. I am a B17F flying fortress, straight from the factory in Seattle.

My life started on an assembly line with impact wrenches, screwdrivers, drilling, and soldering. Most of the people working on me were women.

All the eligible men were going into the military.

Oh, there were some men around but not a lot. I remember one day they were putting my nose section on.

After, my wings, fuselage, and landing gear were intact.

One of the girls touched an electrical connection with her body on my flight deck. Luckily, she was not hurt, and it arced and sent an electrical shock all the way through my body.

She was taken to the infirmary to be checked out, the doctor was so baffled that she was not electrocuted on the spot.

The only thing she had to say was there must be someone watching over me, but you know the strangest feeling came over me. I actually felt the plane move when I got shocked. I know that seems weird but I know it moved.

That was the day I was born. Yes, I am a flying fortress. I can feel just like you do, I can see just like you, and I have emotions like you. The only thing I cannot do is talk to you although I wish I could sometimes.

Then I would tell these construction workers to be more careful. But oh well, such is life. One day, they brought me outside and I got my first glimpse of the sky. I was ready to go but they had to put me through my paces.

Then I got my chance to fly. It was just around the airfield, but what a feeling. Then I sat there waiting for something to happen. On a bright sun shining day, several of us B17s were lined up, and two women climbed on board and did pre-flight. Then we took off and went to Saint Louis, then on to Dover Delaware, where I was gassed up and looked over, the same two ladies got on board again and we took off for where I don’t know. But this starts my story.

Sit back and journey with me through my trials and tribulations as we embark on my adventure.

Chapter One

First Flight

I Remember My First Mission

I remember the flight over from Delaware to England. A pretty WAF was at the controls and she lovingly cared for me as she brought us in for a landing at Sunninghill 9th Air Force airfield. Boy, did I get a surprise after all the loving care I received coming over.

I got man handled by a bunch of guys who ripped, scrapped, and painted my numbers on my tail and put in all types of armament in my belly ceiling face rear and sides.

I felt loaded down and was afraid. I couldn’t make it off the runway with all this weight. Then came this cart with a whole line of bombs behind it.

I thought to myself, What are they going to do with them. One of the men came inside and opened up my belly. Then I knew what they were for here for, they started loading those bombs inside me as I felt my frame getting heavier and heavier. They loaded machine gun ammo to each of my guns.

Now I was worried, would I actually be able to take off with all this stuff in me.

Then a group of men came over and stared at me from outside. And I stared right back at them.

I thought to myself, You had better treat me right and I will treat you the same way.

One of the guys came over to my nose and patted me and said, This is our home, treat her right, guys.

They all stood out