AA33304 - Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress Diecast Model USAAF 97th BG, 414th BS, Yankee Doodle, RAF Grafton Underwood, England, September 1942 (Consign)(SH)

The first B-17s saw combat in 1941, when the British Royal Air Force took delivery of several B-17s for high-altitude missions. As World War II intensified, the bombers needed additional armament and armor. The B-17E, the first mass-produced model Flying Fortress, carried nine machine guns and a four thousand-pound bomb load. It was several tons heavier than the prototypes and bristled with armament. Upon their arrival in the UK the US Army Air Force re-acquired several B-17Es built for the RAF and these still carried the Dark Earth/Dark Green & Pale Blue camouflage of the RAF. This B-17E took part in the first USAAF combat mission of the 8th Air Force daylight bombing offensive, an attack on the railway marshalling yards at Rouen, France, 17th August 1942. It remained based with 414 Squadron at Grafton Underwood in East Anglia until September 1942.

1:72 Scale