In the fall of 1934, the US Army Air Corps, precursor to the US Air Force, asked airplane manufacturers to build prototypes for a multi-engine coastal defense plane. One catch: there was no money from the government to build it. Boeing essentially “bet the company” and spent all available cash to design and build what […]

Wendover Army Air Base was activated on March 28, 1942 as a B-17 and B-24 heavy bombardment training base, and the first unit, the 306th Bombardment Group of four squadrons of B17s, arrived in mid-April 1942. During the 2015 306th Bomb Group Historical Association Reunion in Salt Lake City, Utah, we visited the base. The […]

Not long after arriving in Thurleigh, England, the 306th was sent on its first mission to hit the locomotive works at Lille, France. Twenty-four B-17s took off from Thurleigh between 07:32-08:14 and arrived over the target at 09:30–09:48. All of the squadrons took part, and the 306th suffered its first loss when Captain John Olson’s […]