Immortalized here in ink is a pair of Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses flying together, in formation, at the climax of the bombing run. Most people these days cannot possibly fathom the sight and sound of hundreds of bombers in formation over a target… but it was a common sight over Europe from in the early 1940’s. Unlike the precision technology of today’s smart bombs, cruise missiles, and attack aircraft, the bombing campaigns during World War II relied more on quantity than quality. Thousands of non-precision “dumb” bombs were required in the attempt to take out a target… and even then, the success may be mixed. Though the allies had the super-secret Norden calculating bombsight that improved precision greatly, the massive daylight strategic bombing campaigns were still a tremendous risk in the face of massive anti-aircraft fire, fighter defenses, and the general risk of the cold and lack of oxygen at the altitudes they were required to fly at.
The sacrifices of the air crew that served in the US Army Air Corps at during these missions are countless and their bravery has been told in numerous books, movies, and articles over the past six decades since the war ended. A tattoo tribute is fitting as a permanent memory to them. The B-17G’s depicted here have the markings of the 91st Bomb Group, 323rd Squadron that operated from Bassingbourn, England
This tattoo was created by artist Matt Maguire of Witch City Ink in Salem, MA.
Please click on the image above or the link below for two larger images.
