Review: The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in Foreign Service
Jan Forsgren’s The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in Foreign Service fills a void in B-17 literature. As the title states, this volume details the use of the B-17 in military service other than that of the U.S. It does so very well, with a variety of well-reproduced photos (many not published before), a textural treatment of each service’s use of the B-17, and a series of eighteen color plates (superbly done by Juanita Franzi, Teodor Morosanu, and Janusz Swialon) detailing various unusual and rarely seen markings and schemes.
Covered here is the B-17 in wartime service with Canada, France, Germany (captured), Japan (captured), Switzerland, USSR, and Yugoslavia. Post-war use by Bolivia, Brazil, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Israel, Portugal, and Taiwan is detailed. Missing? Yep, British service with the RAF but this is freely acknowledged as being covered in detail by the publisher’s companion volume, Boeing B-17 Fortress in RAF Coastal Command Service.
Each of the countries are listed in alphabetical order with about as much information as is available for the B-17s used by each, including serial listings and dispositions. Also, there is a nice selection of photos of these aircraft, most rarely or never seen before by this reviewer. Some of the stories are familiar to anyone with a working knowledge of the B-17, but there is nice coverage of areas rarely seen in the many volumes on the type, particularly the USSR and Yugoslavia.
It should be noted that the hard-to-find-but-worth-it Red Stars 4 has detailed coverage of the B-17 in Soviet service, but this volume has more photos and a good serial listing of the B-17s that ended up in Soviet hands. Also, the Alex Yofe volume, The B-17 Flying Fortress in Israeli Air Force Service 1948-1957, thoroughly covers Israeli service but it is nice to have it presented here also.
Other obscure areas covered is the use by Germany and Japan of captured B-17s with a larger selection of photos than I have seen before of both. Also detailed is the use by the Republic of China in missions over the People’s Republic of China conducted by Chinese crews in aircraft provided by the U.S. CIA in the 1950s.The author lists five B-17s used for these missions, though only two are identified and I think only one (44-85531) can be certainly identified. Official records of such use are not available and the accounts can only be pieced together from various sources.
