Keeping A Promise!

[Gil Boyd]

Fascinating story..................just by sharing it you will have achieved Ben's aim.........LEST WE FORGET.
The Queen was coming to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in the late 90', and as a Police Search Team member, we were allocated our aircraft to search for IED's in the American museum.
Three of us were allocated the Super Fortress, and as I was the spritest of the three I volunteered to search the aft section, bomb bay to the rear turret.
As I lay on my back, and pulled myself along, on what can only be described as a board on wheels, it seemed forever, as I decided to start at the back and work forward.
I kept thinking on route to the guns in the tail, what must have this been like over Vietnam or other conflicts this old bird had seen action in, trying to make your way to a hatch to jump from..............or was it simply tough, your number had been called??
The only times I have seen these birds when they were shot from the skies after being hit by Vietcong missiles on video's I always thought of that poor tail gunner.
The same G Force must have been felt by the lads in B17's too, regardless of whether you were in the belly or the tail..................Great Credit, where Credit is due.............my thoughts like you Phil, often think of those brave brave men whenever I see those aircraft, now quite often at Duxford near Cambridge, and the rows upon rows of American servicemen laid to rest at Madingley U.S Cemetery, mostly from B17 raids over occupied territories in WW2.
One thing I can tell all my American friends is..........they are well looked after over here on a daily basis!!!