This is the compelling and detailed personal account of Colonel Harold D Weekly, USAF (Retired), 398th Bomb Group pilot, and the last combat B-17 First Pilot of World War 2 to fly the Boeing B-17 as pilot-in-command into the new millennium. This comprehensive work combines Colonel Weekley's keen recollections with documented historical facts to describe his experiences as highly-trained US Army Air Force pilot in World War 2, notably his combat missions aboard the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress as a First Pilot flying from wartime Nuthampstead, England; his shoot down and bailout over enemy-occupied France; his escape and evasion from enemy forces; and his eventual repatriation to friendly forces. This book concludes by describing Colonel Weekley's close association with the legendary B-17 into the twenty-first century. Throughout this 352-page work, Colonel Weekley shares unabashedly his lasting love of his wife, family, and country. This book is abundantly illustrated.

Table of Contents

From Boy to Man to Future Combat Pilot; The Pace to Combat Flying Quickens; Earning the Silver Wings; Meeting and Mastering the B-17; Getting Closer to Combat Flying; Nuthampstead, the 398th Bomb Group and Baptism by Fire; Adding to the Mission Count; Hell From Heaven: The War Continues; The Loss of a Friend, and the Beginning of Many New Friendships; Safety with Friends; Freedom's Cry; Back Home in the USA; A Welcome Return; Epilogue: Remembrances -- The Aluminium Overcast and the End of an Era; Index.