The B-17s were the only combat aircraft of the FEAF to escape capture or destruction.

54 P-40s and 32 B-17s were actually fit for combat on 8 December.

Sixteen B-17s were dispersed from Clark to Del Monte No. 1 on the morning of 6 December ( 5 December in the United States ), but neither maintenance facilities nor barracks had been built, and only a single radio was operating when war commenced.

Further radio monitoring revealed to the Japanese that the U. S. Asiatic Fleet had been alerted at 4: 00 am of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and they expected attacks on their own bases by B-17s ( bombing through the fog undercast ) at any time after 7: 00 am The air defense weaknesses of the FEAF were mirrored by those of the Japanese, who had prepared only for offensive operations, but no attack came before a final revised plan was issued at 7: 50 am, ordering the main attack force of Japanese land-based aircraft to launch at 9: 15 am and attack at 12: 30 pm

Fourteen surviving B-17s, after just three days of small and unsuccessful attacks on Japanese amphibious forces, were transferred to Batchelor Field, Australia, for maintenance between 17 and 20 December, bringing Clagett with them.

On 29 December 1941, Brereton and his small staff arrived in Darwin, where his only combat forces were 14 B-17s of the 19th Bomb Group that had come south from Del Monte, and reestablished FEAF headquarters.

On 20 February, just back from a mission to bomb the invasion force at Bali, seven B-17s of the 19th BG were caught on the ground by Zero strafers while re-arming and five were destroyed.

260 men, including the remnants of the 17th Pursuit Squadron, were evacuated by five B-17s and three LB-30s.

** 19th Bomb Group ( Heavy ) ( Headquarters, Clark Field, collectively, 4 B-17C, 15 B-17D, 10 B-18 ) The B-17s were distributed eight to a squadron, with three attached to the group headquarters squadron.

There were no spare parts, engines, or propellers for the B-17s in the Philippines ; damaged B-17s had to be cannibalized to keep the bombers flying.

The planes were immediately prepared for the long flight southward, and on December 15 the first group of B-17s left Del Monte airfield.

In all 16 to 20 B-17s took part in this operation, of which half were controlling aircraft and half were drones.

Defended by as many as six machine-gun turrets providing 360 ° cover, the B-17s were still vulnerable without fighter protection even when used in large formations.

At Clark Field itself the B-17s were taking the air as a precautionary move in case the Japanese bombers broke through the fighter patrol lines.

Later, about 1100 on 8 December a combat strike was approved by FEAF against Formosa, to take place that day, and the B-17s which were sent to Del Monte Field were recalled to Clark to stage for the strike.

* After being alerted of the Japanese attack on Hawaii, the B-17s of the 19th Bombardment Group at Clark Field were ordered into the air on the morning of 8 December while FEAF commander Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton sought approval to attack Japanese airfields on Formosa in accordance with pre-war war plans.

In all twelve aircraft factories were attacked, with the B-17s heading to Leipzig, Bernburg and Oschersleben, while the B-24s hitting the Messerschmitt Bf 110 plants at Gotha, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 plant at Tutow and the Heinkel He 111 Plant at Rostock.

Although the Luftwaffe could, and did, mount effective attacks on the ever larger formations of Allied heavy bombers, the sheer numbers of B-17s and B-24s attacking enemy targets was overwhelming the German fighter force, which simply could not sustain the losses the Eighth Air Force bombers and fighters were inflicting on it.

On 25 February, 114 B-17s and B-24s were dispatched to Steyr again, but the force became separated and the Liberators bombed the Fiume oil refinery instead.

Marseilles, Lyon, Grenoble and Toulon were all attacked by B-24s and B-17s.

Only one of the B-17s was able to make its way back to Del Monte ; the others had to crash-land short of their base.

A large force of aircraft was detected flying south towards Luzon, and at 8: 30 am 15 of the 19 B-17s at Clark took off, ordered to patrol within communications range of its control tower, while the 24th Pursuit Group ordered the three P-40 squadrons on alert and the P-35 squadron at Del Carmen to patrol central Luzon for intruders.

If war came, the B-17s could themselves stage out of Clark Field, picking up their bombs and gasoline for the run to Formosa.

After two hours, Brereton received approval to carry out a late afternoon strike and recalled the B-17s to Clark to refuel and load bombs.

All but two of the Clark Field B-17s were on the ground.

Although all the interceptions failed, Iba Field was then substituted as a target in place of Nichols ( where it was assumed that two squadrons of B-17s had dispersed ) to deal with the new interceptor threat.

On April 12, B-25s hit the harbor and shipping at Cebu, Cebu Island while B-17s carried out single-bomber strikes against Cebu harbor and Nichols Field on Luzon.

At this time the decision was reached to send all the B-17s to Del Monte Field on Mindanao to get them out of range of direct attack by Japanese land-based planes on Formosa.

Beginning on 17 December, the surviving B-17s, badly in need of maintenance, began evacuate to Batchelor Field near Darwin, Australia.

This consisted of fourteen aircraft flown from Langley Field to Tampa: three B-17s, two A-17s, and nine B-18s.

After flying combat missions from Great Britain in B-17s and receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross ( DFC ), Lieutenant Hurlburt was assigned in mid-1943 to the First Proving Ground Electronics Test Unit at Eglin Field.

In August 1937, as navigator under pilot and commander Caleb V. Haynes on a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, he helped locate the battleship Utah despite being given the wrong coordinates by Navy personnel, in exercises held in misty conditions off California, after which the group of B-17s bombed it with water bombs.

In that mission he led 146 B-17s to Regensburg, Germany, beyond the range of escorting fighters, and, after bombing, continued on to bases in North Africa, losing 24 bombers in the process.

The next day 4 B-17s took off from Del Monte after midnight and bombed enemy shipping in Lingayen Gulf.

A wave of 80 Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters arrived shortly after, and unopposed, strafed the base for 45 minutes, destroying all but five of 17 B-17s caught on the ground, and damaging three of the others so that they did not fly again.

On 2, 15 June Air Force flew its first " shuttle " mission when 130 B-17s and P-51 escorts landed in Russian controlled territory after a raid in Hungary.

The B-17s were attacked after bombing by fighters that had refueled and rearmed ( JG 11 downed 18 B-17s ).

On 24 February, with the weather clearing over central Germany, Eighth Air Force sent over 800 bombers, hitting Schweinfurt and attacks on the Baltic coast, with a total of 11 B-17s being lost.

On 26 September 1942 11 of the unit's 12 brand new Spitfire Mk IXs were lost on a mission over Morlaix, when escorting B-17s in heavy cloud.

The convoy — without the troop transport and two destroyers — was attacked again on the evening of 2 March by 11 B-17s, with one transport sustaining minor damage.

However, on 30 March, engaging yet another bomber stream ( in which he claimed two B-17s shot down over Hamburg ) he was hit by crossfire from another bomber.

Flying a P-51 Mustang, Major James H. Howard finds himself alone in defending a B-17 group from 30 German fighters and claims two German aircraft shot down, one probably shot down, and two damaged without loss to the B-17s ; he receives the Medal of Honor for his actions.

" At 1: 27 while everyone was still searching sky for the B-17s six 300-pound bombs suddenly burst at split second intervals on the deck of the battleship, and it was at least 30 seconds later before someone spotted the B-17 at 12, 000 feet.

On June 30 Brereton had directed the B-17s which he had brought from India to move their operations to Palestine.