Boeing B-17F Flying Fortress Destined for RAF Coastal Command

Boeing B-17F-40-BO Flying Fortress, tail number #42-5234, in flight before being turned over to the Royal Air Force's Coastal Command. This aircraft was delivered to the United States Army Air Force's Cheyenne Air Depot for modification for British service on October 23, 1942, and was transferred under Leand-Lease to the United Kingdom on December 11, 1942. This was one of nineteen B-17Fs transferred to Britain and assigned the Royal Air Force serial numbers FA695 to FA713, and used from July 1942 to December 1944. The B-17F was called the "Fortress II" in Royal Air Force service. 42-5234, Royal Air Force serial number FA707, was assigned to Royal Air Force 206 and 220 squadrons, flying long range antisubmarine and patrol missions out of England. 220 Squadron moved to the Azores on October 18, 1943. FA707 ditched while on patrol off San Miguel, Azores on July 26, 1944. After a poor introduction into daylight bombing with the Fortress I (B-17C), the Royal Air Force transferred all Fortresses to Coastal Command. At the end of the war, all Lend-Lease aircraft were scrapped by 1946.