Originally Posted by
teeteringhead
And I grew up with the song which included (to the tune of Glory Glory) the lines:
"The yanks were flying Fortresses at forty fousand feet (x 3)
With loads of ammunition and a teeny weeny bomb."
AND
"The RAF were flying Lancasters at zero zero feet (x 3)
With no ammunition and a f***in' great bomb!"
Yup, me too. Although the variant that my father recounted had 'forty Flying Fortresses' etc. 'and they all had a teeny weeny bomb.' Clearly British aircrew were fully aware that British heavy bomber design was based on the maximum achievable bombload, everything else was extraneous (a second pilot and decent defensive firepower spring to mind.)
Point above noted that the B-17 may have been derived from an airliner, whereas the Lancaster and Halifax were bomb trucks, pure and simple.