"Out of Fuel and Safely Home"
by Robert Taylor

Half a century on, history shows that the USAAF Fighter
and Bomber crews played a central role in the Allied
Victory, which came on May 8, 1945 - three long years
after their arrival in Europe. While the long-range
fighter systematically gained supremacy in the air, the
unwavering daylight aerial campaigns fought throughout
the period by the bomber crews brought wholesale
devastation to the Nazi war machine. Together with
their comrades of the RAF Bomber Command, they paved
the way for the D-day Invasion, and the final liberation
of occupied Europe.

Commemorating this historic aerial campaign, and to pay
specific tribute to the couragous men who flew the
legendary bombers of the U. S. Air Forces in Europe,
Robert Taylor has painted this poignant rendition of a
B-17 Fortress, making a forced landing in the safety
of an English cornfield at the end of a gruelling
eight hour mission. A pair of P-51 Mustangs have
escorted the damaged aircraft back across the North
Sea, and peel off as they see their charge safely
back on friendly soil.

Damaged by flak and enemy fighters, and almost out of
fuel, the pilot has put down in the nearest available
field, narrowly missing the local folks gathering the
harvest. The Fortress may not fly again, but thanks
to the skill of her pilot, the crew will be on duty
again tomorrow.