Heaven Can Wait by Nicolas Trudgian

B-17 Fortresses of the “Bloody Hundredth”- the Eighth Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group - return to Thorpe Abbotts following a raid on enemy oil refineries, September 11, 1944 Nicolas Trudgian’s moving tribute to the Bloody Hundredth shows the imaginatively named B-17, Heaven Can Wait, on final approach to Thorpe Abbotts after the intense battle on September 11, 1944. Skilfully piloted by Harry Hempy, the seriously damaged B-17G has struggled 500 miles home on two engines to make it back to England. They lost their tail gunner that fateful day. Below the descending bomber stream, an agricultural traction engine peacefully ploughs the wheat stubble in preparation for next year’s vital crop, the farm workers oblivious to the unimaginable traumas so recently experienced by the crews of the returning B-17 Fortresses.