Bing Crosby is a famous singer and actor to people of a certain age, performing from the mid 1920s to the mid 1970s. He was a number of musicals and comedy shows, both movies and TV. Very talented guy.
This is his 1943 rendition of the then-well-known song, singing with the Andrews Sisters, a popular trio from the era.
Lots of younger folks have gotten acquainted with him and his brother through the “Fallout” video games.
Since it’s the 1943 version- during WWII the U.S. Army Air Corps deployed a version of the B-25 bomber with a 75mm field cannon grafted into the nose. It was nicknamed “pistol packin’ mama”. Thomas Tomlinson, in his book, “The Threadbare Buzzard” recounts their use against the Japanese Forces in the Solomon Island Campaign.
IIRC, there was another book, something like “Band of Brothers” (but not the Ambrose version), about a B25 pilot in the Pacific. IIRC, he flew the version with the 8 50-cals in the nose, but there was at least one plane in his squadron that had the 75. Wish I could remember the title, but I’d checked it out of the library in the town we were living in at the time, and have moved since. Wasn’t a bad book!
Great planes. The precursor in many ways to the A10 Warthog. I had a model of one when I was a kid; it was a variant that had the 8 in the nose, plus a pair on each side further back (the pilot and copilot “package”). It the top turret was aimed forward, 14 50 BMG M2 guns, at ~550 rpm. Ouch.
Yep. The B17 and P51 were the newspapers’ sweethearts, and garnered all the attention. I found myself liking the mutts, the P47, B24 (Granddad was a propeller tech on them in Italy!), and especially the P38 and the B25 and A20s. Today’s planes, I’ve always had a soft spot for the A10. An airplane that was designed for one purpose, and actually performed exceedingly well in that role, unlike others (F14, F111, etc). If you get the chance, you should read “Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art of War” by Robert Coram. Well worth the time!
Yeah, the B25, F4U, P38 were great. I had models of them all when I was a kid. Of all the planes now in the Air Force, the A10 is my favorite. Get up close, let ’em know you know where they are, and lay down the hurt. Not that I’d ever write a story with a main “character” that has a similar philosophy or anything, now, mind you. Cross an M1 Abrams, an A10, a C130, and slap on some star-drives, and you have an Armadillo.