This famous B17G crossed to England on 18th June 1944 shortly after D-Day and began its combat flights in the afternoon of 6th July leading the 447BG to a target in the Pas de Calais region of France. It was the first of many lead roles for the Fort -- at least 20 have so far been recorded including one leading the 4th 'A' combat wing to St Dizier airfield on 18th August. The group commander Col Wrigglesworth also took the plane on 5th September to attack Brest harbour installations.

When newer aircraft took over the lead roles in mid-October, "A Bit o' Lace" settled in to regular missions and was assigned to a number of pilots. Lt Warren Bates' crew completed 15 of their combat missions in the plane between late February 45 and the end of March. Shortly after this run of missions, Tom Mustaleski took the plane to Kiel on 4th April and suffered serious flak damage in the tail but managed to bring the ship home. It was back in combat four days later. In those final two months of war, the veteran B17 rarely missed a mission and finished out hostilities with a total of 83 mission markers. These are displayed on the nose of the model.