Download or read book B 17S Fighters and Flak written by T/Sgt James Lee Hutchinson Eds and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-14 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I have interviewed more than 400 veterans to preserve our history. My seven books record true accounts of life in the Greatest Generation. We flew on oxygen at 25,000 feet and 40 below zero to face enemy fighters and flak! I often wondered if I would ever see my twentieth birthday. Our escort fighters protected us from enemy fighters, but only God could protect us as we flew into the black flak (exploding anti-aircraft 88 mm shells) filling the sky over the target. I am proud to have saved 300 or more short stories of fellow World War ll veterans in seven books and four recordings.

Download or read book B 17S Fighters and Flak written by T/Sgt. James Lee Hutchinson EdS and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2021-11-14 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I have interviewed more than 400 veterans to preserve our history. My seven books record true accounts of life in the Greatest Generation. We flew on oxygen at 25,000 feet and 40 below zero to face enemy fighters and flak! I often wondered if I would ever see my twentieth birthday. Our escort fighters protected us from enemy fighters, but only God could protect us as we flew into the black flak (exploding anti-aircraft 88 mm shells) filling the sky over the target. I am proud to have saved 300 or more short stories of fellow World War ll veterans in seven books and four recordings.

Download or read book Flak written by Edward B. Westermann and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Air raid sirens wail, searchlight beams flash across the sky, and the night is aflame with tracer fire and aerial explosions, as Allied bombers and German anti-aircraft units duel in the thundering darkness. Such "cinematic" scenes, played out with increasing frequency as World War II ground to a close, were more than mere stock material for movie melodramas. As Edward Westermann reveals, they point to a key but largely unappreciated aspect of the German war effort that has yet to get its full due.Long the neglected stepchild in studies of World War II air campaigns, German flak or anti-aircraft units have been frequently dismissed by American, British, and German historians (and by veterans of the European air war) as ineffective weapons that wasted valuable materiel and personnel resources desperately needed elsewhere by the Third Reich. Westermann emphatically disagrees with that view and makes a convincing case for the significant contributions made by the entire range of German anti-aircraft defenses.During the Allied air campaigns against the Third Reich, well over a million tons of bombs were dropped upon the German homeland, killing nearly 300,000 civilians, wounding another 780,000, and destroying more than 3,500,000 industrial and residential structures. Not surprisingly, that aerial Armageddon has inspired countless studies of both the victorious Allied bombing offensive and the ultimately doomed Luftwaffe defense of its own skies. By contrast, flak units have virtually been ignored, despite the fact that they employed more than a million men and women, were responsible for more than half of all Allied aircraft losses, forced Allied bombers to fly far abovehigh-accuracy altitudes, and thus allowed Germany to hold out far longer than it might have otherwise.Westermann's definitive study sheds new light on every facet of the development and organization of this vital defense arm, includi

Download or read book Flak in World War II written by Donald Nijboer and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than half of the U.S.’s aircraft losses in Europe in World War II were due to German antiaircraft artillery, and many of the American aircraft shot down by Luftwaffe fighters had first been driven out of formation by flak and made easy prey for the fighters. A world away in the Pacific, American flak guns aboard naval ships formed the last line of defense against Japanese kamikazes. Historian Donald Nijboer relies on firsthand accounts, newly discovered files, photos, diagrams, and maps to reveal the forgotten contribution of flak in World War II, from doctrine and tactics to combat stories on the ground and in the air about what it was like to fly into the teeth of antiaircraft fire.

Download or read book B 17 Combat Missions written by Martin W. Bowman and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The B-17 Flying Fortress is, along with the British Avro-Lancaster, the most famed heavy bomber of World War II. More than 12,000 B-17s were built and the planes were the mainstay of the Eighth Air Force's campaign of daylight precision-bombing raids on targets in Germany and the occupied territories. Unsurprisingly, given the B-17s pre-eminent role in the war, many books have been published on the aircraft and the men who flew in them. These fall into two categories. On one hand there are the largely text-only books recounting the experiences of the airmen who flew B-17 missions (most famously, Brian D. O'Neill's Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer, and John Comer's Combat Crew); on the other are the many illustrated books that focus mainly on the plane's technical development and capabilities. Uniquely, B-17: Combat Missions combines the two approaches, describing in detail both the technical role of each crew-member, and following this up with extensive first-hand reports, many drawn from previously unpublished oral histories, showing what it was like to be, for example, a ball-turret gunner or a co-pilot. Equipment is described in detail, as is what it was like to use it. Throughout the book, the text is accompanied by newly commissioned and archive photos. In the introductory and final chapters, daily life is described for the airmen when not flying on missions. Photos of magazines, posters and other items of memorabilia evoke the atmosphere of the time, complementing the vivid picture drawn of the brave men of the US Eighth in action in the 'wide blue yonder'. AUTHOR: Martin Bowman is the author of eighty-six books on USAF/USN and RN/RAF operations. For many years he has been a frequent contributor of photographic and written articles to Flight International, Rolls-Royce Magazine, and Aeroplane Monthly. Major General Lewis E. Lyle (USAF Retd) led the 379th bomb group in World War II. SELLING POINTS: * The first fully illustrated book to combine operational and design information with first-hand accounts of combat missions * More than 200 photographs * Newly researched oral histories featured throughout

Download or read book Army Air Forces Statistical Digest World War Ii written by Army Air Forces and published by Military Bookshop. This book was released on 2012-10-01 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High quality reprint of 1945 publication. The Army Air Forces Statistical Digest (World War II) published by the Office of the Statistical Control, Headquarters, Army Air Forces, makes available in one voltume and on a uniform basis summary statistics on AAF personnel, aircraft, equipment, combat operations and other activities during World War II.

Download or read book Air Force Combat Units of World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1961 with total page 520 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Flak Happy written by Frank Farr and published by Author House. This book was released on 2011-10-21 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Flak over the target only stopped-or slowed-when Nazi fighter planes attacked the bombers of the 8th Air Force in World War II. Flak was anti-aircraft fire, and some 8th AF airmen hated it worse than fighters- "You can fight back against the fighters," they said, "but not the flak; we're just sitting ducks." Like many others, Lt. Frank Farr, B-17 navigator, experienced both and fell victim to both. "Flak Happy" tells the story of his sixteen and a half bombing missions over Nazi Germany. And it describes the mind-numbing consequences of flying repeatedly through that flak and how he and others dealt with them.

Download or read book The B 17 The Flying Forts written by Martin Caidin and published by ibooks. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 702 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is no such thunder in history -- nor ever will be again -- as the deep-throated roar of the mighty, four-engined B-17s that streamed across the skies in World War II. The long runways are silent now, the men and planes are gone. But out of the massive files of records available, and the memories of the men who flew, Martin Caidin has assembled this dramatic portrait of America's most formidable heavy bomber of the war. The B-17: The Flying Forts recreates a vanished era and a great and gallant plane -- a plane that could absorb three thousand enemy bullets, fly with no rudder, and complete its mission on two engines. A plane that American pilots flew at Pearl Harbor, Tunis, Midway, Palermo, Schweinfurt, Regensberg, Normandy, and Berlin, in thousands of missions and through hundreds of thousands of miles of flak-filled skies. A plane that proved itself in every combat theater as the greatest heavy bomber of World War II.

Download or read book The Bomber Boys written by Travis L. Ayres and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-10-06 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: True tales of heroism and the men who fought and died in the skies of World War II Europe. In World War II, there were all too many ways for a fighting man to die. But no theater of operations offered more fatal choices than the skies above Nazi-occupied Europe. Inside of a B-17 Bomber, thousands of feet above the earth, death was always a moment away. From the hellish storms of enemy flak and relentless strafing of Luftwaffe fighters, to mid-air collisions, mechanical failure, and simple bad luck, it’s a wonder any man would volunteer for such dangerous duty. But some very brave men did. Some paid the ultimate price. Some made it home. But in the end, all would achieve victory. Here, author Travis L. Ayres has gathered a collection of previously untold personal accounts of combat and camaraderie aboard the B-17 Bombers that flew countless sorties against the enemy, as related by the men who lived and fought in the air—and survived. They are stories of heroism, sacrifice, miraculous survival and merciless warfare. But they should all be remembered... INCLUDES PHOTOS

Download or read book Shot Down written by Steve Snyder and published by Sea Breeze Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2015 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shot Down is about author Steve Snyder¿s father, Howard Snyder, the ten man crew of the B-17 Susan Ruth, and the unique experiences of each man after their plane was knocked out of the sky by German fighters over the French/Belgium border on February 8, 1944. Some men died. Some were captured and became prisoners of war. Some evaded the Germans for awhile but were betrayed, captured, and shot. Some men evaded capture and were missing in action for seven months. The stories are all different and are all remarkable. Through personal letters, oral and written accounts, military records, and interviews ¿ all from people who took part of the events that happened 70 years ago, the stories of the crewmen come alive. Further enhancing their stories are more than 200 time period photographs of the people who were involved and the places where the events took place. Even before the dramatic battle in the air and the subsequent harrowing events on the ground, the story is informative, insightful, and captivating. Prior to the fateful event on February 8, the book covers the men¿s training, their journey to England, life while stationed there, and numerous combat missions. Everything is centered around the 306th Bomb Group stationed at Thurleigh, England of which the crew of the Susan Ruth was a part. To add background and context, many historical facts about the war are entwined throughout the book so that the reader has a feel for and understanding of what was occurring on a broader scale. Thus, it is a fascinating account about brave individuals, featuring pilot Howard Snyder, set within the compelling events of the war in Europe. You will be given an insider¿s seat to the drama surrounding a remarkable group of young airmen and the courageous Belgian people who risked their lives to help them.

Download or read book The B 17 Flying Fortress written by Steve Birdsall and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book P 47 Thunderbolt vs German Flak Defenses written by Jonathan Bernstein and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-10-28 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the end of World War 2, the tactical air war over Europe has been largely overlooked by historians and authors alike in favour of analysis of the higher profile strategic bombing campaign. Involving just as many aircraft as the daylight heavy bombing campaign, the fighter-bombers (principally of the Ninth Air Force) wreaked considerably more havoc on German ground forces. Indeed, Thunderbolt units undertaking such missions effectively complemented the strategic campaign, ensuring the defeat of Nazi Germany. P-47 pilots paid a high price to achieve this victory, however, as the German flak arm was well equipped (nearly a quarter of all war-related production was devoted to anti-aircraft weaponry) with weapons of various calibres to counter tactical air power's low to medium altitude threat. The USAAF four numbered air forces that saw action over the European continent suffered significant fighter-bomber losses to flak. The principle fighter-bomber from the summer of 1944 through to VE Day was the P-47D, with both dedicated ground attack units and squadrons that had completed their bomber escort tasking seeking out targets of opportunity across occupied Western Europe. While heavy-calibre anti-aircraft fire was intended to both shoot down enemy aircraft and force bombers to drop their ordnance sooner or from higher altitudes, thus reducing bombing accuracy, low-altitude flak batteries put up a virtual 'wall of steel' for enemy fighter-bombers to fly through. Damaging a low-flying fighter-bomber made it easier for other flak gunners to track, engage and destroy it. Innovations like lead-computing gunsights gave gunners a higher probability of intercepting low-altitude fighters. Conversely, the appearance of air-to-ground rockets beneath the wings of P-47s gave pilots better standoff range and a harder-hitting punch when dealing with low and medium altitude flak units. This volume analyses the tactics and techniques used by both P-47 fighter-bomber pilots and German flak gunners, featuring full-colour illustrations to examine the Allied tactical air power in Europe from 1943 and how German defences were overpowered by the air threat.

Download or read book The Tuskegee Airmen and the Never Lost a Bomber Myth written by Daniel Haulman and published by NewSouth Books. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the first sixty years following World War II, a powerful myth grew up claiming that the Tuskegee Airmen, the only black American military pilots in the war, had been the only fighter escort group never to have lost a bomber to enemy aircraft fire. The myth was enshrined in articles, books, museum exhibits, television programs, and films. In actuality, the all-black 332d Fighter Group flew at least seven bomber escort missions, of the 179 it flew for the Fifteenth Air Force between early June 1944 and the end of April 1945, in which one or more of the bombers it escorted was shot down by enemy aircraft. In fact, 27 bombers the 332d Fighter Group was assigned to escort were shot down by enemy aircraft during the war, most during the summer of 1944. This article explores how the "never lost a bomber" myth originated and grew, and then refutes it conclusively with careful reference to primary source documents located at the Air Force Historical Research Agency. Among those documents are the daily mission reports of the Tuskegee Airmen's 332d Fighter Group (which indicates the bomb groups the Tuskegee Airmen escorted, and where and when), the daily mission reports of the bomb groups the Tuskegee Airmen escorted (which indicates if bombers were shot down by enemy aircraft at the times and places the 332d Fighter Group was escorting them), and the missing aircrew reports, which show which aircraft were lost, including the type of aircraft, the unit to which it belonged, when and where it went down, and whether it went down by enemy aircraft fire. By piecing together these documents, the author not only proves that sometimes bombers under the escort of the Tuskegee Airmen were shot down by enemy aircraft, but when and where those losses occurred, and to which groups they belonged.

Download or read book The Piggyback Flight Pilot s Journey written by Cyndi Rojohn and published by Fulton Books, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-12-05 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The airfield is quiet now! A warm breeze bends the grass that was once moved by the engine of the flying fortresses. Seventy-four years earlier, Glenn H. Rojohn would take off from Thorpe Abbotts and be involved in an event that raises questions to this day!!! The Piggyback Flight is the story of courage, heroism, and legend. -Michael Faley, 100th Bomb Group Historian In early December 1944, flight engineer T/Sgt Conley Culpepper flew aboard "The Little Skipper&q

Download or read book Beneficial Bombing written by Mark Clodfelter and published by Studies in War, Society, and t. This book was released on 2013-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Progressive Era, marked by a desire for economic, political, and social reform, ended for most Americans with the ugly reality and devastation of World War I. Yet for Army Air Service officers, the carnage and waste witnessed on the western front only served to spark a new progressive movement -to reform war by relying on destructive technology as the instrument of change. In Beneficial Bombing Mark Clodfelter describes how American airmen, horrified by World War I s trench warfare, turned to the progressive ideas of efficiency and economy in an effort to reform war itself, with the heavy bomber as their solution to limiting the bloodshed. They were convinced that the airplane, used as a bombing platform, offered the means to make wars less lethal than conflicts waged by armies or navies. Clodfelter examines the progressive idealism that led to the creation of the U.S. Air Force and its doctrine that the finite destruction of precision bombing would end wars more quickly and with less suffering for each belligerent. What is more, his work shows how these progressive ideas emerged intact after World War II to become the foundation of modern U.S. Air Force doctrine. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, including critical documents unavailable to previous researchers, Clodfelter presents the most complete analysis ever of the doctrinal development underpinning current U.S. Air Force notions about strategic bombing. Mark Clodfelter is a professor of military strategy at the National War College. He is the author of The Limits of Air Power: The American Bombing of North Vietnam, available in a Bison Books edition.

Download or read book Duels in the Sky written by Eric Brown and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: