Download or read book The Mighty Eighth at War written by Martin W. Bowman and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2010-09-30 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Relates how the American Eighth Air Force bombers helped Britain's Royal Air Force in fighting Germany during World War II.”—ProtoView From the beginning of World War II, the RAF’s Bomber Command had been the only means of striking Hitler’s Reich and its war machine. But the entry into the war of the United States—and the subsequent arrival in the UK of the Eighth Air Force—would more than double the Allied capability. The Flying Fortress and Liberator heavy bombers were mostly flown across the Atlantic by their young, green aircrew, and many succumbed en route and never arrived. Flying in northern Europe was a different ball game from American skies and it took a considerable time before the crews familiarized themselves with the vagaries of fog, low cloud, rain and snow. The American bombers bristled with defensive armament and elected to fly in close defensive formation during the day, leaving the RAF to carry out nighttime raids. With the arrival of long-range protective escort fighters, the task became a little easier. This book is the story, including many firsthand accounts, of how the American bomber force helped fight to eventual victory, by decimating German industry and transport systems—and breaking the Nazi war spirit.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth written by Roger Anthony Freeman and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2000 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The US 8th Air Force was based in the UK from 1942 onwards, spread exclusively across East Anglia and operating from over 40 locations. The remains of some of these sites can still be found and a few are still airfields. The 8th flew intensive bomber and fighter sorties over Europe. Over 2000 aircraft, mostly B-17s, B-26s and P-47s, involving 150,000 men and a vastly sophisticated supply chain, were engaged in a ceaseless war of high-altitude daylight precision bombing that did much to secure eventual Allied success.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth written by Gerald Astor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the skies of World War II Europe, the Eighth Air Force was a defining factor in turning the tide against the Nazis. In these gripping oral histories, the sacrifice, savagery, and supremacy of the “Mighty Eighth” is described by those who experienced it...and survived it. At the outbreak of World War II, America was woefully unprepared for a fight, though Europe was already years into the battle. Soon, though, America’s war machine was rolling out pilots, engineers, planes, and materials in astounding numbers. It was called the Eighth Air Force—and it would hit the Nazi juggernaut like a lightning bolt. Launching a then-groundbreaking campaign of daylight bombing runs, the men of the Eighth would suffer more casualties than the entire Marine Corps in the Pacific theater. But they would also prove to be the most effective weapon against the enemy, taking out strategic targets such as munitions plants and factories that were vital to the German war effort and grinding them to a halt. In The Mighty Eighth, the men who fought in the greatest air war in human history tell their stories of courage and camaraderie as only those who were there can tell them.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth written by Roger Anthony Freeman and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2001 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A must-have classic. Mostly taken by members of “Mighty” Eighth Air Force, this wonderful selection portrays the American aircraft and their crews deployed to Britain in 1942. The daring and danger of those days comes across in a uniquely personal perspective, in photos of bases, aircraft in action and on the ground, nose art, and airfields and countryside from high above. Nearly 600 photos, arranged alphabetically by home base. “A brilliant gallery of memories.”—Hobby Merchandiser.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth written by John Wayne Goodson and published by Tate Publishing. This book was released on 2011-02 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Mighty Eighth affirms the elected civilian authority as the arbiter of military rules of engagement while lamenting its consequences. The General McChrystal drama illustrates the selfless sacrifice military leaders will make to achieve combat objectives with minimum loss of life despite shackling political restrictions. During the Vietnam War, it took a regime change and another general shown on the front cover to finally employ the war ending strategy called 'the 11 day war.' Lt. Col. Wayne Goodson, USAF, (Ret.), reveals a long awaited truth about the everyday drama, personal and otherwise, of Anderson AFB, Guam. Goodson exposes the roles of the national media, liberal politicians and academia that led to public distain of the military. Goodson attempts to alter secular, unpatriotic attitudes in honor of the B-52 aircrews of the Strategic Air Command and the role they carried out to end the Vietnam War. 'The Mighty Eighth is a masterful piece that pulls the whole story together from the Azores to Guam. You will find yourself inserted in the personal experiences of Lt. Col. John Wayne Goodson (Ret.), while learning the around the clock happenings on Guam and details of the ongoing B-52/KC-135 operations. ' —Lt. Gen. George H. McKee, USAF, (Ret.)
Download or read book A Wing and a Prayer written by Harry H. Crosby and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A compelling account of the air war against Germany” written by the navigator portrayed by Anthony Boyle in Apple TV’s Masters of the Air (Publishers Weekly). They began operations out of England in the spring of ’43. They flew their Flying Fortresses almost daily against strategic targets in Europe in the name of freedom. Their astonishing courage and appalling losses earned them the name that resounds in the annals of aerial warfare and made the “Bloody Hundredth” a legend. Harry H. Crosby—depicted in the miniseries Masters of the Air developed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg—arrived with the very first crews, and left with the very last. After dealing with his fear and gaining in skill and confidence, he was promoted to Group Navigator, surviving hairbreadth escapes and eluding death while leading thirty-seven missions, some of them involving two thousand aircraft. Now, in a breathtaking and often humorous account, he takes us into the hearts and minds of these intrepid airmen to experience both the triumph and the white-knuckle terror of the war in the skies. “Affecting . . . A vivid account . . . Uncommonly thoughtful recollections that address the moral ambiguities of a great cause without in any way denigrating the selfless valor or camaraderie that helped ennoble it.” —Kirkus Reviews “Re-creates for us the sense of how it was when European skies were filled with noise and danger, when the fate of millions hung in the balance. An evocative and excellent memoir.” —Library Journal “The acrid stench of fear and cordite, the coal burning stoves, the heroics, the losses . . . This has to be the best memoir I have read, bar none.” —George Hicks, director of the Airmen Memorial Museum
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth War Diary written by Roger Anthony Freeman and published by . This book was released on 1990-12-01 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book David the Mighty Eighth written by Marjorie Hodgson Parker and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When, during the London Blitz, he and his older sister are evacuated to go live on their grandparents' East Anglia farm, a young English boy finds it difficult to adjust to his new life until the arrival of the pilots and crews of the U.S. Eight Air Force at nearby airfields brings excitement, friendship, and hope for the future.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth in Color written by Roger A. Freeman and published by Specialty Press (MN). This book was released on 1992 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes aircraft and crews from every U.S. Eighth Air Force base operational in Britain in WWII. The author is a leading historian.
Download or read book Mission 85 written by Ivo de Jong and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2013 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Drawing on vivid firsthand accounts from American and German pilots and crews, this minute-by-minute chronicle reconstructs the fierce combat in the skies over Holland, describing the mistakes and misfortunes that left targets undestroyed and soured the anticipated 'milk run'"--Page 4 of cover.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth War Manual written by Roger Anthony Freeman and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2001 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Putting into the air the largest striking force ever committed to battle was a highly complex task and remains one of the great achievements of the war. With more than three hundred photographs and dozens of line drawings, this book relates the procedures and the improvisations that lay behind the success of this mighty air force. Over 1,700 aircraft at a time, involving 15,000 men and a vastly sophisticated supply chain, were engaged in a ceaseless war of high altitude daylight precision bombing that did much to secure eventual allied success.
Download or read book Hann s Crew written by E. J. Johnson and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2000 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memoir and tribute to men whose exploits helped bring World War II in Europe to a conclusion.
Download or read book The Mighty Eighth in Art written by Roger A. Freeman and published by Sterling Publishing Company Incorporated. This book was released on 1998-06 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The splendor of the mighty Eighth Squadron's silver birds, and the legends who flew them, come alive on page upon spectacular page. Seventy-five luscious color paintings by talented British and American military artists, accompanied by the commentaries of the leading historian of American aviation, Roger Freeman, capture every aspect of pilot and plane: sleek dives, breathtaking bombing raids, and precious moments of rest. You'll see a fighter's view of a quaint French town marred by steel tanks marching down its streets, yet still flying the flag of its allies, and the return of the Memphis Belle -- that most famous of all Flying Fortress aircraft. And one image graphically captures a dramatic dash in which a desperate German airman deliberately slices into an American plane with his propeller. (The U.S. pilot bailed out safely.) Triumph and tragedy alike axe vividly captured for historians, veterans, and battle buffs to treasure for years to come. Selected by the Military Book Club.
Download or read book Luck of the Draw written by Frank Murphy and published by St. Martin's Griffin. This book was released on 2023-02-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “In the pursuit of authenticity, of accurate history and undeniable courage, no words matter more than, ‘I was there.’ Read Luck of the Draw and the life of Frank Murphy and ponder this: how did those boys do such things?” —Tom Hanks The epic true story of an American hero who flew during WWII, as featured in the Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks TV Series, Masters of the Air. Beginning on August 17, 1942, American heavy bomber crews of the Eighth Air Force took off for combat in the hostile skies over occupied Europe. The final price was staggering. 4,300 B-17s and B-24s failed to return; nearly 21,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country, and a further 17,650 made the ultimate sacrifice. Luck of the Draw is more than a war story. It’s the incredible, inspiring story of Frank Murphy, one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group, who cheated death for months in a German POW camp after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress. Now with a new foreword written by his granddaughter Chloe Melas, of NBC, and daughter Elizabeth Murphy. “A gripping, inspirational account of incredible bravery, resilience, and sheer will to survive. A truly extraordinary story!” —General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Download or read book Masters of the Air written by Donald L. Miller and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-09-25 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes readers on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people. Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller's Air Force band, which toured U.S. air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers. In 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a one-in-five chance of surviving his tour of duty, twenty-five missions. The Eighth Air Force lost more men in the war than the U.S. Marine Corps. The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America -- white America, anyway. (African-Americans could not serve in the Eighth Air Force except in a support capacity.) The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the "King of Hollywood," Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland. Strategic bombing did not win the war, but the war could not have been won without it. American airpower destroyed the rail facilities and oil refineries that supplied the German war machine. The bombing campaign was a shared enterprise: the British flew under the cover of night while American bombers attacked by day, a technique that British commanders thought was suicidal. Masters of the Air is a story, as well, of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed. Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world's first and only bomber war.
Download or read book Blood and Fears written by Kevin Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The US 8th Air Force came of age in 1944. With a fresh commander, it was ready to demonstrate its true power: from Operation Argument in February—targeting German aircraft production plants—to bringing the Luftwaffe to battle over Berlin, the combined US Air Force-Royal Air Force forces’ round-the clock campaign bottled up the German army in Normandy.In this authoritative history, Kevin Wilson reveals the blood and heroism of the 8th Air Force. At the same time, he opens up the lives of the Women's Army Corps and Red Cross girls who served in England with them and feared for the men in the skies, and he hasn't flinched from recounting the devastation of bombing or the testimony of shocked German civilians.Drawing on first-hand accounts from diaries, letters, and his personal audio recordings, the author has brought to life the ebullient Americans' interaction with their British counterparts, unveiling stories of humanity and heartbreak. Thanks to America's bomber boys and girls, the tide of World War II shifted forever.
Download or read book Hitler s Last Christmas written by Donald F. Kilburg, Jr and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2019-05-02 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The events of World War II have been studied, analyzed and documented extensively. Yet, one of the greatest feats of aerial bombing warfare has been all but ignored. In Hitler’s Last Christmas, we revisit the Second World War and specifically Sunday, December 24, 1944—when the 8th Air Force launched the largest air armada in the history of warfare. It was a desperate effort by the Allies to support the troops hopelessly hunkered down in the frigid weather of the Battle of the Bulge. The eventual success of those beleaguered troops was to some great measure due to the success of that Christmas Eve air mission. The details of the 8th Air Force mission #760 were mis-filed shortly after the war and the magnitude of that day in December 1944 overlooked—until now. Hitler’s Last Christmas shares the accounts of the event both from the Air Force Archives and the memories of those brave flyers who participated in it.
