Download or read book Bomber Squadron written by Martyn R. Ford-Jones and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: — Previously unpublished personal diaries reveal the day-to-day life of British aircrews during the Second World War, based on their personal diaries, which were written at the time — Revisiting a revised look at a popular out of print publication with fresh material such as new characters and chapters — Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs of many of the characters involved — A welcome return of an updated version of a book first published over thirty years During the Second World War, thousands of young men volunteered for service with the RAF. Some became fighter pilots, but a great many more were destined to be trained as bomber aircrew – pilots, navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers, gunners and flight engineers. On completion of their training, a number of these recruits were posted to XV Squadron, a highly-regarded frontline bomber squadron, which had been formed during the First World War. Bomber Squadron: Men Who Flew with XV Squadron relates the personal stories of a small number of these men, giving an insight to their anxious moments when flying on operational sorties, staring death in the face in the form of prowling night-fighters and ground fire, and relaxing during their off-duty hours. The book also reveals the motivations, emotions and personal attitudes of these men who flew into combat on an almost nightly basis. Their stories encompass the whole six years of the war where XV Squadron flew various bomber types, including Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims, Vickers Wellingtons, Short Stirlings and Avro Lancasters.
Download or read book Mighty by Sacrifice written by James L. Noles and published by University of Alabama Press. This book was released on 2009-07-26 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dispatched on what was to be an easy assignment of attacking the Privoser Oil Refinery and associated railroad yards at Moravska Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, the 20th Squadron of the 2nd Bombardment Group saw the bloodiest day in their history. Not a single one of the 20th Squadron's B-17 bombers returned from the mission. In this book, the 90 airmen on that mission provide a remarkable personal window into the Allies' Combined Bomber Offensive at its height during World War II. Their stories encapsulate how the U.S. Army Air Force built, trained, and employed one of the mightiest war machines ever seen. These stories also illustrate, however, the terrible cost in lives demanded by that same machine.
Download or read book Squadron of Deception written by Stephen M. Hutton and published by Schiffer Military History. This book was released on 1999 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here at last is the exciting, detailed story of the U.S. Eighth Air Force's only Radar Countermeasure squadron that flew from England duing World War II. This book tells of the men of the elite 36th Bomb Squadron and the special operations they flew in modified B-24s to jam the German radar which controlled the fighter and flak batteries. Here too is the story of the men behind the scenes who sought to develop an extension of modern air warfare into the electronic arena and keep ahead of German scientists in the "War in the Ether." This chronological account gathered from secret records, personal diaries, and interviews with the "Old Crows" describes the night missions with the Royal Air Force and the daylight missions with the Eighth. The first jamming mission on the morning of D-Day "contributed materially to the success of the landings on the beachhead." Later missions during the Battle of the Bulge involved trickery, ingenious deception, spoofs, and tank communications jamming. This squadron flew on bad weather days, when the rest of the Eighth Air Force stood down, and paid its price in blood. Before the war in Europe ended the 36th Bomb Squadron screened Eighth Air Force radio transmissions to stop the enemy from learning important mission details. Here now is the story of how this secret squadron saved many Allied lives during World War II. Included are over 330 rare photographs and illustrations never before published.
Download or read book 3 Group Bomber Command written by Chris Ward and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the immediate period before World War Two, the RAF modified its command structure to rationalize for rapid expansion. Bomber Command was divided into six operational groups, each flying the same type of aircraft.3 Group had almost completely re-equipped with the Wellington by 4 September 1939 to carry out the second bombing operation of the war which was against German warships off Brunsbttel. In 1940 the first of the new four-engined bombers, the Short Stirling, came into service with the Group, being followed in 1942 by the Avro Lancaster. On 3rd/4th November 1943, No. 3 Group played a leading part in the first bombing attack in which heavy bombers made use of the radar bombing aid known as G-H. The target was Dsseldorf; bombs were dropped "blind" and good results were obtained. In July and August 1944, aircraft of this Group equipped with G-H maintained an all-weather attack against flying-bomb sites. Through the D-Day build-up, the liberation of France and conquest of Germany, formations of No. 3 Group attacked railway junctions, marshalling yards, troop concentrations, etc.During the week ending 25th March 1945, Bomber Command made numerous attacks to prepare for the crossing of the Rhine.
Download or read book 47th Bombardment Group L written by and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1996 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 47th Bomb Group (L) contained the 84th, 85th, 86th, and 97th squadrons, plus Headquarters.
Download or read book No 7 Bomber Squadron RAF in World War II written by Tom Docherty and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2007-07-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of one of the RAF's oldest and most distinguished heavy bomber squadrons in WW2, although an outline history of the unit since it was formed in WW1 and its post-war history are included. It was the first operational Stirling Squadron, the RAF's first four engine heavy bomber, and flew the first long-distance raids into the heart of Nazi Germany. This new aircraft was a break-through in terms of range and bomb load but it was also an aircraft that suffered from many teething problems. Long-distance navigation was also a black art before the introduction of radio navigation systems and the squadron suffered many fatalities in those early wartime years. Having gained expertise in their task the unit was the first to be equipped with the H2S navigational aid and eventually became one of the original elite Pathfinder squadrons. When the Lancaster came into service the Squadron re-equipped and joined 8 Group and had the dubious reputation of suffering the third greatest loss of aircraft in Bomber Command. It did however participate in more Lancaster raids than any other 8 Group squadron.
Download or read book Torpedo 8 The Story of Swede Larsen s Bomber Squadron written by Ira Wolfert and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-07-19 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Torpedo 8 is the epic story of the death and rebirth of the famous bomber squadron led by Lieutenant Harold "Swede" Larsen. VT-8 rose from the ashes of the Battle of Midway to become an indispensable air arm in the series of engagements for the Solomon Islands and beyond. In three months, the crack squadron carried out thirty-nine attack missions, sixteen against ships, twenty-three against ground targets. Their motto following the tragedy at Midway was "Attack and Revenge."
Download or read book Fighting Squadron A Sequel To Dive Bomber written by Lt.-Cmdr. Robert A. Winston and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging memoir of Lieutenant-Commander Robert A. Winston’s wartime experiences as squadron leader of Fighting Squadron 31, which succeeded in shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other squadron serving on light carriers then in action. Robert A. Winston was born in Washington, Indiana, in 1907 and graduated from Indiana University. He worked for The New York Times and The New York News for five years before starting flight training with the navy in 1935. He flew in fighting squadrons on both coasts and as an instructor at Pensacola, and he wrote about his initial aviation training in Dive Bomber, published in 1939 when Winston held the rank of lieutenant. In his second book, Aces Wild, he chronicled his experiences in Europe during 1939-40 as a test pilot accompanying a consignment of fighters destined for Finland. Back on active duty in the United States, he served as a flight instructor, then in the public relations office in Washington, D.C. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he was assigned to combat duty in the Pacific, which he recounts in Fighting Squadron, published in 1946 when Winston was a commander. At the end of the war he was serving on Admiral Nimitz’s staff on Guam. From there he moved to Stockholm, where he served as the naval air attaché.
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 5th Bombardment Group Heavy written by and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2000-06-01 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This document is intended to cover the history of the Fifth Bombardment Group from the era immediately preceding WWII, through the war years until V-J Day 1945. It is presented against a summary background of the entire life of the organization.”
Download or read book Earthquakers written by Barbara Stahura and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1998 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This historical record pays tribute to the 12th Bomb Group and the Association. A comprehensive history of the Earthquakers,"" veterans' biographies, numerous special bomb mission stories, hundreds of never-before-published photographs and index makes this a valuable record to hand down from generation to generation. features full color cover and endsheets.""
Download or read book Bomber Aircraft of 305 Squadron written by Lechosław Musiałkowski and published by White. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of this successful Polish bomber squadron during WW2. No. 305 'Weilkopolski' Squadron RAF was a Polish bomber squadron than originally served as a night bomber squadron, but later converted to daylight operations in 1943 and ended the war as a low-level bomber squadron. The book covers the history of the squadron and the history of the aircraft used - Vickers Welligton, B-25 Mitchell and de Havilland Mosquito. Also details of the markings and camouflage changes are described with many unpublished photos and color profiles.
Download or read book Through a Pilot s Window written by Lt. Col. William McKean Gilbert and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2016-11-23 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stick of five bombs left the lead ship. I concentrated on our own bomb-release signal. It should flicker now -- no -- now! What in hell was the matter? Just as the Major swung into a 90-degree turn, our ship jumped. The bombs were gone! The electric releases must have frozen, and now the bombardier had salvoed. Some spot of open water would be broiled up. I whipped a glance at Eds face. That was all I needed: I wondered how much it would take for a man to explode at 24,000 feet and what a mess it would be for the co-pilot to work through! I was too mad to talk, but Ed was trying, and the words that spouted from his red face into the green oxygen mask fairly blew the mask off his face. The garbled mess the throat microphone allowed to boil into the interphone must have thawed out those rear gunners! Now the two right motors dropped earthward in a wingover as we held our place in formation. We twisted and dived for three thousand feet to avoid the black puffs now spouting around us.
Download or read book The Bomber Mafia written by Malcolm Gladwell and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2021-04-27 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “truly compelling” (Good Morning America) New York Times bestseller that explores how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war—from the creator and host of the podcast Revisionist History. In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?” Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.
Download or read book Bomber Squadron written by Martyn R. Ford-Jones and published by . This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Second World War, thousands of young men volunteered for service with the Royal Air Force. Some of these became fighter pilots, but a great many more were destined to be trained as members of bomber aircrew; pilots, navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers, air gunners and flight engineers. On completion of their training a number of these men were posted to XV Squadron, a highly regarded frontline bomb squadron which had been formed during the First World War. Bomber Squadron --Men Who Flew with XV relates the personal stories of a small number of these men, giving an insight to their anxious moments when flying on operational sorties, staring death in the face in the form of enemy night-fighters and ground fire, and relaxing with them during their off-duty hours. The book also reveals the motivations, emotions and personal attitudes of these men, who flew into combat on an almost nightly basis. Their stories encompass the whole six years of the war, over which period XV Squadron flew a range of different bomber aircraft including Fairey Battles, Bristol Blenheims, Vickers Wellingtons, Short Stirlings and Avro Lancasters.
Download or read book Solo into the Rising Sun written by Ed Kittrell and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2020-06-01 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When we think about World War II bombers, we picture formations of scores of bombers, escorted and protected by fighters, flying into enemy territory and bombing the hell out of the enemy. In Europe and usually the Pacific, this was the standard approach, but some bomber squadrons flew a different kind of mission. This was the case for VPB-117 – the Blue Raiders – unique not only because its B-24 Liberators flew for the U.S. Navy and not the Army, but also because most of the Raiders’ missions entailed bombers venturing out over the Pacific, alone, to seek and destroy on long-range missions of a thousand miles out and a thousand back, often at altitudes close enough for sea spray to cloud their windows. This is their story.
Download or read book Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II written by Maurer Maurer and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of squadron histories has been prepared by the USAF Historical Division to complement the Division's book, Air Force Combat Units of World War II. The 1,226 units covered by this volume are the combat (tactical) squadrons that were active between 7 December 1941 and 2 September 1945. Each squadron is traced from its beginning through 5 March 1963, the fiftieth anniversary of the organization of the 1st Aero (later Bombardment) Squadron, the first Army unit to be equipped with aircraft for tactical operations. For each squadron there is a statement of the official lineage and data on the unit's assignments, stations, aircraft and missiles, operations, service streamers, campaign participation, decorations, and emblem.
