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. Day after day, the American bomber boys watched their comrades burn to death in blazing bombers,...

"Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military campaign in aviation history. There's no higher accolade in the U.S. military than the Medal of Honor, and 472 people received it for their action during World War II. But only one was demoted right after: Maynard Harrison Smith. Smith is one of the most...

In this second volume, Martin Bowman tells the story of the Eighth Air Force's campaign over Germany and Occupied Europe in the words of the men who flew the missions.

To be an airman in the eighth Air Force flying over the war-torn skies of europe required skill, tenacity, and luck. Those who were shot down and evaded capture needed all of that and more if they were to make it back to friendly lines. These are their stories. each is compiled from the original intelligence debrief written by the pilots or aircrew themselves. Bill Yenne details how a spider web of escape routes sprang up, created by the local Resistance....

As a young band of brothers flies over German-occupied France, they come under heavy fire. Their B-17 is shot down and the airmen--stumbling through fields and villages--scatter across Europe. Some struggled to flee for safety. Others were captured immediately and imprisoned. Now, for the first time, their incredible story of grit, survival, and reunion is told.