Flying at 25,000 feet, loaded with 6000 pounds of bombs, bristling with thirteen .50 caliber machine guns, and with a highly trained and motivated flight crew, the B-17 Flying Fortress became the physical symbol of America's Mighty Eighth Air Force. Arrayed against the Eighth Air Force was Nazi Germany's veteran, battle tested air armada the Luftwaffa. But the B-17 didn't go to war alone. The Eighth Air Force also deployed some of the most famous aircraft: the rugged B-24 Liberator, the nimble P-38 Lightning, the P-47 Thunderbolt with its four pairs of deadly wing mounted .50 caliber machine guns, and the quick and high flying P-51 Mustang.
Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.
"London and southern England has for weeks now been the target of our V1, which is only the first link in a chain of new and strongest German weapons." So wrote the editor of Der Adler, the "house" magazine of the Luftwaffe, in August 1944. The first of the German V-weapons had crashed on English soil two months before in the early hours of June 13, and for the next ten months Britain was subjected to a relentless bombardment from Hitler’s Vergeltungswaffen or "revenge weapons". Beginning with the V1 flying bombs, colloquially dubbed in Britain as "doodlebugs," thousands of which had to be fired from fixed sites in northern France, the V2 rocket had the advantage of being mounted on a mobile trailer so it could be launched from any level piece of ground. The first pair of over a thousand rockets, fired from a street corner in Holland, arrived like a double thunderclap on the evening of September 8. Heralding a new form of warfare in which there was no warning and no defense, nevertheless huge efforts had been made by the Royal Air Force and US?Army Air Forces to blunt the threat of the new supersonic weapon. Based on a formerly classified RAF narrative, this book covers the detailed story, from the very first intelligence reports in 1943, through the various counter-measures carried out, both to mitigate manufacturing and destroy suspected V-weapon construction sites. Day-by-day listings are included covering the locations in Britain where every V1 was either destroyed or where they impacted, plus those for all the V2s. Illustrated with many censored photographs from the period, "then and now" comparisons bring history alive to illustrate the passage of time over the intervening years.
Patented in 1898 and produced from 1900, Georg Luger's iconic semi-automatic pistol became synonymous with Germany's armed forces throughout both world wars. Initially chambered for the 7.65×21mm round, from 1902 the Luger was designed for DWM's 9×19mm round, which even today remains the most popular military handgun cartridge. It was adopted by the Imperial German Navy in 1904, followed by the German Army in 1908, receiving the name Pistole 08. Despite being supplanted by the Walther P38, the Luger remained in widespread service with all arms of Nazi Germany's armed forces throughout World War II, and even equipped East Germany's Volkpolizei in the years after 1945. Featuring full-colour artwork, expert analysis and archive and present-day photographs, this engaging study tells the story of the Luger, the distinctive and deadly semi-automatic pistol that has come to symbolize Germany's armed forces in the 20th century.
Operations research grew out of the application of the scientific method to certain problems of war during World War II. This book tells the story of how operations research became an important activity in the Eighth Air Force. It emphasizes the people involved in these historical events, rather than the technical matters with which they dealt.
Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.
The B-24 Liberator was built in greater numbers than any other US warplane, yet its combat crews live, even today, in the shadow of the less plentiful, but better-known, B-17. This is their fully-illustrated history. Accounts of the 'Mighty Eighth' in Europe, and indeed many of the books and films that emerged from the greatest air campaign in history, often overlook the B-24, even though it was in action for as long as the Flying Fortress, and participated in just as many perilous daylight bombing missions. Featuring photography and illustrations throughout, Robert F Dorr's account of these units is ideal for aviation and World War Two enthusiasts.
In this second volume of his nuclear weapon series, John Clearwater continues to investigate the presence of American nuclear weapons in Canada. In Canadian Nuclear Weapons, Clearwater told the story of nuclear weapons that were in the hands of Canadian forces during the Cold War. In U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Canada, he goes further, looking at nuclear weapons held by American forces on Canadian soil. His purpose is to bring together until-recently secret information about the nature of the nuclear weapons stored, stationed, or lost in Canada by the United States Air Force and the United States Navy, and combines it with known information about the systems in the U.S. nuclear arsenal. The history of the atomic bomb in Canada goes back to the first years immediately after World War II when the U.S. government, under the prodding of the newly created Strategic Air command, began a slow and steady process of talks designed to allow Goose Bay to be groomed for the eventual acceptance of nuclear weapons. Crashes and nuclear accidents. Conspiracies and cover-ups. Clearwater examines them all in great detail. The reader will see for the first time the minutes of Cabinet and the Cabinet Defence Committee meetings in which the storage of nuclear weapons are discussed. Also printed here for the first time are the agreements between Canada and the U.S. for the storage of nuclear weapons. Many of the documents presented here were until recently classified as secret, and many were top secret.
