The 451st Bomb Group in World War II

The 451st Bomb Group in World War II

Author: Mike Hill

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9780764312878

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This new book is an illustrated history of the 451st Bomb Group in World War II. As part of the USAAFs 15th Air Force, they flew their B-24 Liberators from Castellucia, Italy to heavily defended targets throughout the Mediterranean theater of war. During their combat tour the 451st was awarded three Presidential Unit Citations for their ability to get to the target no matter what the enemy threw at them.


The Western European and Mediterranean Theaters in World War II

The Western European and Mediterranean Theaters in World War II

Author: Donal Sexton

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2011-10-06

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 1135906874

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The Western European and Mediterranean Theaters in World War II is a concise, comprehensive guide for students, teachers, and history buffs of the Second World War. With an emphasis on the American forces in these theaters, each entry is accompanied by a brief annotation that will allow researchers to navigate through the vast amount of literature on the campaigns fought in these regions with ease. Focusing on all aspects surrounding the U.S. involvement in the Western European and Mediterranean theaters, including politics, religion, biography, strategy, intelligence, and operations, this bibliography will be a welcome addition to the collection of any academic or research library. Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies provide concise, annotated bibliographies to the major areas and events in American military history. With the inclusion of brief critical annotations after each entry, the student and researcher can easily assess the utility of each bibliographic source and evaluate the abundance of resources available with ease and efficiency. Comprehensive, concise, and current—Routledge Research Guides to American Military Studies are an essential research tool for any historian.


Liberators Over Norwich

Liberators Over Norwich

Author: Ron MacKay

Publisher: Schiffer Pub Limited

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 331

ISBN-13: 9780764335150

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The 458th Bomb Group (H) entered combat with the 8th Air Force early in 1944. Based at Horsham St. Faith in England, the combat crews participated in the decisive Campaigns Big Week, Big B, D-Day and the assault on Germanys oil industry waged by the USAAF up to VE-Day. The group also tested the operational use of Azon radio-controlled bombs. The 458th flew a total of 240 missions, during which over 13,000 tons of ordnance was dropped, and was achieved at the cost of sixty-five crews MIA or involved in operational accidents. This is their complete history.


United States Air Force and Its Antecedents

United States Air Force and Its Antecedents

Author: James T. Controvich

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9780810850101

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This bibliography lists published and printed unit histories for the United States Air Force and Its Antecedents, including Air Divisions, Wings, Groups, Squadrons, Aviation Engineers, and the Women's Army Corps.


Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis

Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis

Author: Kevin A. Mahoney

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2013-04-25

Total Pages: 519

ISBN-13: 081088495X

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In Fifteenth Air Force against the Axis: Combat Missions over Europe during World War II, historian Kevin A. Mahoney provides a detailed combat history of the crucial role played by this air force from November 1943 through May 1945. Presented by month in chronological order, Mahoney describes all the major bombing and fighter missions carried out by this air force within a strategic context. Each chapter includes an introduction describing developments in the evolution of the strategic air campaign against the Germans, highlights the purpose and importance of the month’s operations, and reviews the Luftwaffe’s resistance and changes in tactics and important developments in the Fifteenth Air Force’s organization. Each monthly narrative further explores most missions, detailing the number of aircraft lost during these missions. Losses are based on an exhaustively researched database compiled by Mahoney that contains details of almost 3,000 aircraft. Target damage is mentioned, while enemy opposition is also described for each mission. Appendices include four short essays on bombing operations (planning and flying of missions, tactics and techniques, bomb types, and bombing accuracy), tactics employed by fighter escort in aerial combat and strafing, combat crews and their aircraft (including a comparison of American fighters and bombers, the training of the crews, and their combat tours), and the Fifteenth Air Force command structure (including the use of intelligence, photo and weather reconnaissance, and the considerable effect of weather on Fifteenth Air Force operations). This work of military history is ideal for students and scholars of the air war in Europe.


The Jolly Roger

The Jolly Roger

Author: William C. Atkinson

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing

Published: 2015-07-28

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1457539519

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“There were no visible flames, only intense, searing heat. At once, his entire flight suit caught fire, and with no conscious thought he reached for his parachute at his feet against the waist window bulkhead. Instinctively, he tucked it under his arms like a football and dove through the open window, the force of the leap tearing loose the attachments to the airplane of his headphones, throat microphone and oxygen mask.” From The Jolly Roger James C. Atkinson began life the descendant of an impoverished farming family in rural east-central Mississippi. While a high school senior, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and, like so many young men of his generation, left his home to fight for his country in WWII. After a year of rigorous training, he was qualified as a Radio Operator/Gunner on a B-24 bomber, and what began as the adventure of a lifetime for Sgt. Atkinson, ended in horror and tragedy in the war-torn skies over Ploesti, Romania. Though this is Dr. Atkinson’s personal story, it is not unique. Rather, it is representative of the stories of legions of young men from the Greatest Generation who would face the challenge of rebuilding their lives aft er rising from the ashes of the most destructive war in history.


Bombing Europe

Bombing Europe

Author: Kevin A. Mahoney

Publisher: Zenith Press

Published: 2015-08-14

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1627887377

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Get the complete story of one of the most ambitious aerial campaigns in history--the bombing of Europe under the Axis powers--illustrated with over 200 compelling photos. Created in November 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force was the direct descendant of the American Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces that had fought in the Mediterranean since the summer of 1942. Its force included 210 B-17 Flying Fortress and 90 B-24 Liberator bombers escorted by P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt, and P-51 Mustang fighters. They took the air battle against the Axis to areas Allied bombers based in England could not reach: southern Germany, Austria, eastern Europe, and the Balkans. Their reach in the Balkans included the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania, vital to Germany's war effort. Its crews fought the weather, as well as the enemy, by flying over the Alps to reach many of their targets and made a significant contribution to the victory over the Axis powers and Nazi Germany. Although enemy fighter planes were a major menace during the first nine months of the Fifteenth's air war, ubiquitous antiaircraft fire, called flak, also took a toll on American bombers throughout the campaign. This book tells the story of the brave airmen who bombed the majority of Europe in an effort to win the war.