by admin
Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer
December 5, 2009 in Reformed Presbyterian by admin
Product Description
Incorporating a wealth of new material, here is the riveting story of the bombing raids that broke the back of Nazi Germany, praised as “a well-researched, highly readable account of a B-17 combat crew’s experience … excellent.” (Roger A. Freeman, author of The Mighty Eighth)
This book is well researched and organized and worth reading. However, I found it to be somewhat dry, repetitious, and an effort to finish.
“Half a Wing” follows one crew in particular (crews stayed together as teams, although they often changed airplanes). These WWII airmen had to serve on 25 missions before they could rotate back to the US. At a rate of up to 20% losses per mission, these were steep odds. Each of the crew’s missions has a chapter devoted to it, and the author methodically gives the details in chronological order, interspersed with small quotes from diaries or interviews with survivors. The raids were done in daylight and suffered from enemy fighter attacks and then flak over the targets. There were a lot of gun battles between the various gunner positions in the B-17’s and the enemy fighter planes.
P.S. Are there any books by some of the crews who crashed and evaded or landed in Switzerland? slacker2@98.net
Rating: 3 / 5
This book is riveting, makes you feel like you are there in those planes over germany right with those guys. What a bunch of dedicated men to withstand all the events they had to and still find the will to come home and do all they did for the rest of they’re lives very impressive. I have even more admiration for all who were in this war.
Rating: 4 / 5
This has been my year to get caught up with the history of the Eighth Air Force and no book does it better from the human point of view than this one.
These were the missions from the perspective of the crews that flew them, dodged the fighters and the flack and sometimes came home to tell about it. Their story, told in this fashion is a very human way of relating to the difficulty of daylight bombing against heavily defended targets by hundred of bombers flown by men barely old enough to be able to vote.
At this level of introspection, there is no glory, only guts and courage and the understanding of doing one’s duty. In the long run the sheer numbers of Americans willing to put themselves in harm’s way won the air war and broke the back of the once proud German Luftwaffe. The attrition rate was apalling, yet as one examines the strategy and the results, there was probably no other way to do it.
If one seeks a well rounded understanding of those years, this book is a must.
Rating: 5 / 5
Great book,very well written and easy to read. Highly recomended for all 8th air force buffs.
Rating: 5 / 5
A great read! I you have an interest in WWII European aviation, this is a must. Most chapters are about individual missions of the 303rd bomb group. Covers the 1943 Stuttgart and Schweinfurt raids in detail.
Enjoy.
Rating: 5 / 5