Bombing Europe: The Illustrated Exploits of the Fifteenth Air Force

"Five Stars" according to G Crosby. excellent ref book. Four Stars An important book.. Marc L. Tavasci said Great photos, okay narrative. I was hoping this book would be a pictorial history of the 15th AF in World War II with a narrative of their combat operations--it wasn't. Instead, it was mostly a collection of stories about the individuals who served in the 15th and what they went through on a variety of combat missions. Lots of tales of bombers bei

This book tells the story of the brave airmen who bombed the majority of Europe in an effort to win the war.. 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. 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. 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. 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. Their reach in the Balkans included the oil refineries at

The text relates the thinking and the context of the events while the photos bring these events jumping off the book's pages. Bombing Europe is long overdue this book tells their story and what a story it is." - Seattle Post Intelligencer, Travel for Aircraft blog. Instead, it is a concise history laden with trials and tribulations of the aircrews and generously stocked with images. "Mahoney is more than familiar with the history of the Fifteenth and is accomplished as an author so Bombing Europe is no archetypal history book