The Mighty Eighth at War: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe 1943-1945

by Martin W. Bowman

From the beginning of World War Two the RAF's Bomber Command had been the only means of striking Hitler's Reich and its war machine. The entry into the war of the United States and the subsequent arrival in the UK of the Eighth Air Force was to more than double the Allied capability. The Flying Fortress and Liberator heavy bombers were mostly flown across the Atlantic by their young unblooded aircrew and many succumbed en route and never arrived. Flying in north Europe was a different ball game from American skies and it took a considerable time before the crews familiarized themselves with the vagaries of fog, low cloud, rain and snow. The American bombers bristled with defensive armament and elected to fly in close defensive formation during the day leaving the RAF to carry out nighttime raids. With the arrival of long-range protective escort fighters the task became a little easier.This book explains, including many firsthand accounts, how the American bomber force helped fig

Genres: World War II

256 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2010

About the author

Martin W. Bowman is one of Britain's leading aviation authors, with over 100 published books on the Second World War and post-war aviation history, and several on the landscape of East Anglia. He has also established an international reputation for his superb imagery and aerial photography. He has a passion for flying in military aircraft. He lives in Norwich, Norfolk.

Reviews

[W.A. McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meat Grinder

The story of the Memphis Belle alerted me to the perils of the bomber crews of the 8th Air Force. I was so impressed with how these men continued to do their jobs, day in and day out, almost certain they would never get to go home.

Some of these individual tales are daunting!

[Stuart Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting: more a book giving an idea of what it was like for the individual crews, than an overview of the history of the 8th Airforce during WW2. The accounts of the aircrew are vivid and compelling, and as a piece of eyewitness history it is compelling.

[happy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book just average. While fairly short (about 280 pages)it is mostly a recitation of first person accounts.

The connecting prose just doesn't put some of them into context very well. He also makes almost no attempt to explain the strategy and changing tactics of the Eigth.

While I do appriciate the October 14, 1943 mission to Schweinfurt, why devote 2 chapters to it.

Good read for the buff, but the general reader would problably get a little lost.