Martin W. Bowman Mighty Eighth at War

Annotation

';Relates how the American Eighth Air Force bombers helped Britains Royal Air Force in fighting Germany during World War II.'ProtoView From the beginning of World War II, the RAF's Bomber Command had been the only means of striking Hitler's Reich and its war machine. But the entry into the war of the United Statesand the subsequent arrival in the UK of the Eighth Air Forcewould more than double the Allied capability. The Flying Fortress and Liberator heavy bombers were mostly flown across the Atlantic by their young, green aircrew, and many succumbed en route and never arrived. Flying in northern 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 is the story, including many firsthand accounts, of how the American bomber force helped fight to eventual victory, by decimating German industry and transport systemsand breaking the Nazi war spirit.