Operation Chowhound The Most Risky, Most Glorious US Bomber Mission of WWII

by Dando-Collins, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9781137279637
• ISBN10: 113727963X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2015-02-24
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

Beginning with a crazy plan hatched by a suspect prince, and an even crazier reliance on the word of the Nazis, Operation Chowhound was devised. Between May 1 and May 8, 1945, 2,268 military units flown by the USAAF, dropped food to 3.5 million starving Dutch civilians in German-occupied Holland.

It took raw courage to fly on Operation Chowhound, as American aircrews never knew when the German AAA might open fire on them or if Luftwaffe fighters might jump them. Flying at 400 feet, barely above the tree tops, with guns pointed directly at them, they would have no chance to bail out if their B-17s were hit—and yet, over eight days, 120,000 German troops kept their word, and never fired on the American bombers. As they flew, grateful Dutch civilians spelled out "Thanks Boys" in the tulip fields below. Many Americans who flew in Operation Chowhound would claim it was the best thing they did in the war.

In this gripping narrative, author Stephen Dando-Collins takes the reader into the rooms where Operation Chowhound was born, into the aircraft flying the mission, and onto the ground in the Netherlands with the civilians who so desperately needed help. James Bond creator Ian Fleming, Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn, as well as Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Churchill all play a part in this story, creating a compelling, narrative read.

Author Biography

Stephen Dando-Collins is an award-winning military historian who has written numerous highly praised books. Today, Stephen’s books appear in many languages and he has an army of loyal readers wherever his books are published around the world, in countries including Australia, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Poland, Albania, and Korea.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MAPS
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 - Navigator Ellis B. Scripture’s Prayer
CHAPTER 2 - Himmler’s Secret Agent
CHAPTER 3 - The Suspect Prince in the World of James Bond
CHAPTER 4 - The Bridge Too Far -the Failure to Liberate Holland
CHAPTER 5 - The Germans Go on the Offensive
CHAPTER 6 - Surviving the Hunger Winter
CHAPTER 7 - An Offer from Nazi Governor Seyss-Inquart
CHAPTER 8 - President ‘Dutch’ Roosevelt’s Promise
CHAPTER 9 -‘Beetle’ Bedell Smith’s Plan
CHAPTER 10 - Farley Mowat Goes Behind German Lines
CHAPTER 11 - The Achterveld Agreement
CHAPTER 12 - The First Nervous Test Flight
CHAPTER 13 - Ike’s Hatchet Man tells the Nazi Governor Straight
CHAPTER 14 - US Eighth Air Force Prepares for Chowhound
CHAPTER 15 - May 1, 1945 - B-17’s Over Holland at 400 Feet 
CHAPTER 16 - Germans Open Fire On Chowhound Bombers
CHAPTER 17 - Audrey Hepburn’s Birthday Present - the Liberation of Holland
CHAPTER 18 - Grif Mumford’s Special Air Delivery to A Dutch Sister
CHAPTER 19 - Bombardier Braidic’s Fateful Decision
CHAPTER 20 - The End – For Seyss-Inquart and the War
CHAPTER 21 - The Aftermath
CHAPTER 22 - The Best Thing We Ever Did in the War
ENDNOTES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX