The Wild Blue Yonder and Beyond

by Morris, Rob; Hawkins, Ian

• ISBN13: 9781597977128
• ISBN10: 1597977128
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-31
• Publisher: Potomac Books Inc

Summary

The 95th Bomb Group (Heavy), the most highly decorated bomb group of World War II, participated in every major mission of the war from May 1943 through the war's end and won an unprecedented three Presidential Unit Citations (known as the Distinguished Unit Citation before 1966). Flying the celebrated B-17 Flying Fortress, the 95th was the first U.S. bomb group to bomb Berlin'”a feat that put it in the centerfold of LIFEmagazine'”and the last group to lose a plane over Europe in World War II. Over 600 men in the 95th never came home. The Wild Blue Yonder and Beyondis the first book to cover a World War II bomber group from its inception through the present day. Utilizing interviews with nearly a hundred air war veterans, dozens of unpublished crew memoirs, all the bomb group's official mission reports from the National Archives, and nearly a hundred other sources, the book provides a deep tactical and human understanding of the group. Also included are the stories of the veterans' wives and families,who fought a different kind of war at home, and the residents of Horham, whose tiny English village was suddenly on the war's front lines. Intensely human, exhaustively researched, and lovingly told, this book is certain to be a classic in the field and a resource for anyone interested in the workings of a World War II bomber group.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
The Creation of an Air Force	p. 1
Across Oceans and Continents	p. 19
Alconbury and Early Missions	p. 31
Mission Day	p. 39
Then Came Kiel	p. 57
The British	p. 69
Cold Sky	p. 85
DNIF: Duties Not Involving Flying	p. 91
From Kiel to the Eve of Regensburg	p. 103
Replacement Crews	p. 109
Wives and Mothers	p. 117
Sudden Death	p. 129
Entertainment and London	p. 135
Regensburg Shuttle Mission	p. 149
Black Week	p. 159
POWs, Part I	p. 177
Internment in Switzerland and Sweden	p. 191
Escape and Evasion	p. 199
MIA	p. 211
Pathfinders and Aphrodites	p. 221
Big Week	p. 231
"Big B"	p. 239
D-Day	p. 253
The Russia Shuttle Missions	p. 259
Final Combat Missions	p. 269
POWs, Part II	p. 285
Manna/Chowhound Missions	p. 293
Coming Home	p. 305
The Legacy Lives On	p. 311
Glossary	p. 321
Notes	p. 329
Selected Bibliography	p. 347
Index	p. 359
About the Authors	p. 367
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