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Title: A Wing and a Prayer : by Harry H Crosby ISBN: 0-595-16703-9 Publisher: iUniverse.com Pub. Date: 05 January, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (9 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the best accounts of the Air War in Europe
Comment: Harry Crosby's account of the 100th Bomb Group and the air war against Naze Germany from mid-1943 till the end is one of the most informative and thoughtful memoirs of those dark days. Crosby relates many stories in his accounts, of his own experiences as a navigator, of the impact that Curtis LeMay and other group commanders had on combat techniques, of the sometimes touchy relationships between AAF personnel and their British hosts, and some thoughtful observations of the nature of war and the overall bombing campaign.
Crosby with a degree in English and considerable writing experience writes lucid, stripped-down prose, and his accounts of navigating under difficult circumstances brought a reality than few other accounts--written mainly by former pilots--have done. His story of an early mission to Trondheim, in Norway, is a gem of the navigator's problems--of unexpected cloud cover, of flying over Norway where, as Hobler put it, one fjiord from the air looks like another, and the element of luck and chance in any mission. As a WWII navigator in the Pacific, these types of details were welcome, as was his understanding of the "place" of navigator's in the AAF pecking order. When I was informed in December 1945 that I was on a preferred list of those to man the postwar Air Force, I politely declined knowing that navigators would be highly unlikely to advance at the rate of pilots. (I did, however, remain the reserves for 20 years}.
What comes through most clearly, however, was the terrible losses that the 8th suffered in its campaign against Germany's manufacturing capacity and infrastructure, and of the courage and perseverence of those who served. The 100th BG, for example, arrived in midyear, 1943, with 35 crews; only one intact crew completed 25 missions, though a few other crew members from crews broken up because of casualities and other reasons also survived. Was it worth it? Did the damage done justify the loss in life, not only of the air crews but also those of German civilians and others killed by the raids. Crosby is a bit ambilavent--he joined the anti-war movement in the 1960s. Nonetheless, no one can take away from the aircrews, and those who did not return, their courage and belief that they were part of a grand but terrible endeavor to bring the war to an end and of the demented policies of Hitler and his Nazi cohorts . May they rest in peace.
Rating: 5
Summary: Great story of the air war over Europe
Comment: Harry Crosby was a navigator in the 100th Bomb Group in World War II. He was one of the original members of the 100th, a bomb group that, because it ventured into battle with less training than groups preceding it, and because of its unenviable position flying in the lower part of the formation on many missions, suffered heavy losses and became known as "The Bloody Hundredth". Crosby uses his obvious skill as a student of the English language to recreate the drama, the humor, and the terror of flying B-17's out of East Anglia in the war. He describes many of the historic missions flown by the 8th Air Force as an eyewitness. I have read the book several times and it is good history as well as a good study of human beings and the stresses they face daily in war. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Definitive account of the airwar.
Comment: Find a copy of this book somewhere, it is well worth the extra effort. Only the new WWII airwar novel, The Triumph and the Glory, moved me as much as Crosby's epic tale of the 100th Bomb Group
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Title: Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II by Philip Ardery ISBN: 0813108667 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky Pub. Date: March, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Mighty Eighth : The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It by Gerald Astor ISBN: 0440226481 Publisher: Dell Pub. Date: 13 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.50 |
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Title: Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer by Brian D. O'Neill ISBN: 0071341455 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional Pub. Date: 30 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Wings of Morning: The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II by Thomas Childers ISBN: 0201407221 Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: Wing Ding: Memories of a Tail Gunner by Gene T. Carson, John W. Carson, Lt. Col Gene T. Carson USA ISBN: 0738856894 Publisher: Xlibris Corporation Pub. Date: 17 March, 2001 List Price(USD): $21.99 |
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