World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17

World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17 PDF Author: Staff Sergeant Luther Irwin Kelley
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465325263
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

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Book Description
War, guns, bombs and waist gunners—far removed from the small town of Fowler, Colorado, population about 1200, twenty-eight miles east of Pueblo, Colorado on Highway 50. I lived there with my Dad, Ray, who was Pastor of the Second Baptist church, my Mom, Florence, grandmother, Dora Kelley; older brother Fred, who went into the Army a year before I did, and my sister Lorene. Germany, with the leadership of Hitler had overrun several small countries—the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria; as well as the war with Russia and England, incarcerating all the Jews as he went along. The United States was furnishing England with food and all types of war supplies. Then a state of shock fell upon our country and our small town of Fowler when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. On December 8, 1941, our government declared war on Japan. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States and we in turn declared war on Germany the same day.

World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17

World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17 PDF Author: Staff Sergeant Luther Irwin Kelley
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465325263
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 190

Get Book Here

Book Description
War, guns, bombs and waist gunners—far removed from the small town of Fowler, Colorado, population about 1200, twenty-eight miles east of Pueblo, Colorado on Highway 50. I lived there with my Dad, Ray, who was Pastor of the Second Baptist church, my Mom, Florence, grandmother, Dora Kelley; older brother Fred, who went into the Army a year before I did, and my sister Lorene. Germany, with the leadership of Hitler had overrun several small countries—the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Austria; as well as the war with Russia and England, incarcerating all the Jews as he went along. The United States was furnishing England with food and all types of war supplies. Then a state of shock fell upon our country and our small town of Fowler when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. On December 8, 1941, our government declared war on Japan. On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States and we in turn declared war on Germany the same day.

World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17

World War II from a Waist Gunner's View of Stalag 17 PDF Author: Luther Irwin Kelley
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781436325059
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description


Hell's Belle

Hell's Belle PDF Author: Randall L. Rasmussen
Publisher: Sunstone Press
ISBN: 1611390273
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
It was December 3, 1943, and American warplanes were on assignment over Nazi Germany. Sergeant William Rasmussen was the ball turret gunner on the Hell’s Belle, a B-17 heavy bomber. During one of its missions, the Belle was shot down and the captured American flyers were sent to the notorious German prison camp Stalag 17B. In Stalag the American prisoners of war had to deal with the harsh rules imposed by the German Commandant as well as deplorable living conditions: filth, bitter cold, starvation and disease. Told through the eyes of one young flyer, the book has non-stop action, emotion and humor, and captures the upbeat and undefeatable spirit of America’s finest young men who served the United States during WWII. RANDALL L. RASMUSSEN, M.D. used his father’s memoirs, “From a B-17 to Stalag 17B,” as the basis for this book. Dr. Rasmussen also explored William Rasmussen’s notes, the verbal history that he recorded at the local library, research material, and recollections of the narratives he heard his father tell so many times over the years. William Rasmussen was a popular guest speaker at press clubs, library clubs and service organizations in Michigan’s lower peninsula near his home. His narratives were enjoyed immensely since he had a special gift of being able to captivate audiences as they shared his experiences flying over Nazi Germany and being a prisoner of war.

The Flame Keepers

The Flame Keepers PDF Author: Ned Handy
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312349042
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
This is a fascinating first-person account of a World War II soldier's capture and imprisonment in Stalag 17, one of Germany's most notorious prisoner-of-war compounds, where he led an escape team determined to tunnel to freedom. photos.

Coffin Corner

Coffin Corner PDF Author: Kenneth V. Horrigan
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
ISBN: 1609110110
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 153

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Book Description
They have been referred to as the Greatest Generation. They are the men and women of World War II. Their stories need to be told. Writer and daughter of a WWII veteran, Cherie Horrigan-Happy, honors her father with this powerful and amazing account. Written in first-person narration, the reader is drawn into the world of Kenneth Horrigan, a man who was captured by the enemy when he was 19 years old. Horrigan recounts his experiences of being interrogated relentlessly by the Germans; suffering unimaginable emotional and physical distress; solitary confinement; and the sights, sounds and smells of war that no soldier will ever forget. Upon his return home, Horrigan was rejected by the Veterans Administration and was denied benefits. This powerful book chronicles the life of a young soldier and his experience as a POW, not only the suffering he endured, but the ways in which he knew it affected his loved ones. It contains never-before-published historical documents that give proof, honor and respect to this American soldier and how he served his country.

From Combat to Prisoner to Freedom

From Combat to Prisoner to Freedom PDF Author: Robert Aderholt
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 118

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Book Description
On October 14, 1943, the United States Eighth Air Force launched a second air assault on the ball bearing factories at Schweinfurt, Germany. The US bombers were met by a fierce counterattack from German fighters and anti-aircraft artillery. The result was a loss of 60 B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, of the 291 that began the mission. A total of 650 airmen's lives were lost in the raid. Due to the extensive losses, The Second Schweinfurt Raid would come to be known as "Black Thursday". Ernest Gilbert volunteered for combat, and became a Waist Gunner on the B-17 "Piccadilly Commando". His last mission was bound for Schweinfurt on the second raid. Upon returning from the war, Ernest's former English teacher encouraged him to write about his experience in the war. This book is the personal account and diary of Ernest Gilbert, in his own words, of that mission and trials as a POW at Stalag 17B until the end of the war, as he made his way From Combat, to Prisoner, to Freedom. Book includes never before seen photos, including 2 from inside Stalag 17B, Missing Air Crew Report, as well as a complete images of Ernest's Diary while in Stalag 17B.

Flight Surgeon

Flight Surgeon PDF Author: Thurman Shuller
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
ISBN: 0875657842
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 606

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Book Description
Colonel Thurman Shuller’s war diary traces his story from Las Vegas Army Airfield in the summer of 1941 to the desperate days of the air war in Europe. The group surgeon character in the motion picture Twelve O’clock High was based on Shuller during his time as Group Surgeon of the famed 306th Bomb Group at Thurleigh, England, where he struggled with finding medical solutions for high altitude frostbite, oxygen deprivation, combat fatigue, and a growing crisis of hopelessness among the air crews. Shuller campaigned for setting the maximum number of missions for air crews to fly in a combat tour and argued for the elimination of "Maximum Effort" missions that forced them back to base from furloughs and passes. Shuller’s diary brings his wartime experience back to life. His descriptions of the journey across the North Atlantic in the nose of a B-17 Flying Fortress are vivid and personal. His accounts about life among the British during the war bring a fresh look at the air war as it emerged from the pleasant meadowlands of East Anglia. Royalties for the book are being donated to the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (www.mightyeighth.org).

Hell's Belle

Hell's Belle PDF Author: Randall L Rasmussen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781632934925
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
It was December 3, 1943, and American warplanes were on assignment over Nazi Germany. Sergeant William Rasmussen was the ball turret gunner on the Hell's Belle, a B-17 heavy bomber. During one of its missions, the Belle was shot down and the captured American flyers were sent to the notorious German prison camp Stalag 17B. In Stalag the American prisoners of war had to deal with the harsh rules imposed by the German Commandant as well as deplorable living conditions: filth, bitter cold, starvation and disease. Told through the eyes of one young flyer, the book has non-stop action, emotion and humor, and captures the upbeat and undefeatable spirit of America's finest young men who served the United States during WWII. Randall L. Rasmussen, M.D., used his father's memoirs, "From a B-17 to Stalag 17B," as the basis for this book. Dr. Rasmussen also explored William Rasmussen's notes, the verbal history that he recorded at the local library, research material, and recollections of the narratives he heard his father tell so many times over the years. William Rasmussen was a popular guest speaker at press clubs, library clubs and service organizations in Michigan's lower peninsula near his home. His narratives were enjoyed immensely since he had a special gift of being able to captivate audiences as they shared his experiences flying over Nazi Germany and being a prisoner of war.

Mission 91: the Bomber Raid on Stuttgart Germany

Mission 91: the Bomber Raid on Stuttgart Germany PDF Author: Ken Tuvman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
This is a true story about, Staff Sergeant Bernard M. Tuvman, of Jewish descent, who enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on August 31, 1941, shortly before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and propelling the United States into the Second World War. Dad wanted to be a pilot but when that didn't come to fruition, he was sent to gunnery school. Dad was assigned as a waist gunner on a B17 Flying Fortress and was assigned to the 388th Bomb Group, a division of the 560th Bomb Squadron. He and his crew of the Shedonwanna? were sent to an air base in Knettishall, England. At its peak strength in 1944, USAAF employed 450,000 Americans in Britain. Most will immediately think of fighter pilots or bomber crews, but the majority of USAAF's men and women were engaged on a much wider range of tasks, all of which were necessary to keep the aircraft flying. Nearly 30,000 never made it home. On September 6, 1943, the brave crew of Shedonwanna? departed on Mission 91 to bomb the Robert Bosch facilities that produced ball bearings and magnetos. This would turn out to be the most disastrous mission in the history of the Eighth Air Force. Dad's plane was shot down over Chartres, France by ace fighter pilot, Egon Mayer, flying his FW190, known as the "Butcher Bird." Dad managed to escape his spiraling plane, despite having to fight with a jammed escape door. He made it out just in time and parachuted to safety but was quickly captured and sent to an interrogation center. He'd spend the next 20 months as a POW at Stalags VIIA and XVIIB. The author explores the American architects of "Strategic Bombing," the Battle of Britain, and how the Nazi Regime was so well prepared at the onset of World War Two with their advanced fighter planes, well trained pilots, and radar technology that could have extinguished freedom as we knew it, had Hitler not made some poor decisions that cost Germany the war. This is a true story and the author is pleased to present his story about his father's contribution towards preserving world peace. Watch a short video as the author shares a map of Mission 91 and Sgt. Tuvman's scrapbook he built while a POW at Stalag XVII B > YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/Xpl-yAjwmFg

B-17 Gunner

B-17 Gunner PDF Author: Adam Klosowski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Adam Klosowski tells of his time as a prisoner of war. He was captured in October 1944 and held until May 1945. He spent part of his time in captivity in Stalag Luft #4. Adam and his wife, Irene settled in Sturgeon Lake, Minnesota where they farmed and raised their family.