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

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

Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid

Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid PDF Author: Martin Caidin
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1387695215
Category : Schweinfurt (Germany)
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
On Thursday, October 14, 1943, two hundred and ninety one B-17 Flying Fortresses set out for a strategic bombing raid on the factories in Schweinfurt.Sixty of those planes never returned and six hundred and fifty men were lost during the course of that mission.It was the greatest failure that the United States Air Force had ever suffered and became known as "Black Thursday".Martin Caidin's Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid is a brilliant account of that day that should never be forgotten.This book uncovers in thrilling detail the build-up to that fateful raid as the ground crew prepare the aircraft and the aviators are briefed on their mission ahead.By consulting with first-hand accounts and interviewing survivors Caidin's book takes the reader to the heart of the action as the planes burst into battle in the skies above Western Europe."It is documented in the same careful kind of research which makes the whole book so successful. Excellent!" Kirkus ReviewsMartin Caidin was an American author and an authority on aeronautics and aviation. Caidin was an airplane pilot as well, and bought and restored a 1936 Junkers Ju 52 airplane. His book Black Thursday was first published in 1960. He passed away in 1997.

Schweinfurt Raids And The Pause In Daylight Strategic Bombing

Schweinfurt Raids And The Pause In Daylight Strategic Bombing PDF Author: Major Greg A. Grabow
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782893881
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 105

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Book Description
Avid readers of WWII air combat will find the Eighth AAF’s strategic bombing mission #84 (the Schweinfurt-Regensburg raid on Aug. 17th, 1943) and mission #115 (the Schweinfurt raid on Oct. 14th, 1943) to be tremendous setbacks to the daylight strategic bombing campaign of Germany. As a result of the heavy losses the Luftwaffe inflicted upon Eighth Bomber Command’s heavy bombers, the daylight strategic bombing campaign was halted for over four months. The Eighth AAF could not sustain such heavy losses, in both aircraft and aircrew, and remain an effective force. During the halt in the daylight strategic bombing campaign, only targets within fighter escort range were selected so Eighth Bomber Command could receive replacement crews, upgraded aircraft, revise its strategic bombing tactics, and review its daylight strategic bombing doctrine. ...Initially, the heavy losses incurred during the Aug. Schweinfurt-Regensburg raid were explained away as justified due to the “heavy” damage to both targets, the number of German fighters “shot down,” and the weather which prevented 300 heavy bombers from being sent as one force - the number required for self-sustainment on deep penetration missions. This was the same mood immediately after the Oct. Schweinfurt raid but changed drastically once monthly loss statistics were released and further examination forced the USAAF leadership into a rude awakening: unescorted bombers took seven times the loss plus two-and-a-half times the damage and the final assessment revealed Eighth Bomber Command experienced the loss of one-third of its heavy bombers each month... What were the implications? America’s daylight strategic bombing campaign came within limits of defeat but the Eighth AAF was able to pause, adjust its strategic bombing doctrine, and obtain its objective of neutralizing the Luftwaffe and destroying German wartime industry.

The Nuremberg Raid

The Nuremberg Raid PDF Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 178159886X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
A thorough history of the RAF Bomber Command attack on the German city during World War II, by the author of The First Day on the Somme. This book describes one twenty-four-hour period in the Allied Strategic Bomber Offensive in the greatest possible detail. Author Martin Middlebrook sets the scene by outlining the course of the bombing war from 1939 to the night of the Nuremberg raid, the characters and aims of the British bombing leaders, and the composition of the opposing Bomber Command and German night fighter forces. The aim of the Nuremberg raid was not unlike many hundreds of other Royal Air Force missions but, due to the difficulties and dangers of the enemy defenses and weather plus bad luck, it went horribly wrong. The result was so notorious that it became a turning point in the campaign. The target, the symbolic Nazi rally city of Nuremberg, was only lightly damaged, and 96 out of 779 bombers went missing. Middlebrook recreates the events of the fateful night in astonishing detail. The result is a meticulous, dramatic, and often controversial account. It is also a moving tribute to the bravery of the RAF bomber crews and their adversaries. Praise for The Nuremberg Raid “Employing hundreds of eyewitness accounts, he shows the raid from the point of view of the German defenses and the civilians on the ground. Factual and analytical, this is a portrait of mechanized warfare at the level of personal experience.” —Simon Mawer, Wall Street Journal

Scribner Military Library

Scribner Military Library PDF Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Scribner Book Company
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
On August 17, 1943, the entire strength of the American heavy bomber forces in England set out to raid two vital industrial targets deep in southern Germany. For American commanders it was the culmination of years of planning and hoping, the day when their defensive formations of Flying Fortresses could at last perform their true role and reach out by daylight to strike at targets in the deepest corners of industrial Germany. The day ended in disaster. Thanks to the courage of the aircrews, the bombers broke through to the targets and caused heavy damage, but sixty of the planes were shot down and the hopes of the American commanders were shattered. Historically, it was probably the most important day for the American air forces during the Second World War. - Jacket flap.

Schweinfurt–Regensburg 1943

Schweinfurt–Regensburg 1943 PDF Author: Marshall Michel III
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472838653
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
In 1943, the USAAF and RAF launched the Combined Bomber Offensive, designed to systematically destroy the industries that the German war machine relied on. At the top of the hit list were aircraft factories and plants making ball-bearings – a component thought to be a critical vulnerability. Schweinfurt in southern Germany was home to much of the ball-bearing industry and, together with the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg, which built Bf 109 fighters, it was targeted in a huge and innovative strike. Precision required that the targets were hit in daylight, but the raid was beyond the range of any existing escort fighter, so the B-17s would go in unprotected. The solution was to hit the two targets in a coordinated 'double-strike', with the Regensburg strike hitting first, drawing off the defending Luftwaffe fighters, and leaving the way clear for the Schweinfurt bombers. The Regensburg force would carry on over the Alps to North Africa, the first example of US 'shuttle bombing'. Although the attack on Regensburg was successful, the damage to Schweinfurt only temporarily stalled production, and the Eighth Air Force had suffered heavy losses. It would take a sustained campaign, not just a single raid, to cripple the Schweinfurt works. However, when a follow-up raid was finally launched two months later, the losses sustained were even greater. This title explains how the USAAF launched its daylight bombing campaign in 1943, the technology and tactics available for the Schweinfurt-Regensburg missions, and how these costly failures forced a change of tack.

Target Berlin

Target Berlin PDF Author: Jeffrey L. Ethell
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Berlin (Germany)
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description


Air Force Combat Units of World War II

Air Force Combat Units of World War II PDF Author: Maurer Maurer
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1428915850
Category : United States
Languages : en
Pages : 520

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Book Description


The Bombers

The Bombers PDF Author: Ashley Brown
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780918678447
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description


Operation Pointblank 1944

Operation Pointblank 1944 PDF Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 184908386X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
A thorough examination of one of the most controversial operations in World War 2 Operation Pointblank was the code name for the United States Army Air Force's attempt to destroy German fighter capability through the use of daylight strategic bombing in advance of the D-Day landings. Launched in 1943, the operation immediately met with severe problems, most notably the horrible attrition experienced by the US bomber forces. However, with the arrival of the P-51 Mustang, the United States was able to equip the fighters to fly on long-range-bomber escort missions and take the fight to the Luftwaffe in the skies over Germany. Complete with maps, illustrations and photographs, this book examines the entire operation from both the Allied and the German perspectives, covering all the main decisions and technological innovations made by both sides in this epic struggle.