Victory Fighters: The Veterans' Story

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Release : 2012-07-30
Genre : History
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Book Rating : 995/5 ( reviews)

Victory Fighters: The Veterans' Story - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Victory Fighters: The Veterans' Story write by Stephen Darlow. This book was released on 2012-07-30. Victory Fighters: The Veterans' Story available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A collection of eyewitness accounts of the struggle that raged in the skies over occupied Europe after the Battle of Britain during World War II. Expertly selected and interwoven by Stephen Darlow, Victory Fighters centers on the stories of six pilots and one navigator, the telling of which covers every aspect of this battle over land and sea. The author describes and analyzes the relevant command decisions from the highest level down, and against this background the men give their accounts from the start of their flying careers through to the preparations for operation Overlord, the invasion itself, the liberation of France, the crossing of the Rhine, to the end of the war in Europe on VE-Day. Through their eyes, the reader is introduced to a series of different tasks and situations, a multitude of aircraft types—Sunderlands, Mustangs, Tempests, Typhoons, Spitfires, Whirlwinds, Mosquitoes—and a great many squadrons. Having conducted numerous interviews and undertaken diligent research of documents, diaries and correspondence, the author has produced a fitting testament to these men and the countless others they represent.

Snow & Steel

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Release : 2015
Genre : History
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Book Rating : 141/5 ( reviews)

Snow & Steel - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Snow & Steel write by Peter Caddick-Adams. This book was released on 2015. Snow & Steel available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. A new assessment of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest and bloodiest battle fought by U.S. forces in World War II, offers a balanced perspective that considers both the German and American viewpoints and discusses the failings of intelligence; Hitler's strategic grasp; effects of weather and influence of terrain; and differences in weaponry, understanding of aerial warfare, and doctrine.

Flying against Fate

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Release : 2017-08-04
Genre : History
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Book Rating : 694/5 ( reviews)

Flying against Fate - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Flying against Fate write by S. P. MacKenzie. This book was released on 2017-08-04. Flying against Fate available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. During World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were high. Of the roughly 125,000 who served as aircrew with Bomber Command, 59,423 were killed or missing and presumed killed—a fatality rate of 45.5%. With odds like that, it would be no surprise if there were as few atheists in cockpits as there were in foxholes; and indeed, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in Flying against Fate, a pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II. Mining a wealth of documents as well as a trove of published and unpublished memoirs and diaries, MacKenzie examines the myriad forms combat fliers' superstitions assumed, from jinxes to premonitions. Most commonly, airmen carried amulets or talismans—lucky boots or a stuffed toy; a coin whose year numbers added up to thirteen; counterintuitively, a boomerang. Some performed rituals or avoided other acts, e.g., having a photo taken before a flight. Whatever seemed to work was worth sticking with, and a heightened risk often meant an upsurge in superstitious thought and behavior. MacKenzie delves into behavior analysis studies to help explain the psychology behind much of the behavior he documents—not slighting the large cohort of crew members and commanders who demurred. He also looks into the ways in which superstitious behavior was tolerated or even encouraged by those in command who saw it as a means of buttressing morale. The first in-depth exploration of just how varied and deeply felt superstitious beliefs were to tens of thousands of combat fliers, Flying against Fate expands our understanding of a major aspect of the psychology of war in the air and of World War II.

We Fought to Win

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Release : 2018-07-17
Genre : Veterans
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Book Rating : 202/5 ( reviews)

We Fought to Win - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook We Fought to Win write by Kayleen Reusser. This book was released on 2018-07-17. We Fought to Win available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Kayleen Reusser has interviewed more than 250 World War II Veterans. In her first compilation of published stories, she has gathered 28 accounts of experiences with D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Remagen, Okinawa, Iwo Jima and more. Written for non-military readers, these stories explain in the words of our nation's oldest veterans the sacrifices they made for their country. We Fought to Win: American WWII Veterans Share Their Stories include men and women who served from 1941-1945 in the Army, Navy, Army Air Corps, WASP, Marines. This compilation is part of an effort the author is making to preserve a significant part of our national heritage. She has written two other books about veterans in the WWII Legacies series: They Did It for Honor: Stories of American WWII Veterans (Book 2); and We Gave Our Best: American World War II Veterans Tell Their Stories (Book 3).

RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War

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Release : 2022-03-31
Genre : History
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Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War write by Geoff Mills. This book was released on 2022-03-31. RAF and USAAF Airfields in the UK During the Second World War available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was described as one vast aircraft carrier anchored off the coast of Europe. During a seven year period 500 airfields were constructed to serve the needs first of the RAF and later the USAAF as they carried the war to German-occupied Europe. The airfields that were constructed took many different forms from training airfields and Advanced Landing Grounds to grass fighter airstrips and vast complexes used to accommodate heavy bombers. This book charts the history of each Second World War airfield in and around the UK providing a unique insight in to the construction, operational life and post-war history of each airfield. Alongside detailing the history of each airfield, this work comprehensively records the details of each unit that operated from airfields around the UK. The information provided in this meticulously researched book is supported by a wealth of 690 photographs providing an illustration into the life of each wartime station.