A Wing and a Prayer
The "Bloody 100th" Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action Over Europe in World War II
2 of 2 copies available
They began operations out of England in the spring of ’43. They flew their Flying Fortresses almost daily against strategic targets in Europe in the name of freedom. Their astonishing courage and appalling losses earned them the name that resounds in the annals of aerial warfare and made the “Bloody Hundredth” a legend.
Harry H. Crosby—depicted in the miniseries Masters of the Air developed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg—arrived with the very first crews, and left with the very last. After dealing with his fear and gaining in skill and confidence, he was promoted to Group Navigator, surviving hairbreadth escapes and eluding death while leading thirty-seven missions, some of them involving two thousand aircraft. Now, in a breathtaking and often humorous account, he takes us into the hearts and minds of these intrepid airmen to experience both the triumph and the white-knuckle terror of the war in the skies.
“Affecting . . . A vivid account . . . Uncommonly thoughtful recollections that address the moral ambiguities of a great cause without in any way denigrating the selfless valor or camaraderie that helped ennoble it.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Re-creates for us the sense of how it was when European skies were filled with noise and danger, when the fate of millions hung in the balance. An evocative and excellent memoir.” —Library Journal
“The acrid stench of fear and cordite, the coal burning stoves, the heroics, the losses . . . This has to be the best memoir I have read, bar none.” —George Hicks, director of the Airmen Memorial Museum
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
September 14, 2021 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781504067324
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781504067324
- File size: 14368 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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March 1, 1993
Crosby ``did everything wrong'' on his first WW II mission as navigator in a B-17 crew, but soon demonstrated a natural talent that elevated him to the position of navigator of a bomb group. This meant he was responsible for assembling as many as 2000 warplanes from various bases in England, leading them to their targets, then guiding the air crews home. The casualty rate was frightful, and Crosby here describes how he accomplished his intricate work despite growing fears of death or maiming. Anecdotes abound in these incident-rich pages, some funny, others cruel, like the tale of how a crew rid itself of an obnoxious member by convincing him that their plane had been hit so seriously that they had to bail out, and he alone did--over Germany. Written from the unusual perspective of a navigator, this is a compelling account of the air war against Germany. Crosby, now retired, is former director of Harvard's Writing Center. Illustrations.
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