Customer Reviews

The 44th Bomb Group in World War II: The Flying Eight-Balls Over Europe in the B-24

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 44th BG is arguably the 8th Air Force's most illustrious B-24 unit. The 'Flying Eightballs' served longer than any Liberator unit in the 8th AF, sustained the highest MIA losses and claimed the most enemy aircraft downed. Awarded two Distinguished Unit Citations, the 44th was the first 8th AF group - B-17 or B-24 - to earn that prestigious award. The history of the group is well told in this Schiffer Publishing book by noted historian Ron MacKay.

The first USAAF unit to receive B-24s, the 44th stayed stateside till September 1942, acting as a Liberator training unit. Logging its first combat mission on 7 November it had dropped 18,980 tons of bombs over European or MTO targets while losing 153 aircraft by war's end. Among the missions flown was the August 1943 low-level mission to Ploesti, Rumania which netted the unit its second DUC and its CO, Leon Johnson, a Medal of Honor. Eleven of 37 aircraft despatched were lost. In all the group flew 344 missions during its wartime service.

Author MacKay, who has written two dozen military aviation-themed books, does his usual excellent job of relating the travails of the 44th. He covers the missions flown by the group but also supplies background information that gives insight into the day-to-day life of an 8th AF bomb group.

The text is illustrated with over 400 black & white photographs of aircrew, aircraft, crash sites, targets bombed and air combat scenes. MacKay includes over 50 pages of appendices including a list of all missions flown, aircraft lost, individual summaries of each B-24 assigned to the group and personnel killed. Given the amount of detail contained in those appendices, it's unfortunate he continues, as with his other books, to provide incomplete names for individuals covered in the text. Considering what the men of the 'Eightballs' did for their country, sometimes at the cost of their lives (800+ 44th BG KIAs), I feel it behooves the author to give fuller details than "Lt. Foy."

All in all, THE 44TH BOMB GROUP IN WORLD WAR II is a well-researched, nicely illustrated, comprehensive tribute to all the men who made up this most distinguished unit. Recommended.

THIS IS THE MOST COMPLETE, INFORMATIVE, AND WELL WRITTEN BOOK I'VE SEEN ON THIS DECORATED WWII ARMY AIRFORCE UNIT. THE TEXT IS EXCELLENT AND THE PICTURES ARE MANY AND ADD GREATLY TO THE TELLING OF THIS GROUPS HISTORY. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO ANYONE WITH AN INTEREST IN WORLD WAR II AVIATION.