8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1945 [Hardcover]

Gregory Pons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2006

America's strategy for complete victory over Nazi Germany called for the utter destruction of major its major industrial areas. These raids were carried out as early as 1942 by hundreds of heavy bombers from the US 8th Air Force, based in England.

The descriptions of combat missions flown by B-17 crews over occupied Europe and the Reich are illustrated with official and private pictures taken from the personal albums of pilots, crew members, mechanics and Air Force photographers.

Gregory Pons is one of the leading European experts on American military aviation in World War II. He has contributed several articles to the French Militaria Magazine and has been collecting Air Force memorabilia and photo-albums for over twenty years.

The book contains hundreds of large format period pictures of actual missions, planes and crews; as well as personal mementoes and reproductions from servicemen's scrapbooks.

There are color plates of all the famous aircraft and their colorful livery (including nose art) together with full-color reenactment shots of the aircrew allowing for all the details of their flying clothing and equipment to be seen in extreme detail.

REVIEWS

"...a fantastic photo album..."Armorama 11/2006

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Pons is one of Europe's foremost experts on American military aviation in World War Two, and a leading collector of Air Force memorabilia and photograph albums. He is a regular contributor to Militaria magazine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Histoire and Collections (July 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2915239827
• ISBN-13: 978-2915239829
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #851,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I like this book, August 10, 2006

By 

Jonathan Gawne "But then, what do I know..." (The great Northeast) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1945 (Hardcover)

If I was going to visit a WW2 AAF vet and wanted something to get him talking, this is the book I would bring. If he was an 8th AAF I know I would never get it out of his hands. It's a really nice book.

If I was an AAF vet, this is the book I would buy my kids to show them what the war was like.

It's hardcover (not paperback as Amazon says) and is gorgeously laid out with a pile of black and white, and color photos and drawings. It finds a very nice balance between covering various elements and aircraft types, uniforms, and equipment, as well as just plain old day to life of the airmen. It is not a full history of the air war- there are far too many of those already available.

Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in this subject. Top notch production values.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mighty Eighth Scrapbook!, February 6, 2007

By 

Michael OConnor "Wordsmith" (Wausau, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1945 (Hardcover)

Interest in the 8th Air Force never seems to diminish. This volume from the French publishing firm Historie & Collections provides a largely visual look at the "Mighty Eighth" at war.

Author Gregory Pons relates the experiences of a dozen 8th Air Force pilots, gunners, bombardiers, navigators and mechanics assigned to different Bomb Groups. The experiences of each individual are presented through their combat diaries, letters home, flight records, hometown newspaper articles, various memorabilia and photographs. The history of that person's bomb group is included along with pages of photographs of group aircraft and aircrew, color profiles of group aircraft by Nicolas Gobin and color photographs of re-enactors wearing 8th Air Force garb.

8TH AIR FORCE is a treat for the eyes - tons of nicely reproduced photographs plus Gobin's marvelous artwork! If you are looking for a visual record of the Mighty Eighth, this book fills the bill nicely. Unfortunately you never get to know the men and women featured in this book as living human beings; the personal material included simply doesn't bring them to life in any way, shape or form.

All in all, one great photo album!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Air Force history, October 5, 2011

By 

Darrell E. Fisher (Lincoln, Nebraska) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1945 (Hardcover)

I thought this book was pretty good, but not what I expected. When I purchased the book, I expected the usual narrative with reference citations. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the author actually used interviews or diary's from the crews of bombers and fighters assigned to the 8th Air Force. I suspected the text would be somewhat dry, but I couldn't have been anymore wrong. The book and recollections were fantastic! This is a must-read for anyone interested in WWII history, and anyone interested in those from the Greatest Generation!