Customer Reviews

Fighting With the Screaming Eagles: With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne

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The author served with the usually rarely mentioned 401st Glider Regt (formerly a Bn of the 327th). Somewhat ironically though, his unit entered Normandy across the beachhead and not by air. Bowen's Normandy is somewhat short lived but his descriptions are some of the best I have ever read. He could see bodies floating beneath the water and some of the sights on land, particularly the destroyed German column are very vivid and quite awful.

The unit suffers many casualties to the point that Bowen writes it was never the same again. Bowen does not shy away from describing these. Some are the results of mistakes and foolishness. Regardless, few veterans have addressed this aspect of the war so graphically. Bowen often writes of a fellow soldier, giving a personal connection, perhaps recounting a conversation or some shared moment, before describing their eventual terrible fate on the battlefield. This device serves to both emphasize the humanity of each and the tragedy of their death, often after suffering horrific wounds and sometimes being abandoned screaming on the field. Some of this is delivered very bluntly, almost brutally. Bowen reveals how the war changed him. His wounds and subsequent treatment left him with health concerns for his whole life. He suffered personality problems, which is a confronting and stark admission.

As for combat, aside from Normandy, Bowen fights in Holland (on The Island) and outside Bastogne. He sees futile deaths, some through souvenir hunting and poor field craft. He writes a fair bit about being in combat but it is mostly of what he directs and observes, without revealing too much about his personal deeds. He does write briefly about wounding one German soldier though. He sees quite a bit of combat all together.

Bowen's style is very readable. He has an interesting turn of phrase and he is very good at describing what he sees. This brings home very graphically, aside from combat, his awful sea trip to England and the hellish conditions of his time as a POW. It also reveals his fascination with wartime England and his observations on this are very interesting. He is honest about his fears and doesn't try to gloss things over. He is critical of events and his fellow soldiers at times. His recounting of his experiences as an injured POW and repatriation and ongoing treatment is very eye opening. Overall, this is a good combat memoir. Recommended plus

My grandfather is pictured on the cover with Sgt. Bowen, at the bottom left. The vivid details in Sgt. Bowen's book make you feel like you are in 1944, watching all of the action! His book brought to life my grandfather's experiences. I still cannot comprehend what these soldiers endured, and I am so grateful that my grandfather made it back to Maine to start a family and a new life, after seeing so many friends perish. So, I am pestering him to write a book about his experiences now!

Sgt Bowen's account of his time in the 101st during WWII is excellently written and includes much of what is missing in other 101st Airborne histories/memoirs. Veterans recollections of war are those of a war fought locally next to your closest friends; Sgt Bowen's is very much in this vein. Sgt Bowen is an astute observer and reporter of his wartime activity in Normandy, Holland, and Germany. His inclusion of being wounded, captured and subsequent interment in medical units, POW camps, and release provide a unique glimpse into this aspect of WWII veterans.
Sgt Bowen has produced a book which is a thoughtful addition to the 101st Airborne's WWII history; definitely one not to be missed.

Robert Bowen, who lived in Maryland, in 1943 went down to Florida to have basics (if he finishes he would join the 104 infantry division). As fate had it Bowen and a couple other of his 104th friends would be transferred to Fort Bragg where they would join the 401st regiment of the screaming eagles, the elite 101st. Bowen fights in Normandy where he was injured in the ankle. He also fights in the 72-day campaign in Holland (operation Market Garden) and there he participates in the defense of the Island. Bowen also fights at Bastogne but is captured when a German armored division finally over runs Bowen's and the rest of his surviving friend's position. The rest of his book is about trying to stay alive in the POW camp where he and all of his friends are at the edge of death because of the small and some times no rations, and dysentery. Bowen then explains his life after the War, which as you will see is quite sad.

"Fighting with the Screaming Eagles" by Robert Bowen provides a unique glimpse at the fabled 101st Airborne Division from the perspective of a gliderman. The whole world heard of the famous exploits of the 82nd and 101st Divisions during the final and bloodiest year of the war in the West, yet many were probably unaware that these elite units also had glider borne troops who landed along with the paratroopers. Even within the divisions, these troops were often given second class status and not considered "true Airborne." Robert Bowen's book gives the reader testimony from one such unit, the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment and shows that these men fought with the same tenacity in crucial situations as their paratrooper comrades (formal histories recognize their value as well).

Bowen's story is emblematic of the 101st and shows that his regiment made important contributions to the three major campaigns fought in 1944. I found his style to be very candid when dealing with the grittier portions of combat; Bowen spares no expense to retell the events of his company to the reader, allowing the average civilian to understand what a struggle these men had. One of the great strengths in the conveyance of this fight was the fact that Bowen saved the letters he wrote to his wife and used them to revive his memories (no letters appear in the book). Although soldiers were not allowed to include detailed accounts in their correspondence, apparently they contributed to his amazing memory when dealing with his time at war. Another aspect that made this book so strong was his ability to place his comrades in the situations they fought in. He is not overly descriptive of the men he served with like the writing in "Band of Brothers," but there is a steady stream of commentary regarding his fellow soldiers in Company C. There is a photo in the book of a post war reunion so it is natural to assume that Bowen's mind was kept sharp by the contributions of his men, allowing him to retain the events in such precise detail so many years after the war. It is also clear that Bowen did a good amount of research in writing his book, another mode of jogging the mind to rehash the events in such vivid language.

Although Bowen proved to be as good a platoon sergeant as any, it did not seem that way upon his entry in the army with the 26th Division in 1943. He is honest in his initial dislike for the boredom and drudgery of garrison life and it quite surprising that he proved to be a great soldier in one of the Army's best divisions. Unlike the paratroopers, he was "volunteered" for the glider troops (the "flying coffins" were not popular). After he settles into the Division, his attitude improves and he seems to find some camaraderie with his men as they enter combat in Normandy. Bowen's regiment was folded into the 327th GIR, but his battalion landed behind the 4th ID at Utah Beach. Bowen's time in Normandy is very short due to a badly sprained ankle, but the level of detail is truly amazing. Unlike many veterans, he makes no attempt to exclude the horrible gore; perhaps writing it down was a way of expelling it from his mind (Bowen suffered from PTSD after the war).

His only glider landing is made in Holland for Op. Market Garden. Here are the best descriptions of combat in the book as the section is told in several chapters. Bowen is promoted to command his platoon as a SGT., showing his maturation as a soldier and level of competence. The final combat portion is at Bastogne, where he is taken prisoner after receiving shrapnel wounds. Bowen's odyssey through Belgium to POW camp bears witness to Allied airpower and gives the reader a sense of what the Germans were up against as he is as vulnerable as his captors. His time in several camps is horrendous before liberation, written with the typical level of razor sharp memory. A great book; classic Airborne.

Very interesting, the book brought me a new perspective of WWII from the view point of a glider troops. Most all writings are presented from the view point of the paratroopers.

I have read many books on WWII abd have to say that this is one of the most well written that I have read. The descriptions of events are incredible. If you are interested in reading about the European Theatre or the 101st, you must read this book. You will not be dissappointed.

Bowen writes in his book about a private named Harold Zimburg. If you were to search the national archieves for this name nothing will come up. The name doesnt exist. But,he is a real person...the man in the book called Harold Zimburg is my grandfather, Bowen just got his name wrong.I know this based on my grandfather's POW records, the stories he told while he was alive and the fact that his picture is in the book. Although Bowen got his name incorrect...it was very nice getting to read about my grandfather in World War 2 since he is now deceased. I am very excited there is a book out there that talks about the 401st!

After I first interviewed Mr. Bowen in 1998 I had tears in eyes. These feelings of sacrifice, loss, suffering, courage, and heroism surface again in this superb book. FIGHTING WITH THE SCREAMING EAGLES takes you back to the foxhole.

There are not many "first-hand accounts" of the glider troopers in World War II but Fighting With The Screaming Eagles goes a long way to fill that void.

Robert Bowen has as easy, natural style, which brings to light many of the unique challenges facing the glider forces. First, they were not volunteers but were expected to perform at the same high combat level as paratroopers. And that they did!

Second, they were delivered into combat in light, vulnerable, plywood gliders in a controlled crash landing that was considerably more dangerous than a parachute jump. They didn't receive their special insignia and hazardous duty pay until July 1944.

Bowen pulls no punches as he takes the reader through the rough training, the Atlantic crossing and how the 401st stubbornly clung to its unit identity after being assigned as the 1st Battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR) of the 101st Airborne Division. From there, his unit was in reserve to the 4th Infantry Division coming ashore on Utah Beach and the harrowing glider landings in Operation Market-Garden before being rushed to the Ardennes on the battle of the Bulge where Bowen was captured.

His unique perspective as both a glider warrior and a POW make this book extremely interesting and informative. Pictures, maps, a robust bibliography and a Roll of Honor for Company C, 401st round out this extraordinary book.

Anyone interested in airborne operations in Word War II will love this book.

John E. Nevola
Author of The Last Jump - A Novel of World War II