Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Thomas D. Jones (Author)
Key Phrases: jug pilots, flak gunners, armed reconnaissance mission, Hell Hawks, Ninth Air Force, Charles Johnson (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Checkpoints
"The product of four years of research, [Hell Hawks!] doesn't merely entertain with 'I was there' tales of intrepid aviators, it takes the reader back to a time of our 'greatest generation,' and puts one alongside boys just out of their teens, uprooted from their peacetime lives and thrust, for example, into the cauldron of the Battle of the Bulge...gripping, accurate, and engaging."

Product Description

Hell Hawks! is the story of the band of young American fighter pilots, and their gritty, close-quarters fight against Hitlers vaunted military. The "Hell Hawks" were the men and machines of the 365th Fighter Group.

Beginning just prior to D-Day, June 6, 1944, the groups young pilots (most were barely twenty years old and fresh from flight training in the United States) flew in close support of Eisenhowers ground forces as they advanced across France and into Germany. They flew the rugged, heavily armed P-47 Thunderbolt, aka the Jug. Living in tents amid the cold mud of their front-line airfields, the 365ths daily routine had much in common with that of the G.I.s they supported.

Their war only stopped with the Nazi surrender on May 8, 1945. During their year in combat, the Hell Hawks paid a heavy price to win the victory. Sixty-nine pilots and airmen died in the fight across the continent. The Groups 1,241 combat missions -- the daily confrontation of sudden, violent death -- forged bonds between these men that remain strong sixty years later. This book will tell their story, the story of the Hell Hawks.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press; 1st edition (June 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760329184
• ISBN-13: 978-0760329184
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #52,928 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dorr Scores Well, As Expected, August 18, 2008

By	Don Struke (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

As the owner of many of Bob Dorr's books, I have come to expect that anything he produces will be well-researched, well-presented, and very well-written. "Hell Hawks!" is right up there not only with Dorr's other works but with the best in Be There combat writing. Here's an example: "The German pilot ran flat-out low...threading the needle between a church steeple and tall brick smokestack. Narrow streets raced under the wings of Kraman's P-47 as he engaged the throttle button triggering emergency water injection. His Pratt & Whitney surged as Kraman squeezed off short bursts at his quarry, the enemy banking abruptly left and right to throw off the American's aim. Across the Rhine, farther into Germany, the pair raced east..."

Dorr and co-author Thomas D. Jones (USAF Academy grad, ex-B-52 driver, veteran of four NASA space shuttle flights) also rightly recognize the guys who weren't strapping into the 365th Fighter Group's P-47s: "The men with stripes on their arms didn't pilot Jugs, but they made warfare in the Jug possible." We tend to forget that the aircraft of WW II, after all, were just 15 years removed from Lindbergh's Ryan NYP of 1927 but were very complex machines. The authors salute the men with the stripes well.

The results of close to 200 interviews of 365th FG veteans, other combat vets, family members, and more, plus four years of research, "Hell Hawks!" is loaded with the day-to-day details of fighting a tenaciously fierce enemy, demonstrating throughout the book that ground attack combat was a deadly way to earn your flight pay. The authors bring the personalities of the young pilots alive as well as provide a big picture of Allied strategy and the pace of war from D-Day to victory. This is an excellent book not only for military historians but for anyone who enjoys aviation writers at the top of their game. Splendid!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hell Hawks! - A Must Read for Aviation Enthusiasts!, July 5, 2008

By	Harry Strahlendorf "P47Harry" (Southern New Jersey) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hell Hawks! brings to life the air war in Europe, using daily missions of the 365th Fighter Group, 9th US Air Force. My dad flew a P-47 Thunderbolt with the 371st FG, and was lost on a mission over Cherbourg two weeks after the D-Day Normandy Landings. There are many books out that tell the story of our heroes on the beaches. We thirsted for one that describes the "band of brothers" who took part in the Liberation of Europe from the air. Now we have one! Anyone interested in a detailed history of one group that was so typical of all should have this tome!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done!!!, August 24, 2008

By	James L. Jones - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

365th veteran Charles Johnson wrote his comprehensive "History of the Hell Hawks" in the early '70s but only a limited number were published and if a copy can be found, it is very expensive. This new look at the group reasserts the history of this important outfit into the public eye. More importantly, the authors captured more personal stories of the 365th members that otherwise would soon be lost forever. For those who don't want to read through a long boring group history, this is the book for you! It is very well written and fast paced. I thank the authors for this wonderful work. Jay Jones, author of "The 370th Fighter Group in World War II".