Customer Reviews

Hell in the Heavens: Ill-Fated 8th Air Force Bomb Group Missions

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Hell In The Heavens: Ill-Fated 8th Air Force Bomb Group Missions was created in England in 1942 by Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker for the specific purpose of daylight bombings over Europe. B-17s, and later B-24s were used with the expectation of a minimum of casualties due to either the German Luftwaffe or anti-aircraft fire. Despite advice from the British Royal Air Force that such an air campaign was doomed to fail, the initial operation took to the air on August 17, 1942. Eleven B-17Es went out to bomb rail yards in Rouen France. It was the beginning of one of the bloodiest air assault strategies to be employed by the Americans. William Hess' historical account of the air campaigns against Stuttgart, Schweinfurt, Berlin, Rostock, Brux, Politz, Kassel, Magdeburg and other targets is nothing less than riveting. Hell In The Heavens is a superbly researched and presented contribution to the growing library of military literature concerning the Allied campaigns in the European theatre.

This 140-page volume provides detailed accounts of some of the 8th Air Force's most hazardous and costly missions during World War II. Through post-mission debriefs, interviews with aircrews from both the United States and Germany, and extracts from official unit records, William Ness provides insights to the units' horrible and sometimes bizarre experiences.

My only criticism of this book is that at times it is a little monotonous, with long recitations of loss figures and lists of KIAs. However, this is a very minor problem in an otherwise very good book.

This is more a listing of official Missing Aircrew Reports and official mission summaries which results in its' feeling of routine repetition in its' writing style, a summary of documents.. A lot more could have been done with this.