In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) [Hardcover]

James M. Davis (Author), David L. Snead (Editor)

Book Description

Series: North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series | Publication Date: March 23, 2006

James "Jim" Davis lived what he considered "an impossible dream" as he piloted a B-24 as part of the 8th Air Force on more than thirty missions in the European Theatre during World War II. He flew support missions for Operations Cobra and Market Garden and numerous bombing missions over occupied Europe in the summer and fall of 1944, attacking enemy airfields, airplane factories, railroad marshalling yards, ship yards, oil refineries, and chemical plants. While he and his crew survived without serious injuries, they witnessed the destruction of many of their friends' planes and experienced serious damage to their own plane on several occasions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The key word was ‘survival.’ Run the flak gauntlet, escape the Luftwaffe, overcome the weather, get the bombs on the target, and make it back to base, safe—until the next time. From the rigors of training to the demands of combat flying, Jim had one predominant goal, survival. This marvelous story will take you there with Jim and his crew.” --LTC Charles H. Freudenthal, USAF Ret., Historian of the 8th Air Force, 489th

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“Davis’s narrative has considerable merit—what came across was its genuineness, its authenticity. This account is one of the best because Davis is so explicit in recounting his fears, his sleepless nights before missions, and his lack of fear in the midst of crises. Such insights add significantly to the value of his memoir. As a retired Air Force flag officer I must confess that I am appalled to learn that those in command in the 8th Air Force allowed Davis to go on combat missions with a copilot who had never landed or taken off in a B-24 and had never practiced formation flying. Davis’s revelations of just such snafus as these are what give added value and interest to his narrative” --I. B. Holley Jr., Emeritus Professor of History, Duke University

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“Jim Davis will certainly claim to be an ‘ordinary man.’ But in this riveting first-person account of his pilot training and B-24 combat missions over Europe during the waning years of the Second World War, Davis and his crew are surely extraordinary people. Thanks to David Snead’s graceful editing and insightful historical references, Jim’s own words reflect not only the facts of this epic adventure, but reveal the joy and sorrow, fear and relief, and deep feeling of being blessed to have survived this monumental war in the air while flying one of the great bombers of all time, the B-24 Liberator.” --Robert S. Hopkins III, Ph.D., Former RC-135 Aircraft Commander

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“A near-perfect example of ‘the greatest generation,’ Mr. Davis has written an enthralling account of his service in World War II. Indeed, to understand the air war in the European Theatre, with its unrelenting fatigue and harrowing dangers, there is no better place to start than with this poignant, enlightening, and entertaining memoir.” --Peter Maslowski, Professor of History, University of Nebraska

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About the Author

JAMES M. DAVIS is a retired businessman who lives in Midland, Texas, with his wife of over six decades, Jean. He served on active duty in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II and then in the Air Force reserves until 1961. DAVID L. SNEAD, the editor, is an associate professor of history at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. He verified Davis's account against military records and added explanatory notes for context.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press (March 23, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574412094
• ISBN-13: 978-1574412093
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,503,728 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Bomber Pilot Story, but Excellently Told., June 19, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) (Hardcover)

When you first see this book you can't help but think, 'What, another bomber pilot story.' Yes, it's another bomber pilot story. B-24's in the Eighth Air Force. In some ways it's a familiar story. But in spite of that, each story is different.

About half of this book is about the eighteen months spent in training to fly the B-24. Then they went to England and began their tour. They got to England on D-Day. They basically flew in the last year of the war. This was the time of the really big raids, a thousand, fifteen hundred planes. This was also the time of the ME-262. ==He was in London on pass when the largest number of V-1s in a single day attacked. (Many, many years later I stayed in the same hotel he used, the Great NorthEastern.)

He was in on Operation Cobra. He reports that his plane did not drop bombs because of an inability to positively identify the target. This was the day that the Air Force walked their bombs backwards over a road and killed a lot of Americans including Lt. General MacNair, the highest ranking American killed in Europe.

Once he cut his head open on a bomb fin as they were preparing for a mission. He went to the hospital. They put a bandage on it and told him that when he got back from the mission, if he got back, they would sew it up.

He participated in Operation Market Garden. This was the disaster described in the book/movie 'A Bridge Too Far.' There is an absolutely frightening picture of a B-24 nose down headed for a crash that was taken during this operation.

One point that makes this book more effective is the research done by Mr. Snead. He has checked the official history of each mission that Mr. Davis flew and gives the details as to what happened.

All in all, I found this to be one of those you can't put it down books. Highly recommended.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The next best thing to personally experiencing the wonders of flight and the terrors of war, May 3, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) (Hardcover)

In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot In World War II is the military memoir of James Davis, who piloted a B-24 as part of the Eighth Air Force on almost thirty missions in the European Theater during World War II. Chapters recount the story of his service from his dreams of flying, to training, his first mission, terrible close calls, the end of the tour, and coming home after the war. A handful of black-and-white historical photographs nicely illustrate this gripping firsthand testimony, so visceral as to be the next best thing to personally experiencing the wonders of flight and the terrors of war.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good story, poorly written, December 10, 2007

By 

James E. Beckman (Leonardo, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Hostile Skies: An American B-24 Pilot in World War II (North Texas Military Biography and Memoir Series) (Paperback)

This is, unfortunately, yet another bomber pilot memoir. It's worth reading for the details, but the author's tour over Europe was relatively uneventful. But then, the only guys that get to write their memoirs are the ones that survived.

The writing doesn't support the story very well, plus anybody with piloting experience will occasionally cringe at the errors made in the text.

Worth reading, but there are better choices out there.