Customer Reviews

B-24 Liberator Units of the Fifteenth Air Force (Osprey Combat Aircraft 21)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a WW2 vetereran who served in the Fifteenth Air Force as a member of the ground crew, this book has been a long time coming. As a history book or a book of memories for those who were there, it is a welcome addition to everyone's collection. It's accuracy in every detail, be it text or illustrations, is beyond reproach. It would have been nice to dedicate the book to those comrads of ours who didn't come home. Maybe now, it will be known that the air war in Europe was fought just as valantly from Italy as it was from England.

The B-24 Liberator was the workhorse heavy bomber of the 15th Air Force. The 5th Bomb Wing flew the B-17, but all other wings flew the Liberator. This compact Osprey Series book details the organizational development of the 15th AF, and presents an excellent discussion of bombing missions and targets. Flight characteristics of the Liberator as well as combat flying are presented in the form of first person narratives which are skillfully interwoven into the text. The result is an interesting read from both a historical and human interest perspective. B-24 devotees, 15th Air Force history buffs, and modelers seeking accurate color plates will all find this book rewarding. In the interest of full disclosure, this reviewer is favorably prejudiced toward Robert Dorr's book because a fatal crash described in detail on pp 55-58 involved my father. Photographs of the 3 crewmembers killed in this crash Norman Kraus, Norman Apperson, and James Hindes are available on the WWII Memorial Registry website.

I got this book for my 86 year old father who was a waist gunner on a B-24 out of Torretta Field near Cerignola Italy in 1944. He enjoyed it a lot and still looks at the pictures now and then. While it covers a bunch of the missions of the 15th Air Force, it would take a much larger volume to cover it all. The photos are what really make it enjoyable.

This book, as most Osprey Publications are, is a good resource of the B-24's operations in Italy with the 15th AAF.

My friend was killed on a B 24 raid on the Ploesti Oil Refineries and his body was never recovered. There is a memorial for him at the US Cemetary just outside Florence Italy.-

this i purchased for an 88 year old neighbor who during ww2 flew B24 airplanes. He is a darling retired pilot with alot of stories to tell. This is his xmas present, and he will love it!! I'll add more after he has seen it!

Considering the vast history of the B-24, Osprey has nailed a good portion of this important bomber with this book. This volume covers this infamous Ploesti Raid and the planes involved. There is one error concerning the Color Plate descriptions at the end of the book. Plate 29 on page 95 talks about the Strawberry Bitch. The text says it is a survivor of the Ploseti Raid. This is incorrect. She was not even delivered to the 15th AF until the end of August 1943. Other than this error, it is a great book for anyone interested in the B-24. Highly recommended.

As the son of a B-24 Liberator pilot, my dad and I have really liked the books we have purchased from Amazon.com. Great service.