Best books on flying in WWII

[Smithy]

I think you'll like "Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer" Zemke. Caine did a great job blending the pieces of Gover's letters and diary entries with his own narrative. Very good look at being an American in wartime Britain as well.

 

[Wesne]

One that hasn't been mentioned yet is "Flights of Passage" by Samuel Hynes, who was recently featured in Ken Burns PBS miniseries "The War." I read this one a number of years ago and it's always stuck with me.

 

[MikeyB17]

Lots of fighter memoirs here-not too many about the bomber boys. If I may:-

All of Jack Currie's, but particularly 'Lancaster Target', one of my favorites about the RAF Bomber war, and one of the funniest.

John Comer's 'Combat crew'.

Thomas Childers 'Wings of Morning', the last crew to be shot down over Germany in WWII.

Maj. Gen. Dale O. Smith-'Screaming Eagle'

Leon Wolff-'Low Level Mission'-story of the Ploesti raid

'Countdown'-Fred Koger-B-17 togglier.

If not previously mentioned, 'Enemy Coast Ahead'-Guy Gibson, and in a similar vein, Paul Brickhill's 'The Dam Busters', Leonard Cheshire 'Bomber Pilot'.

Harry Crosby 'A Wing and a Prayer'-100th BG lead navigator.

I could go on for hours!

Non-heavy bomber books:-

Norman Hanson 'Carrier Pilot'-Corsair pilot on HMS Illustrious, one of my favourites.

John Kilbracken 'War in a Stringbag' and 'Bring Back My Stringbag', both crackers.

'Stuka pilot'-Hans Ulrich Rudel

'I Flew for the Fuhrer'-Heinz Knoke

'The Straits Of Messina' and 'The Last Chance'-Johannes Steinhoff. Luftwaffe pilot in Sicily and defending Germany in the ME 262.

Bruce Gamble 'Black Sheep One' and 'The Black Sheep'-Boyington and VMF-214.

'Nanette'-Edwards Park-the story of a P-39 in the Pacific.

'Samurai'-Saburo Sakai-top-scoring Zero pilot.

All of Roger A. Freeman's books, especially the 'Mighty Eighth' series.

All of Martin Bowman's.

Most of Martin Middlebrook's.

Several of Martin Caidin's, especially 'Everything but the Flak', the story of flying 3 B-17's to England from the US for the filming of 'The War Lover'.

MB-17

 

[Mustang]

A Question.

Are there any good air war books from a theater perspective? I'm looking for something similar to how "Sea of Thunder" related to the Pacific Theater naval war, or how "D-Day" & "Citizen Soldiers" related to the European Theater infantry. They are not necessarily perfect examples of what I'm looking for, but they are different enough to give a broad idea of what I'm looking for...I hope[huh].

Thanks and Merry Christmas

 

[Boris K]

.

12 O'Clock High by Bierne Lay and A Wing and a Prayer by Harry Crosby if you are interested in the bombing campaign and the "Bloody 100th"

 

[Spitfire]

Are there any good air war books from a theater perspective? I'm looking for something similar to how "Sea of Thunder" related to the Pacific Theater naval war, or how "D-Day" & "Citizen Soldiers" related to the European Theater infantry. They are not necessarily perfect examples of what I'm looking for, but they are different enough to give a broad idea of what I'm looking for...I hope[huh].

Thanks and Merry Christmas

You might check out: Roger Freemann: The Mighty Eight. Only on the american part of the theater though.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Just finished Alex Henshaw's Sigh For A Merlin, about his time as the Chief Test Pilot for Vickers' at Castle Bromwich. Beautifully told, and with flying to make your nose bleed.

This man used to roll Lancasters!

 

[ethanedwards]

Favourite read

Hello chaps,
Really interested in the listings, I've read many of these. But
unless I've missed it here, I think "The Eighth Passenger" by Miles Tripp
has to be my favourite. He was a bomb aimer (flying in Lancasters) and he
writes vividly and emotionally of his wartime experiences. I don't
think it's in print now, but IMO well worth a read.

 

[SamMarlowPI]

i'll back up The Blue Arena too...fantastic...

 

[Smithy]

I'm pleased you picked up a copy Sam and enjoyed it as it is a fantastic read and wonderful memoir.

 

[DutchIndo]

Death Squadron- I forgot who wrote it , about the 4th fighter group.
Thunderbolt !- by Robert Johnson and Martin Caidin.
Lightning ! also by Martin Caidin, he brings up "compressibilty problems" both
Fighters had.
For God, Country and the Hell of it- John Hickman, a 9th AF Photo Recon who
gets shot down in France and escapes.
Most of these books are out of print I believe.

 

[Miss Crisplock]

I don't know how they rank, but would anyone like

Flying Combat Aircraft of the USAAF-USAF, edited by Robin Higham and Abigail Siddall

Airwar by Edward Jablonski

and

Dictionary of Weapons and Military Terms by John Quick, Ph.D, consultant Arthur D. Little

 

[Mojave Jack]

One of the most overlooked chapters in WWII aviation was that of the combat glider pilots. One of my favorite books on the US glider pilot program was Silent Wings: The Saga of the U.S. Army and Marine Combat Glider Pilots During World War II by Gerard Devlin.

Remember, the "G" stood for "Guts"!

 

[DutchIndo]

Silent Wings is a great book, I have Gerard Delvin's other book Paratrooper !
The later has some great references to pre D-Day Airborne Operations. Yes believe it or not there were other Divisions other than the 101st ! I am currently making a Waco CG4A scale model in my garage. I am using his book as a reference.

 

[rumblefish]

I Could Never Be So Lucky Again-Gen. James H. Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle's autobiography.
Besides the raid on Japan from the Carrier Hornet, his air speed records, and his contribution to aviation, the man led an interesting life. I read this book while he was still alive and wish I had met him and gotten his signature on my copy. He and some others did some tests of fog dispersal while staying in Port Washington near where I grew up. It was at the Guggenheim estate in what's now considered Sands Point where I used to play and fish as a boy. I now work on that property and a pistol range remains there from that time.

 

[dhermann1]

Reach for the Sky: Story of Douglas Bader, D.S.O., D.F.C. (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)
by Paul Brickhill
Some people think Bader was not quite as great as his self touted reputation, but this is still a great read.

 

[Story]

MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) -- Capt. Bo Foster had an extraordinary mission: Fly captured Nazi leader Hermann Goering to the 7th Army's headquarters for interrogation.
Then he took one look at the one-time heir to Adolf Hitler and commander of the fearsome Luftwaffe - all 300-plus pounds of him - and knew he needed a bigger plane.
It was May 9, 1945, the day after World War II ended in Europe. Goering, Foster and a group of officers from the Army's 36th Infantry Division gathered on a tiny airstrip outside Kitzbuhel, Austria, to transport the highly-prized war prisoner back to Germany in an unarmed, two-man reconnaissance plane.
"They wanted to get him back where he could be debriefed. There was a strong rumor that in a mountainside in the Alps right down there in Bavaria there was a concentration of (German) military," Foster said. "He just acted as though it was a nice, friendly trip."
Mayhew "Bo" Foster, now 99 and living in a Missoula nursing home, recently recounted his rare one-on-one encounter with one of the most wanted Nazi leaders. Foster went on to become brigadier general of the Montana National Guard and was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his World War II service, but it was this mission that stood out as the highlight of an illustrious military career.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOERINGS_PILOT?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US

 

[Bingo]

Great suggestions.
how about 'I flew for the Fuhrer'? This is about the German Ace Heinz Knoke, from the start of his career to the end.
Interesting to read it from the German point of view. A great book.
Some guy made a short film of some of the extracts from the book.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRWPsf9-y3I

 

[Bingo]

oh.
I have to recommend 'The Schweinfurt Regensburg mission,' by Historian and author Martin Middlebrook
It is a truly brilliant account of one of the Mighty Eighths fiercest air battles of WW2.

 

[kampkatz]

Great suggestions.
how about 'I flew for the Fuhrer'? This is about the German Ace Heinz Knoke, from the start of his career to the end.
Interesting to read it from the German point of view. A great book.
Some guy made a short film of some of the extracts from the book.

I also highly recommend Knocke's book. An excellent read! For those of us who are not German it gives a good perspective of a patriotic view from the other side