Bomb Group

The Eighth Air Force's 381st and The Allied Air Offensive Over Europe

Paul Bingley, Mike Peters

• Publisher: Casemate
• Year: 2022
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781612009612
• Subtopic: European History
• Index: History

"The authors do a good job using the diaries, interviews, and books written by group members to convey a vivid—sometimes too vivid—picture of war at its most elemental." —The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation
In February 1942, a reconnaissance party of United States Army Air Force officers arrived in England. Firmly wedded to the doctrine of daylight precision bombing, they believed they could help turn the tide of the war in Europe. In the months that followed, they formed the Eighth Air Force – an organization that grew at an astonishing rate. To accommodate it, almost seventy airfields were hastily built across the eastern counties of England. At the heart of the Eighth Air Force was its bombardment groups, each equipped with scores of heavily armed, four-engine bombers. These Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Consolidated B-24 Liberators were soon punching through the enemy's defenses to bomb targets vital to its war effort. They were crewed by thousands of young American airmen, most of whom were volunteers. This book tells the story of just one "Bomb Group" – the 381st, which crossed the Atlantic in May 1943. Arriving at RAF Ridgewell on the Essex-Suffolk border, its airmen quickly found themselves thrown into the hazardous and attritional air battle raging in the skies over Europe. The 381st's path led from its formation in the Texan desert, to its 297th and final bombing mission deep into the heart of Hitler's Third Reich. This is the remarkable story of one group and the part it played in the strategic bombing campaign of "The Mighty Eighth."

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Foreword by James Holland
• Acknowledgements
• Prologue
• 1 Baptism by Fire
• 2 The Hottest Outfit: January 1–June 2, 1943
• 3 Big Leagues: June 3–July 14, 1943
• 4 Forward Together: July 15–30, 1943
• 5 A Matter of Time: July 31–August 17, 1943
• 6 Deception: August 18–September 9, 1943
• 7 Jinxed Ships: September 10–October 8, 1943
• 8 Beating the Odds: October 9–22, 1943
• 9 Scrub the Sky: October 23–December 1, 1943
• 10 Snow and Skis: December 2–31, 1943
• 11 The 25: January 1–11, 1944
• 12 Ridgewell’s Revenge: January 12–February 15, 1944
• 13 Trafalgar: February 16–25, 1944
• 14 “Big B”: February 26–March 9, 1944
• 15 Death of a B-17: March 10–31, 1944
• 16 Do Much for Doolittle: April 1–19, 1944
• 17 The European Theater’s Stage Door: April 20–May 8, 1944
• 18 Brakes Off: May 9–30, 1944
• 19 Triumphant We Fly: May 31–June 21, 1944
• 20 Marks in History: June 22–July 25, 1944
• 21 Buzz Bomb Alley to Happy Valley: July 26–September 2, 1944
• 22 Friendly/Enemy Lines: September 3–October 17, 1944
• 23 Leading the Way: October 18–December 11, 1944
• 24 Losing Friends, Burning Bridges: December 12, 1944–January 21, 1945
• 25 Razing the Reich: January 22–March 15, 1945
• 26 Hitting the Home Run: March 16–April 23, 1945
• 27 An Understandable Corner of the World: April 24–August 28, 1945
• Epilogue
• Glossary
• Appendices
• Endnotes
• Bibliography