After his bomber was shot down over Germany, Bob Ball learned what it took to survive as a Prisoner Of War. He describes what men did to cope with their captivity.
Bob Ball
B-24 navigator Vern Bingham flew in the lead plane in some of the largest bombing raids in Southern Europe. He discusses the experience of high altitude daylight bombing and the importance of bombardiers and their equipment.
Vern Bingham
After glider pilots delivered their troops and cargo behind the German lines in Normandy on D-Day, they became ground troops whose goal was to get back to the American side of the lines. Along the way they faced numerous hazards, and Jesse Black describes how one man in his group discovered a newfound appreciation for foxholes.
Jesse Black
The approach to the target was one of the most dangerous times for the men flying bombing missions. Joe Clarke describes how planes were vulnerable in the moments immediately before and after reaching the target.
Joe Clarke
Wayne Coleman flew two of America’s best fighter planes during World War II, The P-47 and the P-51. He says that the P-51 gets more attention these days, but he actually preferred flying the Thunderbolt.
Wayne Coleman
For all the men who flew on the heavy bombers, there were many more on the ground who did the important work of keeping the planes in the air, often salvaging equipment from damaged planes to keep others airworthy. Henry Dahlberg was a crew chief in charge of several maintenance crews, and was so valuable he was forbidden to fly on the planes he maintained.
Henry Dahlberg
Joe DeLio had a bad feeling before the mission where he was shot down over Germany. The extra precautions he took that day saved his life when he was literally blown out of his exploding bomber by anti-aircraft fire.
Joe DeLio
Upon liberation as a POW from Stalag Luft 1 in May 1945, Loy Dickinson got a taste of future Cold War rivalry when he and other American prisoners were nearly interned by the Russians, and would only be released when certain conditions were met.
Loy Dickenson
The view from the ball turret provided Robert Egnew a wide field of view for all the things that could happen during a B-17 bombing mission.
Robert Egnew
Warren Foote
Few pilots have had the varied flying experiences of Orville Horn. An American who enlisted with the RAF before America’s entry into the war, he few Hurricanes and Spitfires before transferring to the Army Air Corps, which immediately assigned him to fly B-17 bombers. Here he describes whether he’d rather fly a fighter than a bomber.
Orville Horn
One of the most famous aviation units of World War II played a role in the rescue of Gil Maestas. He tells the aftermath of a raid to southern Germany that gave him a lifelong appreciation for the Tuskegee Airmen.
Gil Maestas
German fighter pilots were particularly good a attacking American bomber formations from angles that offered the best possibility of doing damage to the bombers with minimal opportunity for response. Lucky McGinty was a gunner on B-17s and describes how the Germans preferred to attack.
Lucky McGinty
The inevitable casualties of the air war also brought about awkward situations as replacement crews were brought in to replace the dead and missing, often within hours of their loss. George Meshko discusses how veteran fliers reacted to these new colleagues.
George Meshko
Though Mitch Mischler’s plane made it through its missions relatively unscathed and he completed 25 missions quicker than almost anyone, others in his bomb group weren’t as fortunate. He tells of the most dangerous missions his group faced, including a long-range trip to Berlin without fighter escorts.
Mitch Mischler
Axis naval forces were active in the Caribbean before and after the Pearl Harbor attack. Newell Moy flew anti-submarine patrols in antiquated B-18 bombers, and recalls how brazen the Germans were and where they could go for help in the area.
Newt Moy
Late in the war American bomber crews faced a nearly invincible challenge from German jet fighters. Don Nate describes how the ME-262s would attack bomber formations, and about their one of their few vulnerabilities.
Don Nate
The Eighth Air Force’s early raids on Germany proved so costly it necessitated a dramatic overhaul in tactics. General Curtis LeMay devised new formations that protected more bombers and made the raids more effective.
Barney Nolan
German fighter pilots proved to be a tough enemy for American bomber crews, and didn’t just pose a threat over enemy-held territory. Grant Oasheim says the bombers were vulnerable even on approach to their English bases.
Grant Oasheim
After escorting a crippled plane to safety in Russian occupied Poland, P-47 pilot Pete Peterson was stranded with other American fliers and found the Russians less than willing to help fix their planes and get them back to their units in Western Europe. That led to a dramatic escape in a hastily repaired B-17.
Pete Peterson
When a bomber took off for a mission to Germany, the crews that prepared the plane were often left in the dark for hours waiting for their return, and dealing with the possibilty that the fliers they worked with on a daily basis might not come back as Guy Purdy describes.
Guy Purdy
B-17 Armor Gunner Mike Quering talks about the mental intensity of air combat over Europe and the stress it brought upon the young crewmen who carried out the missions.
Mike Quering
Rigney Sackley was part of a special unit that addressed technical problems experienced by Eighth Air Force fliers on mssions from England to the Continent. Here, he describes one particular issue that victimized a number of heavy bomber crews.
Rigney Sackley
Glider pilot Tom Sander thought the life of a glider pilot would be exciting and glamorous, but had a different impression after flying into Normandy on D-Day.
Tom Sander
In the winter of 1945, the Germans moved prisoners of war out of their camps and marched them through the German countryside in the cold and snow. Though in German custody on the march, Duane Thayer and his fellow POWs did have protection from their fellow American fliers along the route.
Duane Thayer
On The B-17, perhaps no crewman was more isolated than the ball turret gunner who flew on the bottom of the plane in cramped conditions. Billy Thornton describes what it took to fly in the ball.
Billy thornton
Few bombing missions were costlier to the Eighth Air Force than the infamous Schweinfurt raid of October, 1943. Jim Tracy was one of the fliers shot down in that raid, and says the results weren’t completely unexpected to the men who flew that day. Jim spent six months with the French Underground before escaping through Spain and returning to England.
Jim Tracy
Before travelling over the English Channel to bomb the Third Reich, heavy bombers would form up over England in an intricate process. Lennart Wallden details how pilots would get in the proper formation with hundreds of planes from multiple squadrons in the air all at once.
Lennart Wallden
Hal Weekley flew the B-17 during the war, and flew it while touring the country with the Aluminum Overcast into the 21st Century. During many visits, he noticed a number of spectators who always seemed to watch the plane from afar. He soon learned there was a very special reason for their interest.
Harold "Hal" Weekley
Ken Wilson learned that getting on the wrong side of a superior officer can get you taken out of cushy stateside duty and sent to Europe to fly gliders into combat. He talks about why he didn’t exactly relish his new assignment.