Eighth Air Force in WWII

AFEES members who evaded capture after being shot  down could have served in WWII, Korea, or Vietnam and from any of several Air Forces (8th, 9th, 12th, or 15th in WWII).  But they  were predominantly from the 8th Air Force which flew missions over Nazi-occupied countries in northwestern Europe during that war.  For that reason this page is intended to direct the visitor to a sampling of useful sources of information, including books, videos, etc.  Click here to visit the other pages on this website about the 8th Air Force.

Videos About the 8th Air Force in WWII

Books About the 8th Air Force in WWII

  • Ambrose, Stephen E., The Wild Blue, The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.
  • Army Air Forces, Target: Germany, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1943.
  • Astor, Gerald, The Mighty Eighth. The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It, NY (?): Penguin Publishing Group, 1997.
  • Ayres, Travis L., The Bomber Boys, Heroes Who Flew the B-17s in World War II, New York: NAL Caliber (Penguin Group), 2005.
  • Barning, Hinrich, Leidvoll! To Suffer!, Bremen: Verlag Nordkant WerbrungBremen, 2007. (Parallel German and English accounts of a B-17 crew.)
  • Bendiner, Elmer, The Fall of Fortresses, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1980. (About the Schweinfurt raid.)
  • Birdsall, Steve and Freeman, Roger A., Claims to Fame, the B-17 Flying Fortress,London: Arms and Armour Press, 1997.
  • Boiten, Theo and Martin Bowman, Battles with the Luftwaffe, The Bomber Campaign Against Germany, 1942-1945, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2001.
  • Bowers, Peter M. and Dan Hagedorn, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 1935-2010, Seattle: The Museum of Flight, 2010.
  • Bowman, Martin W., Castles in the Air, the Story of the B-17 Flying Fortress Crews of the US 8th Air Force, Willingborough, England: Patrick Stephens, 1984.
  • Bowman, Martin W., Clash of Eagles: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe in World War 2, Casemate Publishers, 2007.
  • Bowman, Martin W., On the Highways of the Skies: The 8th Air Force in World War II, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2008.
  • Bowman, Martin W., We’re Here to Win the War for You: The 8th Air Force at War, Amberley Publishing, 2012.
  • Brennan, Dan, One of Our Bombers is Missing, New York: Belmont Tower Books, 1946. (A novel. Good descriptions of flak attacks on bombers.)
  • Bushong, Richard B., My Wars: B-17s to F-4s, WWII to Viet Nam, published by author, 2008.
  • Caidin, Martin, The B-17, the Flying Forts, New York: ibooks, 2001.
  • Campbell, John M. and Donna Campbell, B-17 Flying Fortress Nose Art Gallery, Osceola WI: Motorbooks Intl. Publishers & Wholesalers, 1993.
  • Coffey, Thomas M., Decision Over Schweinfurt, The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing,  Ace Books, 1978.
  • Crane, Conrad C., Bombs, Cities, & Civilians, American Airpower Strategy in World War II, Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1993.
  • Crosby, Harry H., A Wing and a Prayer, New York: HarperPaperbacks, 1993.
  • Cruikshank, Charles, The Fourth Arm, Psychological Warfare, 1938-1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981. (Listed also under “Resistance”. Has samples of propaganda leaflets dropped by USAAF.)
  • Dillon, Neal B., A Dying Breed, The Courage of the Mighty Eighty Air Force, Grants Pass, Oregon: Hellgate Press, 2000.
  • Fletcher, Eugene, Mister, The Training of an Aviation Cadet in World War II, Seattle:University of Washington Press, 1992.
  • Fortier, Norman “Bud,” An Ace of the Eighth, An American Fighter Pilot’s Air War in Europe, New York: Presidio Press, 2003.
  • Freeman, Roger A., B17 Fortress at War, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1977.
  • Freeman, Roger A. and David Osborne, The B-17 Flying Fortress Story, London: Arms & Armour, 1998.
  • Freeman, Roger A.,  The Mighty Eighth: A History of the Units, Men and Machines of the US 8th Air Force, Cassell, 2007.
  • Freeman, Roger A., The Mighty Eighth, A History of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday and Co., Inc., 1970.
  • Freeman, Roger A., The Mighty Eighth War Manual, London: Cassell & Co., 2001.
  • Freeman, Roger A., The Mighty Eighth, The Colour Record, Cassell & Co., 2001.
  • Graham, Frederick P. and Harold Kulich, He’s In the Air Corps Now, NY: Robert W. McBride & Co., 1942.
  • Hammel, Eric, Air War Europa, America’s Air War Against Germany in Europe and North Africa, Chronology, 1942-1945, Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1994.
  • Hansen, Randall, Fire and Fury, the Allied Bombing of Germany, 1942-1945, New York: NAL Caliber (Penguin Goup), 2008.
  • Hawkins, Ian (ed. Perry, Richard H.), Münster: The Way it Was, Anaheim, CA: Robinson Typographics, 1984.
  • Harris, Arthur, Bomber Offensive, New York: The Macmillan Co., 1947.
  • Hudson, Lt. Col. Charles S. and Olney, Ross R., Combat He Wrote, Coalinga, CA: Airborne Publishing, 1994.
  • Jablonski, Edward, Double Strike, The Epic Air Raids on Regensburg/Schweinfurt, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1974.
  • Jablonski, Edward, Flying Fortresses, The Illustrated Biography of the B-17s and the Men Who Flew Them, Garden City: Doubleday, 1965.
  • Johnson, Frederick A., Weapons of the Eighth Air Force, St. Paul, Minn.: MBI, 2003.
  • Koger, Fred, Countdown! 35 Daylight Missions Against Nazi Germany, Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1990. (Experiences of a B-17 bombardier in 1944.)
  • Kuhl, George C., Wrong Place!, Wrong Time!, Atglen, PA: Schiffer Millitary/Aviation History, 1993. (Second Schweinfurt Raid, Oct. 14, 1943.)
  • Makos, Adam, A Higher Call, New York: Berkley Caliber, 2012.  A Luftwaffe fighter pilot guides a crippled B17 to safety.  An exceptionally interesting story, and true besides.
  • McInnis, Ron, Flying Backwards in ’44, unpublished MSS provided to me by Colin McInnis. (Very good description of what missions were like, duties of crewmen.)
  • McManus, John C., Deadly Sky, The American Combat Airman in World War II, Novata, CA: Presidio Press, 2002.
  • Men of the Middle Tennessee WWII Fighter Pilots Association, Missions Remembered, Recollections of the World War II Air War, New York: McGraw Hill, 1998.
  • Middlebrook, Martin, The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983.
  • Miller, Donald L., Masters of the Air, America’s Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006.
  • Morgan, Robert, The Man Who Flew the Memphis Belle, New York: Dutton, 2001.
  • Morrison, Wilbur H., Fortress Without a Roof, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.
  • Myers, Jack R., Shot at and Missed, Recollections of a World War II Bombardier, Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.
  • Murray, Williamson, “Did Strategic Bombing Work?”, in Cowley, Robert (ed.), No End Save Victory: Perspectives on World War II, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001.
  • Myers, Jack R., Shot at and Missed, Recollections of a World War II Bombardier, Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004.
  • Neillands, Robin, The Bomber War, The Allied Air Offensive Against Nazi Germany, New York: The Overlook Press, 2001.
  • Novey, Jack, The Cold Blue Sky, A B-17 Gunner in World War Two, Charlottesville, VA: Howell Press, 1997.
  • O’Neill, Brian D., Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer, B-17s Over Germany Special Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999.
  • Overy, Richard, The Bombers and the Bombed, Allied Air War over Europe, 1940-1945, New York: Viking, 2014.
  • Overy, R.J., The Air War, 1939-1945, New York: Stein and Day, 1981.
  • Paloque, Gerard, Fighters of the 8th Air Force,  Histoire and Collections, 2010.
  • Peasley, Budd J., Heritage of Valor, The Eighth Air Force in World War II, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott Co., 1964.
  • Pons, Gregory, 8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England 1942-1944, Histoire and Collections, 2008.
  • Prewitt, John, The Lucky Bastard, 1983 autobiography, Bellevue, Wash.
  • Price, Alfred and Mick Spick, Handbook of Great Aircraft of WWII, Wigston, Leicestershire, England: Abbeydale Press, 2004.
  • Rochette, Harold I., 8th Air Force Lottery, Trafford Publishing, 2006.
  • Smith, Truman, The Wrong Stuff: The Adventures and Misadventures of an 8th Air Force Aviator, University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
  • Steinbeck, John, Bombs Away, New York: The Viking Press, 1942.
  • Stevens, Charles N., An Innocent at Polebrook: A Memoir of an 8th Air Force Bombardier, AuthorHouse, 2004.
  • St. John, Philip A., WWII Bombardiers, Vol. II, Paducah, Ky.: Turner Publishing Co., 1998.
  • Stout, Jay A., Hell’s Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II,  Dutton Caliber, 2016.
  • Sweeting, C.G., Combat Flying Clothing, Army Air Forces Clothing During World War II, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984.
  • Sweetman, John, Schweinfurt, Disaster in the Skies, New York: Ballantine Books, 1971.
  • Watkins, Robert A., Battle Colors — Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the 8th Air Force in World War II, Vol. 2: (VIII) Fighter Command, Schiffer Publishing, 2006.
  • Watry, Charles A., Washout!, The Aviation Cadet Story, Carlsbad, CA: California Aero Press, 1983.
  • Willmott, H.P., B-17 Flying Fortress, New York: Gallery Books, 1980.
  • Wilson, Kevin, Blood and Fears, How America’s Bomber Boys of the 8th Air Force Saved World War II, New York: Pegasus Books, 2017.
  • Yenne, Bill, B-17 At War, St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2006.

See also the list of books mentioned or reviewed in the AFEES Newsletter at https://airforceescape.org/newsletters/index-to-newsletters/index-to-other-subjects/.