Bailout, Don Charles Osborne's memoir of his service in the Second World War, begins in the summer of 1944 when the war in Europe was in its fifth year, and Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich occupied the continent. The U.S. Eighth Air Force was in the second year of its assignment - "Destroy Germany's capability and will to carry on the war."

  Shot down over Germany in October of 1944, Don spent over seven months as a POW before being liberated at the close of the European campaign.

  The 457th Bombardment Group (H), which dubbed itself the "Fireball Outfit", was one of over sixty heavy bombardment groups that participated in the air campaigns over Europe during the Second World War.

  "Fait Accompli" is an historical account of the contributions this organisation made to the all-out effort that ultimately led to the unconditional surrender of the Axis forces.

  If one picture is worth a thousand words, this pictorial account of one bomb group that went forth to contribute to the cause of freedom at a time when the very foundation of our way of life was threatened ...

  Fait Accompli II attempts to provide in pictures, a sequence of events of the 457th Bomb Group, and organization that existed over half a century ago.

  The defining period of the Twentieth Century was the war time period 1941-1945. Had it not been for the all out effort of so many, the result could have been different. It was a struggle of good over evil.

  Fait Accompli III completes the "Fait Accompli" triology and combines recollections of the participants with those of English friends and those who were on the home front.

  "Her serial number was #42-97075 and she was a real Boeing - there were differences and a Boeing was always the best. I could tell the difference as soon as I stepped into the cockpit - as I could about her Wright Cyclone engines."

  "She was the first silver B-17 to be assigned to the 457th Bomb Group and I got her."

   "It was those who were shot up badly, or were shot down and taken as prisoners of war, that experienced the extremes of the rigors of aerial combat and participated in a 'FLIGHT TO ETERNITY'. Many men died on these flights and it is up to those who survived to tell their story."

   The contents of this book are, for the most part, composed of first-person stories by 457th Bomb Group, B-17 aircrew members of the 8th Air Force who were shot down and became casualties of aerial combat over occupied Europe and Germany during World War II. In an attempt to provide the reader with some information about WWII from the German viewpoint, a chapter is included which was provided by a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot who fought against the American bomber crews.

Excerpt: "Our target was the Synthetic Oil Refinery at Ruhland. We had to pass near Berlin on the way. Then it happened so quick you couldn't think. We heard the report "Bandits". The Nazi fighters came barreling through our formations before you could wink an eyelash. I watched terrified as three of our Fortresses went down in flames with their bomb loads and our buddies in them.

  I saw five men get out of one of them. The rest were lost. One of them kept falling, I never did see his chute open. We had one engine gone but we kept up with the formation to the target and left it in flames. It wasn't long and another engine quit. Coming back from a mission and seeing the shore of England is the sweetest thing in the world..."

  "My seven months of duty with the 457th Group, known at the time as the Fireball Outfit, left an indelible impression upon my heart and mind. The flight of more than 20 post war years has failed to erase from my memory such odd-sounding names as Politz, Peenemunde, Chemnitz, Lutzkendorf and, sharpest of all, Merseberg. What follows is the story of The Merseburg Mission. It is also the story of 235 other bombing missions which were, in a lesser degree, also Merseburgs." - Ken BLakebrough

  Fly with the B-17 Flying Fortresses over Europe as they wade through a malestrom of flak, Me 109s and FW 190s visiting such deadly targets as Merseburg & Politz. Written by a 457th pilot. Full mission list.

   The story of a B-25 bomber that crashed into the Empire State Building in July 1945.
Detailed reconstruction of incident.

  "Some gave little. Some gave more. Some gave all." J. Francis Angier was raised on a Vermont farm and became a B-17 pilot during WWII. Shot down over Germany in 1944, he spent seven months as a POW. His training, air battles, capture and survival are part of the story. So, too, are the many experiences that positioned and prepared him for his part in the air war over Europe.

  In Ready or Not, you'll come to understand and appreciate one of the many heroes of what author and journalist Tom Brokaw has called, "The Greatest Generation".

  What happens when a small-town kid from rural America is called up to serve his country in the Army Air Corps in England during World War II?

  Clifford B. Digre from Hendricks, Minnesota, leaves his roots to travel across America and the world as he learns the lessons of "Life's School."

  You will laugh and you will cry as Digre takes us through real human drama, and what it was like for a young man to take on responsibilities of military training, flying missions, and struggling to get on with his life.

  J. Francis Angier was raised on a farm in New Haven, Vermont, and had an early interest in aviation. This led to his participation in World War II as the pilot of B-17 bombers with the 8th Air Force flying missions out of England.

  Near the end of his tour he was shot down over Germany and became a prisoner of war. He and fellow airmen were sentenced to death three times by order of Adolph Hitler but were saved in the last hours by the German Luftwaffe just before American forces reached their prison. His exposure to the nearby concentration camps where the Nazis killed millions of people made a profound effect on Francis. He claims to have cultivated a sense of humor to use as a crutch to help block out those memories.

  This is the fascinating story of B-17 bomber pilot, Lt. Col. Edward M. Bender, (USAAFR, retired) who describes his flight training, bomber missions, capture and time as a prisoner of war in WWII Germany.

  When fire forces his Flying Fortress down in enemy-occupied France, Bender is captured by Nazi recruits from Hitler's Youth Corps. He vividly recounts his year as a prisoner of the Third Reich, confined in camps in Sagan, Nurnberg, and Moosburg, and the bitterly-cold forced march of winter, 1945, when Stalag Luft III was evacuated ahead of the advancing Russian Army.

  Finally, he describes his liberation by General Patton's Third Army and his return home to adapt to the challenges of post-war America. Told with humor and pathos, this narrative provides a portrait of life in war-time Europe and the often-forgotten sacrifices of WWII veterans and prisoners of war.

  This true story is set during World War II, on a U.S. Air Force base in Cambridgeshire, England. On 5th April 1945, a B-17 bomber took off on a mission from which it would never return. Before one of the crew took his flight position that morning, he placed his spare flight equipment into a locker, an act he could not possibly considered would reveal their tragic story, long after his almost forgotton death.