Decision Over Schweinfurt: The U.S. 8th Air Force Battle for Daylight Bombing

by Thomas M. Coffey

Book Overview

The story of the US 8th Air Force's battle for daylight bombing, in particular two daring raids on the German ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679507639
• ISBN13: 9780679507635
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: David McKay Company
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Simply fantastic

This is one of the best books I have ever read. The first and last chapters are gripping, no-holds-barred descriptions of aerial combat that will make your heart pound. Really. The men who flew those bombing missions over Germany were giants. There are amazing anecdotes, such as the lead bombardier in one run, who caused the entire formation's bombs to be dropped in a residential neighborhood in an occupied country. In between the first and last chapters, Coffey tells the story of Ira Eaker, who started with nothing and built the mighty Eighth Air Force. It's fascinating to see how such a gargantuan task is accomplished, and there are many lessons here on how to get things done in the real world. And there is stupidity, too: it is mind-boggling that a simple thing -- external fuel tanks on the P-51 -- changed the air war so dramatically, but came so late. I have loaned this book to two other people, who share the same opinion, and one of them has loaned it to a friend of his. I hope to get my copy back. Surprise a friend of yours and get them this book!

More Than Just a Story of the Schweinfurt Raids

Mr. Coffey has a very readable writing style and in this book has gone well beyond the story of the August 17, 1943 and October 14, 1943 Schweinfurt raids by the 8th Air Force. What he has done is provide a fascinating history of the establishment of the 8th Bomber Command, the fight for daylight precision bombing over the objections of the British (who preferred night raids, and even the US Navy, which wanted the B17s for the Pacific), and finally the struggles of General Ira Eaker to make it a reality. Interspaced throughout the book are the personnel experiences of the bomber crews, as well as the impressions the English people had of the brash American airmen who flew the B17s and B24s. In addition, when describing the raids in depth, he also incorporates eyewitness accounts of Luftwaffe fighter pilots and German workers in the Schweinfurt factories. All in all, a very satisfying and well-written book.