Combat Aircraft of World War II, 1944-1945 Poster Book PDF Download

Author: Enzo Angelucci
Publisher: Crescent
ISBN: 9780517665800
Category : Airplanes, Military
Languages : en
Pages : 62

View

Book Description

Author: Dennis R. Okerstrom
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 0826272673
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 267

View

Book Description
On November 18, 1944, the end of the war in Europe finally in sight, American copilot Lieutenant Lee Lamar struggled alongside pilot Randall Darden to keep Bottoms Up, their B-24J Liberator, in the air. They and their crew of eight young men had believed the intelligence officer who, at the predawn briefing at their base in southern Italy, had confided that their mission that day would be a milk run. But that twenty-first mission out of Italy would be their last. Bottoms Up was staggered by an antiaircraft shell that sent it plunging three miles earthward, the pilots recovering control at just 5,000 feet. With two engines out, they tried to make it to a tiny strip on a British-held island in the Adriatic Sea and in desperation threw out everything not essential to flight: machine guns, belts of ammunition, flak jackets. But over Pula, in what is now Croatia, they were once more hit by German fire, and the focus quickly became escaping the doomed bomber. Seemingly unable to extricate himself, Lamar all but surrendered to death before fortuitously bailing out. He was captured the next day and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner at a stalag on the Baltic Sea, suffering the deprivations of little food and heat in Europe’s coldest winter in a century. He never saw most of his crew again. Then, in 2006, more than sixty years after these life-changing experiences, Lamar received an email from Croatian archaeologist Luka Bekic, who had discovered the wreckage of Bottoms Up. A veteran of the Balkan wars of the 1990s, Bekic felt compelled to find out the crew’s identities and fates. Lee Lamar, a boy from a hardscrabble farm in rural northwestern Missouri, had gone to college on the GI Bill, become a civil engineer, gotten married, and raised a family. Yet, for all the opportunity that stemmed from his wartime service, part of him was lost. The prohibition on asking prisoners of war their memories during the repatriation process prevented him from reconciling himself to the events of that November day. That changed when, nearly a year after being contacted by Bekic, Lamar visited the site, hoping to gain closure, and met the Croatian Partisans who had helped some members of his crew escape. In this absorbing, alternating account of World War II and its aftermath, Dennis R. Okerstrom chronicles, through Lee Lamar’s experiences, the Great Depression generation who went on to fight in the most expensive war in history. This is the story of the young men who flew Bottoms Up on her final mission, of Lamar’s trip back to the scene of his recurring nightmare, and of a remarkable convergence of international courage, perseverance, and friendship.

Author: Dmitriy Khazanov
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1780960670
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218

View

Book Description
Petlyakov's Pe-2 was the most numerous Soviet twin-engined bomber of World War 2, the aircraft being used as a dive-bomber, ground attack platform and dedicated reconnaissance type. The first examples entered service in August 1940, and by the time production came to end in late 1945, no fewer than 10,547 examples had been built. These equipped more than 80 bomber air regiments, and of the latter, two were accorded Guards Air Corps status, as were six air regiments. Amongst the former was the 2nd Guards Bomber Air Corps, which was commanded by the legendary General Polbin, who was twice made a Hero of the Soviet Union. Pe-2 bomber and reconnaissance versions (the latter in service with four Guards reconnaissance air regiments of the Air Force and one regiment of Naval Aviation) were extensively used from the frozen Arctic north to the balmy Crimea front. A number of Pe-2 also saw brief combat against Japan in the final weeks of World War 2.

Author: Christer Bergstrom
Publisher: Atlasbooks Distribution
ISBN: 9781903223468
Category : Fighter pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
9 x 12, 200+ b/w photos, maps & tables, 27 color profiles

Author: Ian Dear
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780192806666
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1039

View

Book Description
From blitzkrieg and blackout to ghettos and Guadalcanal, World War II was a conflict that touched all nations and penetrated all aspects of people's lives. Sixty years after it ended, it still shapes the world we live in today. With over 1,750 A-Z entries, by more than 140 specialist contributors from Germany, Italy, and Japan, as well as from the Allied nations, the Companion provides uniquely worldwide coverage of the war. The strategies, forces, battles, and campaigns, and the social, political, and economicenvironments in which they operated are explored from both sides of the conflict. Every aspect of the war is covered: in-depth surveys of the countries involved in the conflict; politics and strategy; domestic and economic issues; resistance and intelligence; campaigns and battles; warfare and weapons; wartime leaders and influential people; slogans and slangThe Companion's comprehensive coverage and in-depth analysis are supported by hundreds of maps, charts, and diagrams, and a full chronology.

Author: John Alden Clark
Publisher: First Page Publications
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 362

View

Book Description
This excellent guide to insect biology may be used as a sole text or as a supplementary work source for students enrolled in a formal entomological course. It lends itself to use by those in need of a review of the "essentials," as well as agriculture and veterinary students, teachers at the elementary and secondary school level and others wishing to avail themselves to the opportunity to study insects.

Author: Jon Lake
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781841763132
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
Osprey's study of the RAF's most successful heavy bomber of World War II (1939-1945). The Avro Lancaster formed the backbone of Bomber Command during the large-scale night bombing campaign against occupied Europe. In this, the first of two volumes on the British bomber icon of World War 2, noted English aviation historian Jon Lake recounts the early daylight raids, the first 'thousand bomber' raids on Germany and the epic 'Dambusters' mission of 16/17 May 1943 by No 617 Sqn, as well as myriad other sorties to numerous German targets in 1942-43. This volume contains more than 100 photographs, 30 all-new colour profiles by leading aviation artist Chris Davey and specially commissioned scale drawings of the Lancaster B I/II by Mark Styling.

Author: Colin Heaton
Publisher: Zenith Press
ISBN: 1610584341
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

View

Book Description
The Me 262 was the first of its kind, the first jet-powered aircraft. Although conceived before the war, with the initial plans being drawn in April 1939, the Stormbird was beset with technological (particularly the revolutionary engines) and political difficulties, resulting in it not entering combat until August 1944, with claims of nineteen downed Allied aircraft. The performance of the Me 262 so far exceeded that of Allied aircraft that on 1 Sepember 1944, USAAF General Carl Spaatz remarked that if greater numbers of German jets appeared, they could inflict losses heavy enough to force cancellation of the Allied daylight bombing offensive. The story of how the Stormbird came to be is fascinating history, and it comes to life in the hands of noted historian Colin Heaton. Told largely in the words of the German aces who flew it, The Me 262 Stormbird provides the complete history of this remarkable airplane from the drawing boards to combat in the skies over the Third Reich. Features two forewords, one by Jorg Czypionka, Me 262 night fighter pilot, and another by historian and author Barrett Tillman.

Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473861640
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 188

View

Book Description
This lavishly illustrated WWII history examines the bitter aerial combat of the Eastern Front through rare wartime photographs and informative text. Though the air war was a major aspect of the Eastern Front conflict, it has long been neglected by historians. Anthony Tucker-Jones’s photographic history offers a vividly detailed introduction to the subject. With more than 150 archival images—most of which have never been published before—this volume examines Stalin’s Red Air Force and Hitlers Luftwaffe, their equipment, and the role they played in supporting the war on the ground. Just before Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Stalin had decimated the leadership of the Red Air Force in a series of purges. Thousands of Russian fighter aircraft were swiftly destroyed in the German Blitzkrieg. But a remarkable recovery followed as the Red Air Force turned the tide against the ravages of the Luftwaffe to wrestle back air superiority by 1944.

Author: Barrett Tillman
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 9781855329027
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

View

Book Description
As its name suggests, the Avenger meted out severe retribution on the Japanese in the Pacific, participating in every major engagement through to VJ-Day. As a key weapon of World War II (1939-1945), the Avenger was so highly valued by the US Navy that its demand for the aircraft soon outstripped Grumman's production capacity, so General Motors [GM] was contracted to build the near identical TBM from September 1942 onwards. Over 1000 Avengers also saw action with the Fleet Air Arm in both the Atlantic and the Pacific through to VJ-Day, and two squadrons of RNZAF TBDs fought alongside American Avengers on Bougainville in 1944.