The fall of fortresses : a personal account of the most daring, and deadly, American air battles of World War II

by Elmer Bendiner

Hardcover, 1980

Status

Available

Publication

New York : Putnam, c1980.

Description

A vivid, poignant recreation of the European air war, as seen by one who ?ew in it and felt its terrifying seductive power, The Fall of Fortresses is a major new contribution to the literature of the World War II experience. On an August morning in 1943, a group of American airmen were told that before the day was out they would deliver the blow that would win the war. They, and the B-17 Flying Fortresses they ?ew, were ordered to obliterate the installations on which all of German industry depended. The survivors would see the vindication of the prophets of air power. - The target: the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt. So began the first of two amazing missions. Drawing on his experiences, author navigator Elmer Bendiner describes the hell of the bombing runs and the terrible trail of Flying Fortresses burning across the face of Europe. Who really won? Who lost? For answers to these questions, the author has turned to German as well as U.S. Air Force archives and to interviews with surviving strategists. He traces the deliberations concerning Schweinfurt from its first casual mention at a Washington cocktail party to the bombings themselves. And he uncovers the bitter interservice rivalries and the motives that climaxed in the bloody German skies. Were it nothing but a personal account of what the war was like, The Fall of Fortresses would be well worth reading. But it is more: a highly original and deeply felt meditation on men at war and /the myths and realities of air power, as relevant to readers in 1980 as it was to those who met the dawn skies of Europe over thirty years ago.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Die_Boekrak
A Personal Account of the Most Daring, and Deadly, American Air Battles of World War II
LibraryThing member jamespurcell
An interesting account of one man's combat missions as the navigator on a B 17 in Europe during WW2. It could have easily been subtitled, "Ours is not to reason why" as most of the then rationale for strategic bombing was not supported by mission success analysis. Strategic bombing was the
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subterfuge used to support Hap Arnold's et al's agenda for creating a separate air force. Combat losses among Bomber Command, both US and British, were a horrendous price to pay for such minimal success. Another egregious example of general officers promoting private or empire restoration agendas that generated enormous casualty lists for little more than an alleged political or public relations agenda. Singapore, The British Expeditionary Army in Europe, invading Italy, capturing Rome, Arnhem and Peleliu are some examples that come to mind.
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