Lion in the Sky

From all parts of America they came, the young, sharp-eyed and keen fighter pilots of the 8th Air Force. From their East Anglian airfields they sortied out over occupied Europe, escorting bomber formations, and suffering appalling losses at the hands of the Luftwaffe veterans. Others, more experienced as a result of having fought earlier in the volunteer Eagle squadrons before America's entry into the war, helped train the newcomers and gradua I ly the tide began to turn against the Third Reich.
Flying a mixture of P-38 Lightnings, P-47 Thunderbolts and ultimately the superb P-51 Mustang, the American fighter pilots learned how to deal with the enemy Bf 109s and Fw 190s as well as the subsequent Me 163 and Me 262 rocket and jet fighters. Later, they indulged in ground attacks on airfields, railways and other German installations, a hazardous task in the face of often murderous flak. Gradually the Allies gained aerial superiority, and all the courage of their opponents - increasingly 'green' pilots as the veterans were whittled away -could not prevail.
In this book, companion volume to Martin Bowman's Fields of Little America and Castles in the Air, which relate the histories of the 8th Air Force's bomber squadrons, Jerry Scutts describes the complete history of the 8th's fighter squadrons, large) through first-hand operational accounts from many of the pilots themselves. This is no dry historical narrative, it is an exciting, dramatic story in which humour and tragedy are blended with skill, and it will appeal to all interested in the aerial campaigns of the Second World War. It also reveals the close links which were forged between the American and British combat aircrew and which survive to this day.
Jerry Scutts, a professional journalist, editor, writer and public relations consultant, has made a special study of 8th USAAF operations and has interviewed or corresponded with countless survivors.


by Jerry Scutts
Published by PSL 1987 1st edition. 152pp profusely illustrated, index, appendix. 20x24 near mint, including d/j.
First hand combat accounts of U. S. Eighth Air Force fighter operations 1942 to 1945.





Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.

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