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Lädt ... Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II (2023. Auflage)von Scott McGaugh (Autor)
Werk-InformationenThe Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin: The Glider Pilots of World War II von Scott McGaugh
Keine Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch.  dsha67 | Apr 28, 2023 |  keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
History.
Military.
Nonfiction.
HTML:The first major history of the American glider pilots, the forgotten heroes of World War II, by New York Times bestselling author Scott McGaugh. A story of no guns, no engines and no second chances. This book distills war down to individual young men climbing into defenseless gliders made of plywood, ready to trust the towing aircraft that would pull them into enemy territory by a single cable wrapped with a telephone wire. Based on their after-action reports, journals, oral histories, photos and letters home, The Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin reveals every terrifying minute of their missions. They were all volunteers, for a specialized duty that their own government projected would have a 50 percent casualty rate. None faltered. In every major European invasion of the war they led the way. They landed their gliders ahead of the troops who stormed Omaha Beach, and sometimes miles ahead of the paratroopers bound for the far side of the Rhine River in Germany itself. From there, they had to hold their positions. They delivered medical teams, supplies and gasoline to troops surrounded in the Battle of the Bulge, ahead even of Patton's famous supply truck convoy. These all-volunteer glider pilots played a pivotal role in liberating the West from tyranny, from the day the Allies invaded Occupied Europe to the day Germany finally surrendered. Yet the story of these anonymous heroes is virtually unknown. Here their story is told in full â?? a story which epitomizes courage, dedication and sacrifi Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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 Google Books — Lädt ...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.544973History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War II Air operations Operations of specific countriesBewertungDurchschnitt: (3.5)
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A very interesting book on a subject that I had only peripheral knowledge of. Those of us read on World War II know about the gliders and the glider pilots, but mostly that that were used for dropping supplied and pathfinders on D-Day.
A short book at 256 pages, I found it be an strong 4 star read. The focus of the book dealt with the development of the glider program after if was effectively used by the Germans in their invasion of Western Europe.
Gliders was a scratch and largely a crash program, the U.S. Army Air Corps, differentiated glider pilots from pilots in the motorized flight program and logistics, manpower and training requirements largely evolved separately. The United Stated went through various models of gliders before they settled largely on CG-4A glider. The glider went through multiple design changes during the course of the war, mostly to make them easier to land and stronger for the survival of the pilots and passengers.
The gliders were used largely 5times during the war. The invasion of Sicily which was considered a poor example of glider usefulness with such high casualty rate that the program was almost scrapped. Ultimately General Hap Arnold and General Eisenhower went forward with the program and with more training and design evolution were successfully used with a much lower than projected casualty rate in the "Operation Neptune" in the invasion on Normandy. The 3rd major deployment was in Operation Market Garden which was less then stellar use of the program often finding the pilots to engage as infantry after the landing until Market Garden was ended. The 4 significant deployment was augmentation tool to get much need supplies and personnel to the troops in Bastogne until the 3rd Army under Patton was able to break through. The last significant usage was in bridging the Rhein towards the end of the war. The glider program while successful was largely finished after World War II.
I would strongly encourage any interested in this under studied topic to to pick this up for greater understanding of the men who served and the mission they fulfilled. (