The Wild Blue: The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s Over Germany 1944-45

While the pilots and air crew who flew World War II bombers were still alive in the 1990s, the late Stephen Ambrose interviewed his friend, Senator George McGovern, about his experiences as a pilot of a B-24 — flying 35 missions over Nazi-occupied territory in 1944 and 1945. This led to the opportunity to interview those on McGovern’s crew, who went through training with him, or fought alongside as pilots and crew themselves.This is not a book about the strategy of the bombing campaigns, the technical details of flying the B-24 aircraft, or of bombing accuracy and achievements and failures.Instead it is a very personal story about how the war swept up a generation in their late teens or early 20s beginning in 1942 and trained them for war, as pilots, navigators, bombardiers, and other crew members of what was then one of the most complex aircraft ever built. The vast majority had never been up in the air and some had never even seen an aircraft. McGovern, born in 1922, was a freshman in a small Methodist college in South Dakota and there in 1940 enrolled in a newly-established Civilian Pilot Training Program. The government realized it would need pilots in an impending war.Although many in the book flew with McGovern or had a personal connection in combat at the time, Ambrose and his son Hugh completed interviews or reviewed memoirs, collections of letters, diaries and photographs from more than 500 men who flew B-24s from bases in Italy or elsewhere.For those destined to fly, the danger began in training and extended into a high rate of loss in combat. Of the 17 original crews that began training with McGovern, only six finished the war. The danger increased as crews began flying combat missions. Only one in four crews that arrived in Italy with McGovern in July, 1944, survived through April, 1945. McGovern was lucky to fly in the latter part of the war in Europe, when the German Luftwaffe fighters had largely been decimated or grounded for lack of fuel. Still, the anti-aircraft artillery had become more lethal as the war progressed and most of the bombers were brought down by flak.McGovern, by all accounts, was a very skilled pilot but luck also paid a part in completing 35 combat missions. Those in his crew who Ambrose was able to interview felt they had one of the best pilots in the bomb group. He apparently possessed extraordinary vision and depth perception, and he endeared himself to his crew by being unpretentious but also very serious and thorough abut his job — essential qualities to survival. His leadership skills were greatly admired.The book is arranged chronologically beginning with the fact that these young men came from all over the country and, by our standards today, were “unsophisticated.” They had rarely strayed from their place of birth. Many were farm kids. Most grew up in various levels of deprivation brought on by the Great Depression of the 1930s.Ambrose uses McGovern’s experience to describe early flight training in single engine aircraft, moving eventually to the complexity of the B-24, one of the most difficult and unforgiving four engine bombers to fly. Ultimately, it was another great challenge to learn to fly in combat. Five chapters are devoted to the period of just under a year when McGovern, based in Italy, flew his 35 missions. McGovern and others interviewed by the author also describe life at a primitive air base in Italy, the poverty of the local Italian population suffering from the war, and the sharing of letters from home.The men of this extraordinary generation are no longer with us. We owe them a lot, and Ambrose has done a service by recording their memories and achievements before they passed.

Starts out a little slow with the first few chapters devoted to the backgrounds and training of the pilots. He mentions very many names and places here but not boring as to make me not wanting to finish it. But a little past half way it really gets interesting and it shows just how McGovern was loved and admired by his crew. Great detail on just how hard the B24 was to fly as compared to the B17. Not exactly a page turner but definitely worth reading. I recommend it.

Content good

Seeing the air war through the experience of the pilots and crew themselves, Ambrose sharpens our appreciation for the way the character and integrity of men so young enabled them to maintain courage at a time when the odds of survival in the air war were worse than those of men on the ground. They had intelligence, pluck, acute skills of reflex and strength, plus the ability to make instant decisions that could save lives or sacrifice them for the greater cause. In this age when heroic soldiers have been swift-boated or denigrated for suffering in prisoner of war camps just because they serve in politics, to read about George McGovern was fascinating. I’d like to have his courage. Anyone would. When he ran for President, I don’t recall his heroic service celebrated as it should have been. Likely, he did not see it as something to exploit. The phrase, “one hell of an American” truly applies, though.

Mr. Ambrose's most recent book about the airmen who flew the Liberators from Italy gives a nice personal picture of the pilots and crew, especially of the role Senator McGovern played. The book has, however, from my point of view as a recipient of the bombs which were showered on Vienna, a fatal flaw. The book perpetuates the stereotype that the 15th USAAF did not engage in area bombing but went only after strategic targets such as railroad marshalling yards, oil refineries and similar military objectives. A specific point is made that the pilots were instructed not to hit cultural landmarks, as for instance St. Stephen's cathedral in Vienna. This may have been the instructions but the inner city of Vienna which consisted mainly of cultural landmarks including the Opera house, St. Stephen's square, the Burgtheater, Parliament House, Imperial palace to name just a few were clearly hit. The raid on March 12 ( which is not mentioned in the book, only a March 14 attack on Wiener Neustadt is reported)was especially devastating for the inner city. About one third of the homes and buildings were destroyed throughout the city including churches, schools, hospitals etc. during 1944 and especially 1945. The little city of Wiener Neustadt was so devastated that at the end of the war only 17 houses were undamaged in a city of about 30.000 residents. The reasons for the carnage are explained in my book War and Mayhem. While the British openly admit to "carpet bombing" American authors still feel obliged to deny having used this tactic. Finally the second to last paragraph in the Epilogue is fiction. It is true that a great many Austrians, myself included, had no use for Hitler and wanted him to lose the war and thereby his life as soon as possible but the conversation as reported in that paragraph never took place. The real conversation - which I checked out with Senator McGovern - is also reported in War and Mayhem. Finally Mr. Ambrose is mistaken in the assumption that the destruction of the oil refiners were the straw that broke the camel's back. It was much rather the loss of the Rumanian oil fields in the fall of 1944. The only oil wells available from that time on were in Austrian Zisterdorf and the supply was clearly totally inadequate to sustain the needs of the troops. Why did the Wehrmacht not surrender when the war was lost? We tried to keep the Communists out of central Europe so that the Allies would have a chance to occupy us rather than the Russians!

A good read as always with Mr Ambrose.Read this and then watched Memphis BelleA good combo.

Full of detail and with photos, less action packed but still very enjoyable and with plenty of personal crew input.

libro interessante, ripasso la lingua inglese e storia allo stesso tempo

Excellent book

the book gives you a great insight into the way of life of a war time aircrew very informative and humbling