Authors: Robert J. Mrazek
Interview with General Ira Eaker by Dr. Charles H. Hildreth and Dr. Alfred Goldberg, May 1962. U.S. Air Force Archives.
Interview with General Ira Eaker by Arthur K. Marmor, January 1966. U.S. Air Force Archives.
Memoir/Unpublished
Lieutenant Colonel Richard D. Hughes served on the staff of General Frederick Anderson and was a senior member of the “Enemy Objectives Unit” that recommended which strategic targets should be attacked in 1943. In the book, he makes strikingly candid comments about many of the senior commanders in the Eighth Air Force, including Ira Eaker, and offers his perceptions of why the air offensive against Germany was suspended in the wake of the Stuttgart and Schweinfurt raids. It is archived at the Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama.
Papers/Collections
Of significant value to the author in understanding the internal conflicts between the senior commanders of the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943 were the confidential diaries, correspondence, and cables found in their papers, including those of:
General Henry H. Arnold, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
General Ira C. Eaker, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
General Carl A. Spaatz, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
General Frederick Anderson, Jr., Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University,
Stanford, California.
General Curtis E. LeMay, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
General Robert Jesse Travis Collection, Manuscript, Archives, & Rare Book Library, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
Web Sites
The following Web sites were particularly useful in researching different parts of the story. The Luftwaffe Archives site is extraordinarily helpful as a resource for researching the personal backgrounds and tactics of the fighter pilots who proved to be such a nemesis to the Eighth Air Force in 1943. Another site that provided important information about the Luftwaffe pilots, including Egon “Connie” Mayer, was Kacha’s Luftwaffe Page. The author was able to utilize the user-friendly Footnote Web site to access all the Missing Air Crew Reports of the Eighth Air Force.
Most of the Eighth Air Force Bomb Groups now enjoy a Web site dedicated to their contributions to winning the air war against Germany. Due to the focus of this story on a limited number of squadrons and groups, the author was especially grateful for the information found at the Web sites of the 303rd, 306th, 384th, and 388th bomb groups.
American Swiss Foundation
:
www.americanswiss.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=78
Kacha’s Luftwaffe Page
:
www.luftwaffe.cz/index.html
Luftwaffe Archives & Records Reference Group
:
www.lwag.org/forums/index.php
Missing Air Crew Reports
:
www.footnote.com/index.php
303rd Bomb Group
:
www.303rdbg.com/missionreports/000menu.pdf
306th Bomb Group
:
www.306thbw.org/306thBmbGrp/306thBG.htm
384th Bomb Group
:
www.384thbombgroup.com
388th Bomb Group
:
www.388thbg.org/index/index.htm
388th Bomb Group Database
:
www.388bg.org
ADDITIONAL PHOTO CAPTIONS AND CREDITS
INDEX
Abbey of Monte Cassino, Italy
Adelboden, Switzerland
Aldenhoevel, Frank
Alford, Sid
Allied Expeditionary Force
Anderson, Frederick, Jr.
Andre, Marcelle
Andre, Marie Therese
Andrews, Jean
Andrews, Martin “Andy,” birth and childhood of
Dulles and
education of
flight to Switzerland after Stuttgart mission
flying and
intelligence work of
Mavis, relationship with
Nantes mission and
photographs of
physical appearance of
postwar life of
return to U.S.
second marriage of
Stuttgart mission and
in Switzerland
Antiaircraft flak
Armstrong, Alice
Armstrong, James E. “Jimmy,”
crew of
escape from France by boat and
family of
French underground and
Gelsenkirchen mission and
injuries to
marriage of
missions of
in occupied France
parachutes from
Yankee Raider
photographs of
physical appearance of
postwar life of
return flight from Stuttgart mission and
returns to France
Schweinfurt mission (first) and
Stuttgart mission and
Yankee Raider
and
Armstrong, Jean
Armstrong, Jim
Armstrong, Nita DesChamps
Arnold, Bruce
Arnold, Eleanor “Bee,”
Arnold, Henry “Hap,”
childhood of
children of
Claridge’s dinner and
as commanding general of U.S. Army Air Forces
death of
Eaker and
Eaker relieved of command of Eighth Air Force by
in England
father of
flight to Prestwick, Scotland (1943)
flying by
health of
heavy bomber offensive planned by
long-range fighters and
marriage of
personality of
photographs of
physical appearance of
postwar life of
results of Stuttgart mission and
resumption of German air offensive and
retirement of
on second Schweinfurt attack
Arnold, Herbert
Arnold, John
Arnold, “Pop,”
Artaud, Robert
B-17 Flying Fortresses. (
see also
Eighth Air Force; specific airplanes; Stuttgart mission)
description of interior of
Yankee Raider
fuel tanks
Luftwaffe frontal pass technique and
Mayer’s attacks on
B-18 Bolos
B-24 Liberators
B-26 Marauders
Bad Check
(B-17)
Baker, Dan E.
Balthasar, Wilhelm
Baltimore Bounce
(B-17)
Basel, Switzerland
Bassett, Preston
Battlin Betsy
(B-17)
Beecham, Bill
Bell Telephone Company
Berlin, Germany
Bern, Switzerland
Bernard, Robert
Bernberg, Germany
Bernese Alps
Bf 110 fighters
Biddle, Anthony Drexel, Jr.
Biggs, Ralph
Billy, Father Nethod
Blitz, the
Bobbitt, Aubrey
Bonnard, Abbé Jean
Bosch Magneto Works, Stuttgart
Bouchy, Suzanne
Boulogne Harbor, France
Bowen, Myron “Mike,”
Bowers, Gordon
Bowhill, Sir Frederick
Branholm, George
Bremen, Germany
Brest, France
British Hurricane fighters
British SOE (Special Operations Executive)
British Spitfires
Burtonwood, England
C-54 Skymaster
Cabot, Woody
Caesar, Julius
Calhoun, William R.
Cambrai, France
Carcassonne, France
Carlin, Creighton
Casablanca meetings
Champigny, France
Checketts, Johnny
Chelveston, England
Chiquita, La
(B-17)
“Choric Song” of
The Lotos-Eaters
(Tennyson)
Churchill, Winston
Claridge’s Hotel, London
Cordes, Gene
Cotterell, Edward
Cunningham, Dick
Custer, George Armstrong
Daudelin, Eldore
David, Bill
Daylight precision bombing
(
see also
B-17 Flying Fortresses; Eighth Air Force)
de Gaulle, Charles
Deibert, William
Denton, Johnny
Devers, Jacob
Dewey, Thomas
Dick, Henry
DiPietro, Guido
Doolittle, Jimmy, as commander of Eighth Air Force
Doré, Marcel
Douarnenez, France
Drancy, France
Dübendorf Air Base, Switzerland
Dulles, Allen
Dulles, John Foster
Dungeness, England
Eaglesham, Jane
Eaker, Dona
Eaker, Ira C.
Arnold and
childhood of
Claridge’s dinner and
command of Eighth Air Force
daylight precision bombing and
death of
education of
flying and
marriage of
Mediterranean theater and
parents of
photograph of
physical appearance of
postwar life of
promotion to Lieutenant General
relieved of command of Eighth Air Force
reprimand of Travis by
results of Stuttgart mission and
resumption of German air offensive and
retirement of
Stuttgart mission and
Eaker, Leah Chase
Eaker, Ruth
Eaker, Y. Y.
Edman, Bruno
Edwards, Idwal
Eich, Henry J.
Eichholz, Johnny
8 Ball
(B-17)
Eighth Air Force
First Air Division
First Bombardment Group
First Bombardment Wing
Fourth Bombardment Wing
Forty-first Combat Wing
56th Fighter Group
92nd Bomb Group
94th Bomb Group
95th Bomb Group
96th Bomb Group
100th Bomb Group
102nd Combat Wing
303rd Bomb Group “Hell’s Angels,”
305th Bomb Group
306th Bomb Group “The Reich Wreckers,”
355th Fighter Group
358th Fighter Squadron
379th Bomb Group
384th Bomb Group
385th Bomb Group
388th Bomb Group
390th Bomb Group
422nd Squadron
545th Squadron
546th Squadron
“Black Week” and
Doolittle as commander of
Eaker relieved of command of
headquarters of
losses
Eisenhart, William E.
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Entrépagny, France
Est Nulla Via Invia Virtuti
(B—17)
Estella (Reb’s girlfriend)
European Theater of Operations (ETO)
Évreux, France
Fakenham, England
Falmouth, England
Fanfan
Faulkner, Russ
Fawcett, Jack
Fisher, William A.
Flynn, James
Focke-Wulf 190 fighters
Fort Myer, Virginia
Frankenberg, Manley
Frankfurt, Germany
Frazier, Bill
Free French
French underground
Friedrichshafen, Germany
Fullem, Pete
Fw 190 fighters (
see
Focke-Wulf 190 fighters)
Galland, Adolf
Gamble, Don
Gander, Newfoundland
Gay, Arthur
Gelsenkirchen, Germany
George, Jack
Gowen Field, Idaho
Graff, Warren
Grafton Underwood, England
Grant, Brenda Jo
Grant, David
Grant, Eli Sullivan
Grant, Janet Leigh
Grant, Olen “Reb,”
childhood of
crash-landing of
Yankee Raider
and
Estella, relationship with
in German military hospital
injuries to
interrogation of
marriages of
photographs of
postwar life of
as prisoner at Stalag
reconstructive surgeries on face
regains consciousness
return flight from Stuttgart mission and
return to U.S.
Stuttgart mission and
volunteers as machine gunner
Grant, Priscilla Hutchinson
Grant, Terry Lynn
Gremlin Gus II
(B-17)
Grinstein, Sid
Hamburg, Germany
Hammock, Clifford
Hannover, Germany
Harbach, Otto
Harriman, W. Averell
Harris, Sir Arthur “Bomber,”
Hawker Typhoons