Third in Line: The 3rd Air Division over Eure in World War II: The 3rd Air Division over Europe in World War II - Hardcover

Third In Line; The 3rd Air Division over Europe in World War II

Hardcover. Zustand: Very good. Zustand des Schutzumschlags: Very good. Presumed First Edition, First printing. The format is approximately 8.875 inches by 11.25 inches. 360 pages. Illustrated endpapers. Illustrations. Color Gallery. Bibliography. Index. The dust jacket has slight wear and soiling. Publishers advertising bookmark laid in. This is a heavy and oversized book and if sent outside of the United States would require additional shipping charges. Ron Mackay's involvement with military aviation began during WWII. The local Coastal Command airfield at his birthplace of Wick in Scotland provided a wealth of RAF and USAAF designs with which to stimulate his interest that was subsequently sustained by National Service in the RAF. A working knowledge of German has expanded his field of study into the Luftwaffe. To date, he has published over 25 books covering the aforementioned Allied and Axis Air Forces that include several co-authored with other historians. What was successively titled the 4th Bomb Wing, 3rd Bomb Division and finally 3rd Air Division entered combat with the VIII Bomber Command in May 1943. Under the charismatic leadership of Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Force's crews in their B-17s forged the concept of 'shuttle' missions with a run to North Africa on 17 August 1943, followed during the summer of 1944 with several similar missions to and from Russia. Although comprising the third and final element of the 'Mighty Eighth's' heavy bomber force to be established in England, the Division's combat record was to prove in all respects the equal of its contemporaries during its two years of active operations. The 3rd Air Division was created in England during World War II as the 3rd Bombardment Division, an upper command echelon of the Eighth Air Force. With five combat bomb wings and 14 heavy bomber groups assigned, it was one of the two largest U.S. air combat organizations during World War II. The 3rd Air Division was activated in September 1943 as an intermediate command and control organization between command and wing levels. It was assigned to VIII Bomber Command, Eighth Air Force. The Division commanded three combat bombardment wings (4th, 13th and 45th), consisting of seven Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomb groups. The addition of the 92nd and 93rd Combat Bomb Wings in 1944 and additional bomb groups to the other wings increased the number of combat groups to fourteen. Between May 1944 and September 1944 the division operated both B-17 Flying Fortress (nine groups) and Consolidated B-24 Liberator (five groups) aircraft, before converting to an all-B-17 organization for the remainder of the war. In September 1944 the 66th Fighter Wing was assigned directly to the division for fighter support. The bomb groups bombed Axis targets in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). During the weeks immediately preceding the invasion of France, division aircraft bombed tactical targets such as German communications centers and lines of support, and on 6 June 1944 hit targets on the Cherbourg Peninsula immediately behind the landing beaches. After V-E Day, the 3rd Air Division briefly became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe. As former Eighth Air Force units were withdrawn from Europe and returned to the United States during the summer and fall of 1945, the Division was assigned to VIII Fighter Command and controlled a mixture of bombardment and fighter groups before itself being inactivated on 21 November 1945. Artikel-Nr. 90441

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