High Noon over Haseluenne; The 100th Bombardment Group over Berlin - March 6, 1944

The format is approximately 8.75 inches by 11.25 inches. 214, [2] pages. Decorative end papers. Illustrations (some in color). Tabular Data. Sources and Select Bibliography. This item is largely in a two-column format. The dust jacket has slight wear and soiling. This is a large, heavy item that if sent outside of the United States will require additional shipping charges. On March 6, 1944, and the Eighth Air Force would launch a full scale assault on the German capital of Berlin. High Noon over Haseluenne is a microcosm look at one bomb group that flew the mission and the catastrophic results that ensued. The book deals with the 100th Bomb Group, The Bloody Hundredth and the mission that solidified that moniker. The concentrated attacks by the Luftwaffe would destroy sixty-nine American bombers that day, the single highest loss for any mission by the 8th Air Force, and fifteen of those losses would come from the 100th Bomb Group. We take you inside the men and machines that had to brave one of the deadliest air battles of World War II and let them tell the story. High Noon over Haseluenne is filled with firsthand accounts, personal diaries, letters home, news clippings, and illustrated with over 200 photos. Luc Dewez is son of a Belgian resistance fighter, he has been a historian and researcher on the air war in Europe for more than 15 years. His work has received favorable comments from both the veterans and the late Roger Freeman. His accounts rely heavily on personal accounts and interviews with the veterans themselves as well as the official records. During World War II, the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraft missing in action (MIA), flying its last mission on 20 April 1945. One of the unit's honors is that it's successor is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code (Square-D) of its World War II predecessor. The Triangle-K is retained as an unofficial unit insignia. On 1 June 1942, the Army Air Forces activated the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (100th BG) and assigned it to III Bomber Command. At Podington, England the ground crews rendezvoused with the air echelon, and together moved to RAF Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, where they remained throughout World War II, operating as a strategic bombardment organization. On 25 June 1943, the 100th BG flew its first Eighth Air Force combat mission, bombing the U-boat yards at Bremen ? the beginning of the "Bloody Hundredth"'s legacy. The group focused its bombing attacks against German airfields, industrial plants, and naval facilities in France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Ukraine. The group inherited the "Bloody Hundredth" nickname from other bomb groups due to severe losses it took on several missions during summer and fall 1943. During one such raid on M?nster on 10 October 1943, eighteen 100th BG aircraft were sent, of which five aborted and turned back before reaching the target. Twelve of the 13 aircraft that reached M?nster were shot down; the only surviving 100th BG B-17 to reach M?nster and return was the Royal Flush (B-17F-45-VE 42-6087) commanded for this mission by Robert Rosenthal; it returned to base seriously damaged and with several crewmen wounded. Only four of the original thirty-eight co-pilots assigned to the group completed their assigned twenty-five mission tour. In August 1943, the group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) after attacking the German aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January?May 1944, the 100th BG regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, and V-weapon sites.…