The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe

San Diego Book Award Winner: “An excellent overview of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ war against Nazi Germany.” —Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942–1945

Bronze medalist, Military Writers Society of America

When World War II began, the U.S. Army Air Corps numbered only forty-five thousand men and a few thousand aircraft—hardly enough to defend the United States, let alone defeat Germany’s Luftwaffe, whose state-of-the-art aircraft and battle-seasoned pilots stood ready to batter any attackers. Yet by the war’s end, the Luftwaffe had been crushed, and the U.S. Army Air Forces, successor to the Air Corps, had delivered the decisive blows. This book tells the story of that striking transformation—one of the marvels of modern warfare—while simultaneously thrusting readers into whirling, heart-pounding accounts of aerial combat.

Britain’s Royal Air Force had been just barely holding the line, and the might of the United States was needed to turn the tide. Almost from scratch, the US built an air force of more than two million men. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Henry “Hap” Arnold, Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, Ira Eaker, James Doolittle, and others, the USAAF assembled a well-trained and superbly equipped force unlike any ever fielded. And thanks to the brave Americans who crewed, maintained, and supported the aircraft, the USAAF annihilated the Luftwaffe, pounding targets deep inside Germany and elsewhere.
A stirring tribute to these men as well as an engaging work of history, The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe vividly describes World War II in the skies above Europe—and captures the personalities of the men who won it, whether on the ground or in the air.