To Kingdom Come : An Epic Saga of Survival in the Air War Over Germany

The breathtaking, never-before-told, true story of a historic air- force bombing mission in 1943 Germany. On September 6, 1943, three hundred and thirty-eight B-17 "Flying Fortresses" of the American Eighth Air Force took off from England, bound for Stuttgart, Germany, to bomb Nazi weapons factories. Dense clouds obscured the targets, and one commander's critical decision to circle three times over the city-and its deadly flak-would prove disastrous. Forty-five planes went down that day, and hundreds of men were lost or missing. Focusing on first-person accounts of six of the B-17 airmen, award- winning author Robert Mrazek vividly re-creates the fierce air battle- and reveals the astonishing valor of the airmen who survived being shot down, and the tragic fate of those who did not. On September 6, 1943, three hundred and thirtyeight B-17 "Flying Fortresses" of the American Eighth Air Force took off from England, bound for Stuttgart, Germany, to bomb Nazi weapons factories. Dense clouds obscured the targets, and one commander's critical decision to circle three times through heavy fire would prove disastrous. Forty-five planes went down that day, and hundreds of men were lost or missing. Sharing the first-person accounts of six of the B-17 airmen, award- winning author Robert J. Mrazek vividly re-creates the fierce air battle-and reveals the astonishing valor of the airmen who survived being shot down, and the tragic fate of those who did not Describes the historic air force bombing by 338 B-17 "Flying Fortress" pilots who bombed Nazi weapons factories in Stuttgart Germany in 1943