November 1943 to May 1945. The US Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler's vital oil production and industrial plants on the Third Reich's southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry.
In Forgotten Fifteenth Barrett Tillman brings into focus a seldom-seen multinational cast of characters, including pilots from Axis nations Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria and many more remarkable individuals. They were the first generation of fliers—few of them professionals—to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against a major industrial nation. They suffered steady attrition and occasionally spectacular losses. In so doing, they contributed to the end of the most destructive war in history.
Forgotten Fifteenth is the first-ever detailed account of the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II and the brave men that history has abandoned. This book is a must-read for military history enthusiasts, veterans, and current servicemen and their families.
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“Barrett Tillman has written the definitive account of the Fifteenth Air Force and its vital contribution to winning the European air war. With the gift of a master painter, he has imbued his war canvas with vivid color and detail. Mr. Tillman brings alive the Fifteenth’s most harrowing missions, including its ultimately successful campaign to destroy the Ploesti oil refineries that fueled the Nazi war machine. It is a magnificent tribute to the gallant men of the Fifteenth, and a vital addition to any serious library on the European air war.”
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Robert J. Mrazek, former congressman and award-winning author