Hell Hawks! The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht

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	• Hell Hawks!: The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht Robert F. Dorr, Thomas D. Jones Zenith Press, 2008 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Hell Hawks! The Untold Story of the American Fliers Who Savaged Hitler's Wehrmacht

The "Hell Hawks" is an excellently written and accurate presentation depicting the role of the P-47 pilots from D-Day through the end of WW II. The combination of fascinating aerial accomplishments and statistics are woven together to present an extremely accurate and equally fascinating tale of the role these dedicated and daring pilots played in destroying the vaunted Nazi war machine. It is a "must read" for anyone interested in World War II as it puts the American dedication and sacfrice into perspective.

Lots of action!

Although I am only halfway through this book I am really enjoying it. I deals with American P-47 fighter bombers in the European theater. I never realized before how much more dangerous air-to-ground combat is compared to air-to-air. Pretty exciting stuff and very well written. (P.S. I do not live in Rock Hill, SC. I live in Denton, TX)

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Hell Hawks! - A Must Read for Aviation Enthusiasts!

Hell Hawks! brings to life the air war in Europe, using daily missions of the 365th Fighter Group, 9th US Air Force. My dad flew a P-47 Thunderbolt with the 371st FG, and was lost on a mission over Cherbourg two weeks after the D-Day Normandy Landings. There are many books out that tell the story of our heroes on the beaches. We thirsted for one that describes the "band of brothers" who took part in the Liberation of Europe from the air. Now we have one! Anyone interested in a detailed history of one group that was so typical of all should have this tome!

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Dorr Scores Well, As Expected

As the owner of many of Bob Dorr's books, I have come to expect that anything he produces will be well-researched, well-presented, and very well-written. "Hell Hawks!" is right up there not only with Dorr's other works but with the best in Be There combat writing. Here's an example: "The German pilot ran flat-out low...threading the needle between a church steeple and tall brick smokestack. Narrow streets raced under the wings of Kraman's P-47 as he engaged the throttle button triggering emergency water injection. His Pratt & Whitney surged as Kraman squeezed off short bursts at his quarry, the enemy banking abruptly left and right to throw off the American's aim. Across the Rhine, farther into Germany, the pair raced east..."

Dorr and co-author Thomas D. Jones (USAF Academy grad, ex-B-52 driver, veteran of four NASA space shuttle flights) also rightly recognize the guys who weren't strapping into the 365th Fighter Group's P-47s: "The men with stripes on their arms didn't pilot Jugs, but they made warfare in the Jug possible." We tend to forget that the aircraft of WW II, after all, were just 15 years removed from Lindbergh's Ryan NYP of 1927 but were very complex machines. The authors salute the men with the stripes well.

The results of close to 200 interviews of 365th FG veteans, other combat vets, family members, and more, plus four years of research, "Hell Hawks!" is loaded with the day-to-day details of fighting a tenaciously fierce enemy, demonstrating throughout the book that ground attack combat was a deadly way to earn your flight pay. The authors bring the personalities of the young pilots alive as well as provide a big picture of Allied strategy and the pace of war from D-Day to victory. This is an excellent book not only for military historians but for anyone who enjoys aviation writers at the top of their game. Splendid!

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Giving the 9th AF their due

A very enjoyable book concerning the 365th Fighter Group, IX Tac, 9th AF. The author does an excellent job of covering the unit's campaign throughout the ETO, blending both the "big picture" and personal experiences nicely. My only complaints are that the time line seemed to jump around quite a bit in places and a tendency to throw quite a few names at you in short order, so I found myself re-reading paragraphs to make sure I knew what was going on and who was doing what. But this was a very minor distraction from an overall excellent book that I would recommend highly to anyone interested in the bloody air-to-mud war conducted by the 9th AF... a war that has for far too long been hidden in the shadow cast by the "Mighty Eighth".

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reviews: page 1, 2

Hell Hawks! is the story of the band of young American fighter pilots, and their gritty, close-quarters fight against Hitlers vaunted military. The "Hell Hawks" were the men and machines of the 365th Fighter Group. Beginning just prior to D-Day, June 6, 1944, the groups young pilots (most were barely twenty years old and fresh from flight training in the United States) flew in close support of Eisenhowers ground forces as they advanced across France and into Germany. They flew the rugged, heavily armed P-47 Thunderbolt, aka the Jug. Living in tents amid the cold mud of their front-line airfields, the 365ths daily routine had much in common with that of the G.I.s they supported. Their war only stopped with the Nazi surrender on May 8, 1945. During their year in combat, the Hell Hawks paid a heavy price to win the victory. Sixty-nine pilots and airmen died in the fight across the continent. The Groups 1,241 combat missions -- the daily confrontation of sudden, violent death -- forged bonds between these men that remain strong sixty years later. This book will tell their story, the story of the Hell Hawks.

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