Flights Into History: Final Missions Retold By Research and Archaeology

During the Second World War, men of many nations--Britons, Americans, airmen from the Commonwealth and Occupied Europe--and their equally determined, courageous German foes--fought and died in the skies over Europe. Decades later, these wrecks and relics can reveal their secrets to the expert investigator. Their excavation and preservation can serve as a tribute to the bravery and airmanship of their crews. By reconstructing wartime events from evidence in the wreckage, eyewitness accounts and contemporary documentation, aviation archaeologists can identify the flyers involved and shed new light on the air war over Europe during the Second World War. Reconstructing events, often from wreckage recovered, new lines of research and eyewitness accounts, Ian McLachlan presents a new selection of stories vividly describing how airmen of these nations flew into history.