Mission to Berlin: The American Airmen Who Struck the Heart of Hitler's Reich

From Hell Hawks! author Robert F. Dorr, Mission to Berlin takes the reader on a World War II strategic bombing mission from the airfields of England to Berlin and back. Told largely in the veterans' own words, Mission to Berlin covers all the players in a long-range bombing run, including pilots and other aircrew, ground crew, and escort fighters that accompanied the heavy bombers on their perilous missions. Long stretches of quiet flight high above the fields of Europe were punctuated by moments of intense danger and adrenalin as flak sliced through the hull and crew alike and German fighters pounced on the Allied aircraft. Bomber crews also faced high-altitude cold, lack of oxygen, fires, and explosions of their own ordnance, as well as crash landings or bailouts that could kill them or turn them into prisoners of war. As they fought their way across Europe, hoping to beat the odds and survive the maximum thirty-five combat missions, they often thought, "I hope we get Hitler today."