"Bloomsbury presents Into the Firestorm by Scott McGaugh, read by Jeff Harding
From the hellish skies over Europe to the unforgiving terrain of the Himalayas, this is the first complete history of the C-47 aircrew who helped turn the tide of war.
One of the most perilous combat roles of World War II was that of the Allied aircrews who flew unarmed transport planes into enemy territory, often just hundreds of feet above the battlefield. Tasked with delivering paratroopers and towing combat gliders packed with troops and equipment, the crews braved anti-aircraft fire and enemy fighters without the means to shoot back.
Drawing on after-action reports, letters, and personal diaries, Into the Firestorm takes readers into the cockpit of the C-47, revealing the extraordinary courage of these crews in the first complete history of their experiences. Aircrews of the C-47 were ordered to fly straight, low, take no evasive action, and arrive “on time and on target.” On every single mission they were, quite simply, sitting ducks. Readers are introduced to the college students, farmhands, and store clerks who were thrust into service, many of whom would never return. Yet their contribution to the war was crucial. Without resupplies from C-47s, Patton would have lost the Battle of the Bulge. Without the willingness of these aircrews to fly directly over the Himalayas, Japan’s war in the east may well have prevailed.
Award-winning author Scott McGaugh restores these unsung heroes to their rightful place in the legacy of the Greatest Generation. C 2026 Scott McGaugh P 2026 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"
"Bloomsbury presents Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin by Scott McGaugh, read by Geoff Sugiyama.
The first major history of the American glider pilots, the forgotten heroes of World War II, by a New York Times bestselling author. A story of no guns, no engines and no second chances.
This book distills war down to individual young men climbing into defenseless gliders made of plywood, ready to trust the towing aircraft that would pull them into enemy territory by a cable wrapped with telephone wire. Based on their after-action reports, journals, oral histories, and letters home, this book reveals every terrifying minute of their missions.
They were all volunteers, for a specialized duty that their own government projected would have a 50 percent casualty rate. None faltered. In every major European invasion of the war they led the way. They landed their gliders ahead of the troops who stormed Omaha Beach, and sometimes miles ahead of the paratroopers bound for the far side of the Rhine River in Germany itself. From there, they had to hold their positions. They delivered medical teams, supplies and gasoline to troops surrounded in the Battle of the Bulge, ahead even of Patton's famous supply truck convoy. These all-volunteer glider pilots played a pivotal role in liberating the West from tyranny, from the day the Allies invaded Occupied Europe to the day Germany finally surrendered. Yet the story of these anonymous heroes is virtually unknown. Here it is told in full – a story which epitomizes courage and sacrifice. C 2023 Scott McGaugh P 2023 Bloomsbury Publishing PLC"
"The gritty and inspiring story of the Japanese American “Go for Broke” regiment that rescued—against all odds—a trapped American battalion, and went on to become the most decorated unit of its size in World War II
On October 24, 1944, more than two hundred American soldiers were surrounded by German infantry deep in the Vosges Mountains of eastern France. When their food, ammunition, and medical supplies ran out, the area’s Army headquarters turned to the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated unit of Japanese American soldiers, to achieve what other units had failed to do: rescue the “lost battalion.”
In this riveting narrative, New York Times bestselling historian Scott McGaugh tells the story of the famous soldiers who had volunteered for combat from within America’s internment camps. It is a story of a young generation’s fight against both the enemy and American prejudice—a story of heroism, sacrifice, and the best America has to offer."
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