Half A Wing, Three Engines And A Prayer: B17's Over Germany - Brian O'Neill

About the authors

Brian D. O'Neill, is the General Counsel of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the famous aviation company that manufactured the Curtiss P-40 fighter and the B-17's Wright Cyclone engines during World War II. Before becoming an attorney, he served with the U.S. Navy as a detroyer gunner officer and shipyard repair officer. An avid student of Eighth Air Force history, he resides in East Windsor, New Jersey.

Table of contents

Special Edition Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Hullar's Crew
Chapter 2: The ETO
Chapter 3: Moleworth and the 303rd Bomb Group
Chapter 4: Introduction to Combat: Amiens, August 15, 1943 and Le Bourget, August 16, 1943
Chapter 5: "We're Veterans After That One!": Schweinfurt, August 17, 1943
Chapter 6: "This One Was Going to Be a 'Milk Run'": Gilze Rijen, August 19, 1943
Chapter 7: "They Didn't Have a Prayer!": Watten, August 27, 1943
Chapter 8: "By This Time Things Were Really Screwed Up": Amiens, August 31, 1943
Chapter 9: "And I for One Said a Little Prayer": Stuttgart, September 6, 1943
Chapter 10: "A Horrible Fiasco": Nantes, September 16, 1943
Chapter 11: "Don't Let That Happen to You": Emden, October 2, 1943
Chapter 12: "Black Week" Begins: Bremen, October 8, 1943
Chapter 13: "We Were All So Scared": Munster, October 10, 1943
Chapter 14: "Schweinfurt Again!": Black Thursday, October 14, 1943
Chapter 15: Schweinfurt Postmortem: October 15-19, 1943
Chapter 16: "I Could Even See England": Duren, October 20, 1943
Chapter 17: A Week at the "Rest Home": October 22-27, 1943
Chapter 18: "Those Lightnings Were Beautiful That Day": Wilhelmshaven, November 3, 1943
Chapter 19: The Silence Before the Storm: November 4-25, 1943
Chapter 20: The Battle of Bremen Begins: November 26, 1943
Chapter 21: Star Dust: Bremen, November 26, 1943
Chapter 22: Sawicki's Sacrifice: Bremen, November 29, 1943
Chapter 23: The Battle of Bremen Continued: December 1-December 16, 1943
Chapter 24: "Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer": Bremen, December 20, 1943
Chapter 25: Jersey Bounce Jr.: Bremen, December 20, 1943
Chapter 26: "Rocket Area in France": Vacqueriette, December 24, 1943
Chapter 27: "We Had 10/10 Clouds jUnder Us the Whole Time": Ludwigshafen, December 30, 1943
Chapter 28: Combat Stress: The Tour Takes Its Toll
Chapter 29: Duel With a Smokescreen: Kiel, January 4, 1944
Chapter 30: "The Biggest Ball of Flame I Have Ever Seen": Kiel, January 5, 1944
Chapter 31: Laurels and Disaster: Oschersleben, January 11, 1944
Chapter 32: Aftermaths of Oschersleben, January 11-13, 1944
Chapter 33: Hell's Angels: January 14-20, 1944
Chapter 34: "A 'No Ball' Target in France: Beaulieu, January 21, 1944
Chapter 35: A Mission With Lewis E. Lyle: Frankfurt, January 29, 1944
Chapter 36: Fowler's Fate: Frankfurt, January 29, 1944
Chapter 37: The Last Mission: Bernberg, February 20, 1944
Chapter 38: The Beginnings of Victory: "Big Week" and Beyond
Chapter 39: Epilogue: Old Soldiers Who Don't Fade Away
APPENDIX I
* Honor Role of 303rd Bomb Group (H)
* Personnel Killed, Wounded, or Missing in Action During the Hullar Crew's Tour: August 12, 1943 - February 20, 1944
APPENDIX II
* Suggestions for Further Reading and Research
Index