“THE MIGHTY EIGHTH – – A Glimpse of the Men, Missions & Machines of the U.S. Eighth AirForce 1942-45”, by Michael Craig & the Military Gallery Commemorative Committee,distributed by CASEMATE PUBLISHING: 2021, 128 pages, hc; $40. Visit,www.militarygallery.com; and, www.casematepublishing.com.“ACE in A DAY – The Memoir of an Eighth Air Force Fighter Pilot in World War II”, by Lt. Col.Wayne K. Blickenstaff, edited by Graham Cross. Casemate Publishers: 2022; 340 pages, hc;$39.95. Visit, www. casematepublishing.com.Readers who relish World War II air war books should be aware of one of the best bookcommemorative collections ever published. Distributed, of course, by Casemate Publishing, anincomparable company in continual search for the best war titles the world’s military publishershave to offer, the series also includes such titles as “Their Finest Hour”, “The Dambusters”, and“Overlord – D-Day and the Battle for Normandy. These highly detailed books are not simply acollection of artworks. First and foremost, they are historically accurate accounts, painstakinglyresearched with the assistance of some of the leading historians on the subjects. That beingsaid, note that they are illustrated by some of the world’s leading aviation artists. Thus, truecollectors of aviation histories will demand they be placed among their most important air
battle stories and histories on the bookshelves of their living rooms.
The heroics of the airmen who served in the Eighth Air Force and fought the equally intelligent,fiercely determined German pilots flying their varied aircraft, are legendary in the annals ofWorld War II aviation, and unit, histories. In 1942, when the American air force landed in Britainin serious numbers with their latest combat modes, their coming sent deep sighs of relief to thepeoples of occupied Europe, and shudders of despair through the German High Command. Forthe next three years, while Royal Air Force Bomber Command bombed at night, the Eighthpommeled the enemy by day. By May 5, 1945, all fighting had stopped. Victory was ours. Waituntil you begin perusing the book upon its arrival at your doorstep, noting the high-qualityillustrations, charts, columns, diagrams, maps, quotes, and ton of other information us buffsfeed on. There is no need for urgent comments of gratitude for the reviewer’s sworn duty ofintroducing his most highly recommended.Ditto the aforesaid praise and insistence for “ACE in A Day – The Memoir of an Eighth Air ForceFighter Pilot”. Making friends with Blick (Lt. Col. Waynes K. Blickenstaff) will be one of the mostmemorable experiences, up-close and personally, and while bitterly fighting for his life abovethe English Channel and across Europe, the enthusiast will remember in his or her lifetime ofreading stories of WWII. In short, Blick’s never-before-published wartime journal may well rankas one of the three best personal memoirs yet published. His vivid writing places the readerprecisely where this reviewer wants his readers to be: next to the writer or participant, inBlick’s case, right behind him, facing victories or tragedies in true life and death struggles. JohnJ. O’Neil III, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, National Museum of the Mighty Eighth AirForce, “It is one of the best memoirs of an American fighter pilot one can read.” Aptly, Blickadds, “Whether I lived or died in my various air fights was due primarily to plain luck.”
The reader can determine for the self whether luck really had anything to do with his survival.
