Forgotten Fifteenth
“Long awaited, this outstanding book is the first full-length history of the Forgotten Fifteenth. The author’s detailed research complements his superb writing style in paying tribute to the personnel of the Fifteenth. Tillman takes the reader airborne with him on this bloody but glorious flight to victory. This is one book everybody needs, including the general reader, beginner buff, expert, or scholar.”
Walter J. Boyne, New York Times bestselling author
November 1943 to May 1945. The US Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler's vital oil production and industrial plants on the Third Reich's southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry.
In Forgotten Fifteenth Barrett Tillman brings into focus a seldom-seen multinational cast of characters, including pilots from Axis nations Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria and many more remarkable individuals. They were the first generation of fliers-few of them professionals-to conduct a strategic bombing campaign against a major industrial nation. They suffered steady attrition and occasionally spectacular losses. In so doing, they contributed to the end of the most destructive war in history.
Forgotten Fifteenth is the first-ever detailed account of the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II and the brave men that history has abandoned. This book is a must-read for military history enthusiasts, veterans, and current servicemen and their families.
Praise