8th Air Force: American Heavy Bomber Groups in England, 1942-1945. By Gregory Pons. Paris: Histoire & Collections, 2006. Maps. Diagrams. Illustrations. Photographs. Pp. 192. $39.95. ISBN: 2915239-82-7

Imagine reading the scrapbook of an Eighth Air Force airman who flew missions from England

to Germany and occupied Europe in World War II. A book with personal mementos, pictures, documents, and news clippings from dangerous missions could document the service of one of the thousands who flew those missions or perhaps one of the 47,000 who died in that campaign. Reading the book would be a way to view historical events from the perspective of a person who lived through the combat.

Gregory Pons has greatly improved on the idea of an individual scrapbook. He collected the scrapbooks of fourteen different airmen and added captions, an historical narrative, color pictures, and drawings. The new materials provide a historical background, explain the items in the scrapbooks, and add modern color photographs of some of the uniforms and equipment. Pons also added lots of unit patches and nose art showing the great designs used to identify units and personalize the bombers.

These materials tell the stories of the individual airmen and the histories of their units and Eighth Air Force. Pons added information about many of the aircraft, including whether or not the bombers were shot down or lost on a mission. The scrapbooks come from pilots, navigators, gunners, bombardiers, photographers, a mechanic, and a member of the Women's Army Corps. The airmen represented thirteen different bomb groups. The perspectives of different types of people and the histories of different units are presented in the materials.

This book is filled with medal citations, diary entries, and personal flight logs. However, there are some unique things that readers may be encountering for the first time. One section provides details about a flight crew that was interned in Switzerland after a crash landing. Another special item is a copy of a leaflet letter from President Roosevelt to the German people.

The many personal photographs show us these brave men and women posing for pictures, working, resting, and flying. The photographs were taken by the airmen themselves or by unit photographers. The color photographs and drawings of the aircraft, nose art and patches help bring the stories to life for readers used to seeing color photos. The color reconstruction photos are from Militaria Magazine. The book is printed on heavy stock paper that really complements the great photography.

Aviation historians will enjoy the many aircraft photographs; however, this book focuses on bomber crews. Most of the aircraft in the pictures are B-17s and B-24s. There are just a few photos of fighters.

Anyone interested in these great bombers and in World War II aviation will enjoy this book. The materials make it fun for all ages. These scrapbooks are special because of the unique perspective they give readers. Battles may be fought by units, but each unit is comprised of men and women using their weapons to the best of their abilities. This book focuses on the basic elements of Eighth Air Force, those brave individuals and the equipment with which they fought the war.

Maj. Herman Reinhold, USAF,, Administrative Law Attorney