Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II

Media:	Paperback
Author:	Philip Ardery
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Release date:	01 March, 1996
List price:	~~$19.95~~
Our price:	$13.57 that is 32% off!

Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II

Average rating: Stars

An exciting read!

The cover of Bomber Pilot displays a photograph of a Liberator skimming the ground on a low level attack on the Ploesti raid. This photograph alone makes you want to reach out to grab Bomber Pilot assured that you will have an exciting read. And you won't be disappointed. Pilot Phil Ardery won a Silver Star, two DFCs, four Air Medals and the French Croix de Guerre with palm. He didn't get those sitting around some Officers' Club.

He flew 24s on missions ranging from icy Norway to baking North Africa. Some Eighth Air Force crews were detached to Libya to join in the fight to drive the Axis from Bengasi, Tripoli and all of the Mediterranean. You'll be able to compare bombing in hot and dusty Libya and lurching through the Norwegian sky trying to find any identifiable landmark.

Ardery flew missions to eastern Mediterranean islands. He says when he was stationed in Bengasi with Ninth Bomber Command there was no Protestant Chaplain and no Jewish one but there was a remarkable Catholic chaplain who was capable of conducting services for Jewish personnel. Ardery, a Protestant, notes that Fr. Beck could conduct a Jewish funeral with perfect form and dignity. He never missed an opportunity to give all possible aid and comfort to the Protestant boys. He never pushed his religion on any of them.

Fr. Beck actually flew on combat missions from time to time . Crews thought it was lucky to have him aboard. One day the Group Commander found out and grounded him. He apparently feared having to explain what the chaplain was doing up in the air if he got wounded, taken prisoner or shot out of the sky.

Read this book. My library got it for me which means most Massachusetts's libraries should be able to get it for you. Ardery, who later became a successful attorney, will take you on raids as far north as Oslo as well as deep into Naziland. He describes the buzz bombing of London, flying over the D-Day beaches, the courage of the British civilians. He dedicates this book to the officers and men of the 564th Bomb Squadron, the 389th Bomb Group and the Second Combat Wing. Do these outfits sound familiar to any of you? Bet they do!

Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II - Philip Ardery

This is good stuff.

Ardery's account of his life as a B-24 pilot is excellent. From all the training it took to simply get into the planes, to combat in the skies over the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, Ardery's account is an even-handed account of what a bomber pilot's life was like.

The chapter about Ploesti is especially fascinating. James Dugan and Carrol Stewart used Ardery as a source for their book on the subject, and the details of Ardery's part in the raid offer some really interesting stuff. Especially intruiging is the background and fate of Medal of Honor winner Lloyd Hughes, who was flying on Ardery's wing when when he perished.

This book is really good stuff; Steven Ambrose's "Wild Blue" pales in comparison. Ardery doesn't place himself on a hero pedestal, he merely tells of his experiences in a very interesting and easy-to-digest style.

Philip Ardery - Bomber Pilot: A Memoir of World War II

A great account of the B24 Experience

This outstanding autobiographical recount of Ardery's WW2 experiences ranks amongst the top in this genre. Follow his career through flight training and initial assignments, trials, tribulations and finally, a combat assignment. Ardery, his crew, and their B24 participated in several critical and unprecedented bombing missions during the war, including the infamous Ploesti raid. His recount of flying into a virtual "wall of fire", which was the defensive flak being levelled at their bomber, is one of the most horrowing experiences written to date. In addition to this book, those interested in the B24 should definately read Thomas Childer's "Wings of Morning : The Story of the Last American Bomber Shot Down over Germany in World War II" which stands alone as the absolute finest piece of literature written to date on this subject.

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