Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights:#1 The weather was now the enemy’s friend, and it was two days before USSTAF headquarters was able to set the teleprinters to Groups chattering again as Spaatz seized a brief break in the conditions to despatch a force of more than 1,100 bombers. Their aim was to wreck seven marshalling yards.#2 The crew’s mission was the marshalling yard at Giessen, north of Frankfurt. The lead unit was tasked with bombing through clouds, and the following planes would release as its bombs left the racks. At the turn for the bomb run, the Group would stay together or split up into its three squadrons.#3 The 8th Air Force commander, Jimmy Doolittle, was able to launch nearly 800 bombers on various objectives on 6 December, but the weather closed in, turning to sleet driven by icy winds. It was four days before Spaatz’s East Anglian bomber crews were able to operate again.#4 The Darmstadt force had an extremely easy mission, but one B-17 of the 497 that had set out to bomb the marshalling yards brought the war home in explosive fashion to those who served the air war on the ground.