Thanks Adam !....

..and thanks too David ! I now have a very nice copy of the 1972 edition of Aces & Wingmen on my shelf ....complements nicely my copy of Aces & Wingmen II Vol 1 ...actually there is little overlap between the two volumes & some superb material in both...just waiting for Aces & Wingmen II Vol 2 to arrive ...along with a nice hardback copy of '1,000 Destroyed' for not too many $$$

...very nice copy of '1,000 Destroyed' just arrived - superb seminal 4th Fighter Group study, written immediately post-war by Grover Hall who was based at Debden with the unit. This is the 1978 reprint. The 4th are the subject of a forthcoming Osprey Elite title authored by Chris Bucholtz..which I am looking forward to (not something you can often say about Ospreys..)

you did well friend ! I do not know how many times years ago I checked out 1000 destroyed from our local library until some goof stole the title......

still trying to get my camera going for then 8th AF sigs as there are some nice itmes to be shown from the 356thfg and others. actually burned out my battereis they were so old and recharged them...........yes I recharged them alright.

back to the 356th fg their history is somewhat of a dud, the daily listings are ok but the pics are qite small the colour profiles are terrible but at least it is something on that say we unknown AF unit

..yep I do have that one but haven't got around to reading it....I must say that Steve Blake's new 354th FG history from Schiffer has gone straight to the top of the pile ..although again the artwork is a little strange...
brought my copy from the Lashenden/Headcorn airfield museum shop. The 354th were based there during May/June 1944 and there is an entire wall of one room devoted to their stay on the airfield. The pictures of the various squadrons taxiing out and getting airborne on D-Day are quite something...The book itself is a monster, about 450 pages and 600 photos. The main text is a narrative with lots of first-hand accounts supported by some very extensive and detailed appendices. 10/10 ...

Neil the unit before sent overseas was actually stationed out of Salem/Portland Oregon with the P-39. have talked with several members who found those days very strange, but loved the beautiful Willamete valley, and they were quite please with the "new" P-51B while the others were flying the Jug, man were they upset when they had to give up the P-51's and take on the Jug for their short time while in the Ardenne and then back with new P-51D's ready to take on the LW in 1945......

I wonder if I might ask a question about this book? This thread seemed the appropriate place to do it.

There is a copy at my local used bookstore for relatively cheap considering its cover price of $50.00US

Does anyone know the book and/or can you recommend it? I'm leaning towards picking it up. Thanks in advance...



Amazon.com: CLASH OF EAGLES: USAAF 8th Air Force Bombers Versus the Luftwaffe in World War II: Martin Bowman: Books

..one of those Amazon reviews is mine in fact - an excellent book...

and my copy of Aces & Wingmen II Vol 2 has arrived - wow !! Looks very similar to Aces & Wingmen II Vol 1 but has an amazing 1,200 + photos packed into its 256 pages !! ...sometimes more is less though as the pics have really been shoe-horned in and its a little hard to read the text/captions....a couple of page scans from the large color section for those interested ...

have some more 8th AF sigs to share soon as I have been interviewing several vets for future book projects, the guys are getting burned out from non paying E-bayers so getting through legit is getting very very tough

Neil the pics of the book are they a true representation for size or are they larger than you depicted, from the sounds of it the fighter aces is truly a work to behold, but in this case with few pages and 1200 photos the photo content dimensions must be rather small to incorporate all the pics ?

just a heads up but I just got off the phone with a rep of one of the states covering the fighter aces association, do not be surprised over the next 5 years that all books on the fighter groups and aces will be seen and then that will be it and the prices for the new volumes will be extremely expensive, there is some real head rolling going on right now about former ace pilots signing anything so be forewarned if your sent letters never get replied too.............it was bound to happen, so attending Duxford and antyhing similar is a must have for books and sigs

A book I recommend is the recently published Bluenoser Tales (ed. by 352nd FG pilot Bob "Punchy" Powell - "The West By Gawd Virginian"). It is a nice complement to the 352nd's classic history Bluenosed Bastards of Bodney (and is readily available and affordable). Not a history but rather an anthology of accounts, it is well illustrated with b/w photos and 2 color sections - one with a selection of paintings depicting Bluenosers in action, and another with cockpit portraits and aircraft (including several rarely seen color photos of their P-47s, and several nice portraits of pilots just returned from the Russian shuttle mission, still in their flight gear !).

Thanks for the nose pics. I felt something move.

the book pages are larger than depicted, A-4 size ..but still difficult to read...as I say less really would have been more in this instance.

agree the Bluenoser Tales book should be in every 8th AF collection - although the font is too big, some of the photos are a little small and I wasn't keen on the rather 'romantic' artwork reproductions. Given the prices that the original unit history now fetches - Bob Powell offered me a copy at $300 - this one should sell like hot cakes...