Hell's Angels

The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II

De: Jay A. Stout

Narrado por: Robertson Dean

The true story of World War 2’s legendary Hell’s Angels—the 8th Air Force’s 303rd Bomb Group.

Although the United States declared war against Germany in December 1941, a successful assault on Nazi-occupied Europe could not happen until Germany’s industrial and military might were crippled. The first target was the Luftwaffe—the most powerful and battle-hardened air force in the world. The United States Army Air Forces joined with Great Britain’s already-engaged Royal Air Force to launch a strategic air campaign that ultimately brought the Luftwaffe to its knees. One of the standout units of this campaign was the legendary 303rd Bomb Group—Hell’s Angels.

This is the 303rd’s story, as told by the men who made it what it was. Taking their name from their B-17 of the same name, they became one of the most distinguished and important air combat units in history. The dramatic and terrible air battles they fought against Germany ultimately changed the course of the war.

©2015 Jay A. Stout (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“[An] epic tale of the World War II aerial campaign over Europe...Hell's Angels is a gripping and awe-inspiring book.”—Nathaniel Fick, author of One Bullet Away

“It's all there—the boredom, the devotion, the horror and even the humor in an industrial war fought on a global scale that we'll never see again. Unit histories just do not get any better.”—Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind and Forgotten Fifteenth.

“Jay Stout is a triple-threat aviation historian—an experienced combat aviator, a meticulous researcher and a compelling story teller. His uncanny eye for authentic detail allows Hell’s Angels to be the incredible story of the 303rd Bomb Group and the bombing campaign that crippled Nazi Germany. Stout makes a hard-ridden topic seem fresh and new again. Highly recommended.”—Walter J. Boyne, Author/Historian

Pretty Much Amazing!

Wow! Just finished Hell's Angels this morning. What a great book, especially if you're an aviation history fan. It's almost like Mr. Stout used the 303rd as a mechanism for describing, in general, what life in the 8th air force, and what bomber operations were like. So, you get the 303rd's history but end up much better educated about what the air war was like for all of the 8th air force personnel.

Here are things I really appreciated:

- The author does a really nice job of chronologically following the group's history. However, this isn't a dry recounting of events - it's got a lot of life.
- There are a huge number of compelling first person accounts. The author clearly did a ton of research.
- Sometimes I read aviation history and it's clear that some authors don't have a strong grasp of the facts and of flight concepts (e.g. one book talks about how Rickenbacker turned his plane by pulling the stick left and applying right rudder - really?). However, I didn't encounter anything in this book that seemed questionable. I think that, perhaps, this comes from the fact that the author is a pilot.
- There are technical details but I didn't find them overwhelming. For example, the description of what it was like to be a ball turret gunner, and how the ball turret actually worked, was educational. On the other hand, if you aren't interested in it, that material was over in about 15 minutes. Also, these technical items don't all come at once; Stout manages to weave them in at appropriate points during the overall chronological narrative.
- Narrator was perfect - he was clear and applied just the right amount of accent to the characters through the book. He, also, got the pronunciation right (which I can't say for all aviation history narrators)

Here are some things that aren't necessarily failings so much as ideas / a wish list for a future Stout work:
- It would be nice to hear similar (perhaps shorter) perspectives from 8th AF units that flew B24s and other hardware
- It would be nice to hear similar perspectives from fighter pilots
- I guess I would have liked a bit more detail about what flying the B17 was like from the pilot's perspective (i.e. to a pilot, what was different about flying a 17 than flying a 24? What were things they had to be careful of? What did they really like?)
- What about a similar work from groups in other theaters?

Anyhow, I loved this audiobook. I really started to dread the end as we got into late 1944 and I knew it was coming. Highly recommend!

Top Notch

This was both a well done and most informative book. The author is to be commended for his dedication to detail, and the tragic and eventful events he was able to put into this book. For me, the greatest revelation was the civilian murders of downed airmen, and that disturbed me. There has been a lot of criticism of the Allied bombing campaign. If the German populace were not affected by it, why would they murder downed airmen?? It needed to be done!

Good Listen

The book does get a little dry at times, but essentially it is a great history book not a bad story book. The author does a good job arranging the information into a short stories with all the facts and natural ambiguity that exists in the record. The stories make their points and draw a picture of what the war was like as a bomber. I enjoyed the narration as well.

Wonderful Account of a Time Now Long Gone

A thorough and derailed history of men and machines but told in way that it is never dry or dreary. If you are interested in the way young men lived during these terrible times, you could do worse than listening to this wonderful account of what it was like to be a warrior in the skies over Europe, 1942-45.

They sacrificed so much for us.

We owe these men a debt of gratitude, the history is enthralling along with the men and their stories. You get to know some of the thousands and thus become involved in their lives.
Recommended.

Awesome story so sad I finished it

Awesome just awesome. Greatest book ever. Really enjoyed the story. I would highly recommend it. Thank you very much. Thanks

informative

nothing is better than putting on a set of earbuds and drowning out the annoying coworkers at work...very informative and entertaining book.

A good book

The narrator was good but the story a little wordy and could have skipped over some of the minor details.

Hero's every one of them.

Narrative was very good. it takes thru their experience highs and lows. very detailed and complete. just the right lenght.

303rd BG, men like no other

A very informative writing. I listened to it because my great-uncle was the TG on the B-17G Henn's Revenge" when it was shot down April 10, 1945. very glad I did