Defeat of Nazi Germany by dennis wong

dennis wong

Editor (anthology)

Defeat of Nazi Germany

A factual and fascinating account of how the Western Allied Strategic Air Forces in the European Theater of Operations annihilated Adolph Hilter’s Third Reich. Seen through the eyes of S/Sgt Chester Fong as a tail-gunner aboard a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber in the US 8th Air Force, Fong’s story is more than just a history lesson. He describes the events leading up to the ultimate defeat of Germany, the roles of the Allied air and ground forces in securing victory in Europe, and coming home to unite once more with his family. S/Sgt Fong gives a personal account of each mission regarding its purpose and objectives in the ongoing air bombing campaign, and what was achieved through a successful bombing raid. Military operations are both very mechanical and routine, but their success or failure critically depends on the human component. This is one aspect of the war that S/Sgt Fong brings forth to the reader, the trials and tribulations of just being a combat soldier. The events occurring with what was happening on the ground dictated ongoing Allied air force operations. As such, both elements were inextricably linked in defeating the Axis Powers in Europe. Aerial combat was just as vicious as that on the ground, and the major battles in both arenas during the last months of the war are all discussed in vivid detail in the first four chapters of the book.

Reviews

A tailgunner on a bomber for the US Air Force in World War II, Fong writes with inviting clarity, offering up-close-and-personal accounts of each of the 22 missions that he flew in 1945 while also contextualizing how each fit into the wider mission of defeating Nazi Germany. In meticulous detail, he covers the widest objectives of the overall mission of the Allies while also focusing on the actual experience of what each mission was like. Among the revelations: how weather affected the sighting of targets and was the single biggest factor in whether a mission was even allowed to occur, as well as real-time changes in technology that altered the course of the war.

Fong covers all this chronological order, after opening with a brief account of his hopes of joining China’s Flying Tigers and fighting the Japanese invasion there, but a snafu led to him being sent to Germany instead. He briefly describes boot camp and training to be a crew member of the B-24 Liberator bomber before jumping into a detailed description of the desperate German offensive in Ardennes, later to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. In essence, the Allies had wiped out the German air force (the Luftwaffe) before the invasion of Normandy. Hitler, deranged in his final days, had ordered an all-out offensive to break through the Allied forces.

Touchingly honoring his heritage and the sacrifices and courage of Chinese-Americans, Fong details the challenge of destroying the industrial complex that allowed the Germans to build planes and tanks, as well as providing fuel for their vehicles, processes Fong played a part in disrupting in countless bomber missions designed to destroy airfields, factories, processing centers, and other industrial targets. Fong supplements his close-up and big-picture account with fascinating photos and maps that clearly relay military goals, plus a wealth of material in appendices. Readers interested in the fine details regarding the end of the war will be fascinated.

Takeaway: Revealing, moving account of 22 bombing missions in Germany at the end of World War II.

Comparable Titles: E. Samantha Cheng’s Honor and Duty, Philip Kaplan’s Escort Pilot.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B

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