I'm trying to build up my library on units of the Second Air Division, and am also planning on reviewing some books for a newsletter. What would the readers of this forum say are the very best books on the 4th Fighter Group? Thanks for your help.

Reed Hammans
The Heritage League

The 2 Books I have which cover the 4th FG are " 1000 Destroyed " by Grover Hall and
" Escort to Berlin : 4th FG WW II " by Garry Fry and Jeff Ethell.
Both are Very Good Histories.
Mike

Thanks, Mike. It wasn't too hard to narrow down selections, for say, the 361st and 355th FG's, but I knew there would be a number of good ones out there about the 4th. These both sound good, and anything by Jeff Ethell is usually well worth the price of admission.

I'm the new editor of the Heritage League's newsletter, so I'm looking for material, as well as people interested in writing articles. I thought I would start out with books to review.

Reed

Reed - I can recommend books on some other fighter Groups if needed. An excellent source for 8th AF Fighter Groups is www.littlefriends.co.uk  It has a photo gallery and data base for each group.
The best book for 357th FG is " To War with the Yoxford Boys " by Merle Olmsted. It is Excellent! The group adopted the nick name " Yoxford Boys " when they were called that by William Joyce " Lord HAW HAW " , during a German propoganda radio broadcast. He was born in America , Hung after the War for Treason.
My Father , John C. Howell , was an Original  P - 51 Pilot in the 357th FG , 364th SQ.  2.5 Victories
His P - 51s were C5- L " Shoo Shoo Baby ". Several pictures on little friends site.
What type of articles are you seeking , I have many.
PS - Bill Marshall , Author of "Angels  , Bulldogs and Dragons 355th FG "  is publishing a new , updated version.          
"78th FG " - Garry Fry    55th FG - John Gray    354th FG - William Hess
My good friend Sandy Merrill in Maryland wrote a great book about her Uncle , Donald Emerson , Ace in the 4th FG KIA 12/24/44. " Donald's Story ". 
Cheers,
Mike

Reed,
 
You may also want to read Frank Speer's "The Debden Warbirds."  Frank flew with the 334FS and his book deals a lot with the lesser know pilots and crew of the group.  It's an excellent compliment to ETB and 1000 Destroyed.
 
Beyond that, there are several books written by or about individuals in the group: One Man Air Force (Don Gentile), The Look of Eagles (John Godfrey), Tumult in the Clouds (jim Goodson), Wingman (Frank Speer) Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer (Lee Gover), Donald's Story (about Don Emerson by Merrill) and Last of the Screwball Aces (about Ralph Hofer by White) and Two Man Air Force (about Gentile and Godfrey by Kaplan) to name a few.  I understand Steve Pisanos is cioming out with a book of his own soon as well.
 
There are also several other books in which members of the 4th FG are featured prominently.

Mike,

Thanks so much for the additional information. I just visited the "Little Friends" site, and was surprised (although I don't know why) by the new overhaul and its comprehensive nature. One of the things I was particularly happy to find was the list of books.  (I see Battle Colors, Volume 2 is out now. Looks like I've got a little more money to spend soon. I just ordered a used copy of Angels, Bulldogs, and Dragons yesterday. Looks like I should have waited a bit.)

I had no idea the Yoxford Boys adopted their nickname from a comment by Lord Haw Haw. That sounds pretty typical of the our fighter boys at the time—take something dismissive and make it a mark of distinction. Thanks for including the information on your father's planes, as well.

For the 4th FG, it looks like the place to start is with 1000 Destroyed, Escort to Berlin, and from the reply below by ektra79, "The Debden Warbirds" (Schiffer Publishing?).

With respect to articles, we're open for suggestions. Since we're a "follow-along" group for the Second Air Division, our emphasis is on units assigned to that organization. But I don't intend to limit it to that when good articles come along.

I'm REALLY interested in raising the profile of the fighter groups in our publication. Part of that is wanting to appeal to the youngsters in our group, and there’s nothing like fighters and fighter pilots to do that. I still have my copy of “Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II”, given to me by an aunt and uncle in 1964. In it, I was introduced to Blakeslee, Godfrey, and Gentile, and many, many others. It has that classic picture of  Don Blakeslee in the cockpit of his P-51. I thought there was probably no more dashing man on the face of the planet!

Anyway, I’m hoping to find people to write an original, researched article of 3-4 pages, maybe once a year. But I’m also looking for shorter articles, from half a page to 1 page of any topic of real interest to the individual author. In general, we’re hoping for articles that have not appeared somewhere else, since our readership may have seen them there. Again, though, we’ve got flexibility there. Sorry I can’t be more specific at this point, but I’m just starting in as editor. If you are interested in doing something, please e-mail me, and we’ll start a dialogue.

Again, thanks for your suggestions on books. I know I’m going to have a similar question for the 56th FG.

Reed Hammans

Wow! I am always amazed at the knowledge out there that shows up on these forums and how fast people respond. Thanks for this great list. As I said above, looks like I'll start with "1000 Destroyed" and "Escort to Berlin", with "Debden Warbirds" to follow.

I really appreciate the list of books about/by the individual pilots. Usually, I try to get an overview of a unit's history, but find myself drawn to the biographies and memoirs. (Twelve years ago, I picked up a copy of "Top Guns of the Luftwaffe by Caldwell", and the obvious hit me:  "Whoa! These were real people, not just faceless historical figures." That led me into the AAF fighters, and then to the bombers units and men of the Eighth.

Of the books you listed on individuals, are there one or two you would particularly recommend for a general reader? For children or teenagers?

Again, thanks. This is great.

Reed

56th FG Books :
Zemkes Wolf Pack - Zemke and Freeman
Gabby - Gabreski
Mike

Thanks, Mike. I picked up a copy of this book about 2 weeks ago at Half Price Books. I try to pick up anything I see by Roger Freeman. Also found a copy of "Big Friend, Little Friend" by Richard E. Turner (354thFG, 356THFS).

Reed

Reed - another great 56th Book is " Thunderbolt " by Robert Johnson.
This was one of the 1st WW II books I read as a kid. A good young peoples Book is
" 30 Seconds over Tokyo ".
Mike

Mike,

Oh, yeah. That one had almost slipped my mind. I have an old 1966 Ballantine paperback of "Thunderbolt", and you're right:  It's a very readable and enjoyable book. It's got that incredible account of the time he was saved from being shot down when the Luftwaffe pilot finally ran out of ammunition. (I think his adversary was Hans Phillip, with JG1(?) at the time.

One of the favorite things I remember in that book was his contention that the P-47 was clearly superior to the P-51, because by the time the P-51's showed up in numbers, most of the best Luftwaffe pilots were already gone, so the P-51 guys could run up their scores more easily! It's sort of a B-17/B-24, Ford/Chevy, Mac/PC moment.

Thanks, Mike. This has been great.

Reed

Reed,
 
Regarding books for children, I'm not sure there are any specific to the 4th.  I would think any teenager would be able to read the books - some of the individual accounts have semi-graphic desriptions of aerial warfare and the occasional expletive but nothing too harsh.
 
I am currently researching/writing a biography of John Godfrey, which is how I come by information on the 4th.  I would be willing to write something for your publication, be it about Godfrey or another member of the 4th, or perhaps a topic related to but not specifically about the 4th.
 
If you'd like to discuss it further contact me off board at ccmtem3@earthlink.net.
 
Regards,
 
Tim McCann   
 

Here's a list of 4th Fighter Group books and also Eagle Squadron books. 
 
http://www.eaglesquadrons.com/coppermine/index.php?cat=6
 
Hope this helps out a bit.

www.eaglesquadrons.com

Zig,

Thanks for the reply to my post. That's a beautiful website, with some excellent references. Amazingly, I had not run across it before.

Reed Hammans

The book you want to get but is almost impossible to find is




Mr. Tettley's Tenants by Capt. Grover C. Hall, Jr. 1st edition 1944.
written during the war with a great amount of photos. 

Michael P. Faley
100th Bomb Group Historian
100th Bomb Group Photo Archives
13th Combat Wing Historian

"1,000 Destroyed" and "Mr. Tettleys Tenants" are the standards, seeing as they were written by the Groups PR Officer, Capt. Grover Hall. Both are understandably a bit biased and deal only with the 4th, not the rest of the 8thFC, but excellent for fans. I have both, and both are excellent reads, I read them for the first time when I was about 12 (Dad wouldn't let them out of his sight before that) and read them annually since. I don't recommend trying to buy either (except for the later editions of "destroyed") as they're EXTREMELY rare and very expensive. I've seen "Tenants" go for upwards of $500.

"Tenants" was the wartime edition, so it is incomplete and has many names and locations changed "to protect the innocent." I have the 1946 Edition of 1,000 destroyed which lists ALL members of the 4th by state with their current addresses as of the printing, and it is a wonderful resource. It also has the unit photos of all the service squadrons, which are lacking in the later editions.

"Tenants" is also reccomended for its humorous "comic" style illustrations, which didn't make it into "Destroyed". It seems a much more rousing story than the later "Destroyed", which was already taking the turn toward nostalgic memory.

I do NOT recommend "2 Man Air Force", its nothing more than a collection of anecdotes and quotes from other, much better works. It has no sense of chronology- the narrative is constantly jumping around and the diary entries and quotes thrown into chapters often have no relation to what is happening around them- either by people, events, or point in the story. I had to actually make an effort to get through it, just to say that I'd read the whole thing before giving up. Its atrocious.

"Escort to Berlin" and "Debden Warbirds" are excellent resources (though a bit dry to sit and read, as they're mainly operational diaries) and highly recommended for the serious enthusiast. Both also have a wealth of photos. "Escort" is also valuable for the 2 chapters at the end by "Deacon" Hively, very witty and fun to read. Really put you into the mind of one of the legends.

I have yet to acquire a copy of "One Man Air Force", but I have both "Look of Eagles" and "Tumult in the Clouds", both are EXCELLENT and highly recommended. "Eagles" brings me to tears every time I read it.

The book on Emerson and the one by Pisanos are high on my "to acquire" list, haven't read either yet. Same goes for the book on Hofer.

I'm still waiting for bios of Beeson and Blakeslee to come out. I've been wanting to do one of Bee for years, but theres surprisingly little info availabe on him that I've been able to find. Not enough to base a book on at least.

C.E. "Treize" Roman
Capt., 334th FS, 4th FG
in "Aces High" flight sim

In Memorium- Cpl. Edward Roman, 688th AMS, 4th FG

Michael and Treize,

Thanks for the update and detail in Treize's post. It's very interesting information, to day the least. I've seen "Tumult in the Clouds"--in fact, just during the last two weeks--but wasn't sure about it. Based on your knowledgeable recommendation, it's now on my "to be purchased" list. Thanks again for taking the time to write that excellent post, prompted by Michael's.

Reed Hammans

Here is another http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SS6181
Nice price with good selection of photo's.
There is some photo caption mistakes .There is a photo of Maj. Goodson talking on the phone and on top of it is another stating it is Goodson in the cockpit of his P-51B,it is not him not even close.
But for $15 it is a bargin.
Rick
 

I just ordered that one myself. Always looking for more photos.
 
I just need a scanner so I can put them in my computer and stop having to go through 20 books to find something.

C.E. "Treize" Roman
Capt., 334th FS, 4th FG
in "Aces High" flight sim

In Memorium- Cpl. Edward Roman, 688th AMS, 4th FG

In the new Squadron/Signal book there are quite a few mistakes in ID's. An autographed photo of Cecil Manning ID'd as Col. Blakeslee, on the back cover George Green is ID'd as Blakeslee,  Chesley Peterson is ID'd as Hank Mills, in a group shot Gentile is named as Gen Auton,  Oscar Coen is ID'd as Shorty Keough in an early 4th FG photo - but is stated to be Nov of 1941 in the Eagles, and a number of others. Plus quite a few photo shopped images, mainly just putting clouds in the sky in them.    
  A couple of mistakes okay. But there are more than there should be.

www.eaglesquadrons.com