Angels Zero
THE 366TH FIGHTER GROUP'S EXCITING BEGINNING IN WORLD WAR II

The 366th Fighter Group was organized in June 1943, trained and sent to England in February 1944, flying their first combat mission as a Group in March 1944. They were the first fighter group to be based in France after D-day, setting up their operations on airstrip A-1 by Omaha Beach 12 days after D-day. The 366th participated in all the major battles -- Normandy, Falaise Pocket, Huertgen Forest, Battle of the Bulge, Crossing the Rhine River -- as they moved from airstrip to airstrip right behind the ground troops. On VE Day the 366th was located at airstrip Y-94 near Muenster, Germany. During the course of their 14 months of furious combat, 94 pilots and 135 aircraft were lost while flying an aggregate 1,258 missions involving over 18,000 sorties.

Angels Zero describes these predominately ground support missions that pulverized the German ground forces by destroying enough German military material and men to equip a sizable army. The missions are described in terms of their effect on the larger picture of the war and include the attitudes and viewpoints of the pilots and ground crew as they went about their business of winning the war. Included are eyewitness accounts of the battles from both American and German participants.

Angels Zero is published by the Smithsonian Institution Press. Contains 208 pages - 24 B&W photographs - 6 pages of notes - Index. It is available from the Smithsonian Institution Press and various book stores.

Smithsonian Institution Press
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