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stories as well as comical ones. There?s an account of the 344th Bomb Group?s and^j|^th Bomb Squadron bombing raids against Hitler?s European Fortress, that greatly hampered his troop?s ability to defend his Western Front. Captain Robert E. Wilson flying the ?Terra Haute Tornado? led many of these missions. You?ll read how Captain Wilson and his crew in the ?Tornado? led a contingent of 497th Marauders over Utah Beach on D-Day morning at Six AM and descended through an overcast down to 1500 feet and clobbered the Germans defenders atop the cliffs overlooking the beach. This aerial bombardment was so effective that our troops who hit the beach 30 minutes later, suffered only minor casualties and were able to establish our first foothold on the continent, a feat that the Germans had proclaimed impossible.
On June 15, 1944 the Germans unleashed their V2 weapons, ?Buzz Bombs?, over England. Many of the 497th Squadron?s personnel had close encounters with these terror weapons and their account of these ordeals are recorded in this volume.
In September of 1944 the 344th Bomb Group moved from England to a former German Luftwauffe (air base) at Camelle-en-Vixon, France, 30 miles northwest of Paris. Here we endured one of the most severe winders ever to hit northern Europe. From this base we continued to bombard Hitler?s retreating troops across northern Europe and in the Battle of the Bulge.
From France the Group moved to Florennes, Belgium another former German base located seven miles west of Denant. From this base our planes continued to
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