World War II bombers experience High Noon Over Haseluenne

My friend Mike Faley, the historian for the 100th Bomb Group (WWII) and a big help on my Twelve O'Clock High book, has authored a brand-new volume about WWII B-17 raids on Berlin, Germany in March 1944. High Noon Over Haseluenne, published by Schiffer Publishing, is available at Amazon.com. Here's a summary from Mike:

“Let’s go Lieutenant; your crew is scheduled to fly.” That's how pilot Robert Shoens was awaken on a cold March morning in 1944. Little did he know that by the day’s end, many of the bunks in his hut would be empty and this mission would forever be synonymous with his crew.

The date was March 6, 1944, and the Eighth Air Force was launching a full scale assault on the German capital of Berlin. High Noon over Haseluenne is a  look at one bomb group that flew the mission -- and the catastrophic results that ensued. The book deals with the 100th Bomb Group, “The Bloody Hundredth” and the mission that solidified that moniker.

The concentrated attacks by the Luftwaffe would destroy 69 American Bombers that day -- the single highest loss for any mission by the 8th Air Force. Fifteen of those losses would come from the 100th Bomb Group.

Lt Robert Shoens is our guide.  His story, and that of many other 100th BG crewmen, puts you in the melee that followed the head-on attacks by over 100 German Me109’s & FW190’s. We take you inside the men and machines that had to brave one of the deadliest air battles of World War II. High Noon over Haseluenne is filled with firsthand accounts, personal diaries, letters home, news clippings and over 200 photos. The book is capped off by a one hundred page historical appendices compiled by noted 8th AF researcher Paul M. Andrews (Project Bits and Pieces).