Against All Odds: Shot Down Over Occupied Territory in WWII

By Frederick D. Worthen

In World War II ten young men from all over the United States came together to form the "Rosacker" crew in the 93rd Bomb Group of the 8th U.S. Air Force, flying B-24 Liberators based in England. They... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 158976126X
• ISBN13: 9781589761261
• Release Date: December 1996
• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Length: 201 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Unique in that Officers and EM were kept together.

Shot down late in the war, January 28th,1945, when most Stalags were , or had been , put on the road in Germany's worst winter in 50 years, this crew was unique in that they were kept together, as they made their way to Moosburg Stalag 7A. The book has good maps of their routes. Their individual stories are very powerful in the "warts and all" way they are presented without any defensiveness. When Worthen made Bombardier, instead of Pilot, he was devastated, but wrote it may have saved the lives of a crew later. One crewman wrote of his emotional problems openly, which I appreciated having been raised by a former POW who had walked out of Germany thru Stalag Luft 3, 13D and 7A, it was refreshing. There could be more pictures. The thought that 78000 US POWs were left behind with the Russians is a stretch, and disproved in the recent,"The Last Escape" by John Nichol, where it is shown that US Pows were returned in exchange for giving Stalin a free hand in Poland, and for handing over the Russian POWs, many who had fought for the Germans, to Stalin, who then had them murdered. The suggestion that their engine feathering problems, causing their crash, were due to mechanic sabotage back at the 93rd BG, Hardwick, was kind of a shock. The idea comes from the Co-Pilot who disliked B-24s and being a Co-pilot. This was the first time I had seen this sabotage idea inside the BG in 40 books on this subject. In spite of some of my concerns this is a fine book/diary about a "good group of people" who more than met the test they were given.

Delivered Far More Then I Expected

I really enjoyed the style in which this book was written. Fifty years after these events took place; nine of the original ten crewmembers of this doomed B-24 were assembled again for this writing. Each one was able to share a snapshot glimpse of what they experienced in their own words and thoughts as the story progresses. Very interesting, it really gives the reader a front row seat to what these brave men lived and survived.