Bloody Skies: XV Fighter Command Against All Odds

By Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Book Overview

This book details the operations of the USAAF's overlooked XV Fighter Command that protected the bombers during the campaign against the Romanian oil fields in World War II.

Formed in the fall of 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force was popularly known as the "The Forgotten Fifteenth," as its achievements were overshadowed by more glamorous exploits of the Eighth Air Force in the air war over Germany. Nevertheless, the Fifteenth's contribution to Allied victory was crucial, and a vital part of that was the role played by the escorting fighter groups from the XV Fighter Command who protected the B-17s and B-24s from the Luftwaffe in the skies over Romania.

In this new history of the campaign, renowned aviation historian Tom Cleaver tells the story of the Fifteenth's air war through first-person accounts of the fighter pilots of the Fifteenth Fighter Command, including such famous units as the Red Tails - the Tuskegee Airmen - the 82nd Fighter Group and the 325th's "Checkertail Clan," and with his ability to place wartime events in their greater context.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1472865669
• ISBN13: 9781472865663
• Release Date: August 2027
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

For all fans of WW2 and of military aviation history

This book is a must read for fans of military aviation history and of WW2. I have read much about WW2 but honestly, nearly all of it have been on land-based fights. This book is aptly titled, as many, many of the pilots did not return from their missions. This makes "Bloody Skies" a difficult read, but a very honest look at the toll that war takes on our military. Cleaver very adroitly manages to put the reader in the seat with the pilot. With many first hand accounts from the men in the planes, I could almost hear the flak from the enemy and feel the propellors vibrate though the cabin. I found it ironic that way back in WW2, the control of the oil refineries was critical to the success of the Allies; here nearly 80 years later, the control of oil through the Strait of Hormuz impacts global economy.