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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

12. Martin Middlebrook 'The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission' Detailed research on both sides of the hill gives a blow by blow account. Again, the best of the popular works.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

11. Thomas Coffey Decision Over Schweinfurt Coffey was an AAF vet and goes full 'Autumn Crisis 1943' but this is a well-researched book head and shoulders above a lot of the popular stuff out there.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

10. Ronald Schaffer 'Wings of Judgement' A critical view of the American campaign.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

9. Michael Sherry 'Rise of American Air Power' Great on American ideology and bombing.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

7. Phillips O'Brien 'How the War Was Won' A counter to Overy and my only significant contribution to the profession- I was Phil's research cover at Glasgow so he could write this.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

6. Richard Overy 'The Air War' 'Why the Allies Won' and 'The Bombing War' Immense scholarship and you can trace the evolution of his views.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

5. Roger Freeman 'The Mighty Eighth' and 'The Mighty Eighth War Diary' Godfather of the popular accounts, the writing in TME makes it a difficult read. War Diary is excellent for the daily grind and scale.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

4. McFarland and Phillips 'To Command the Sky' Pretty solid and the best there is on the neglected fighter element of the campaign.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

3. Craven and Cate eds. 'The Army Air Force in World War II' Vols II, III and VI 'Men and Planes.' Old and official but a good starting point for understanding where some of the myths originate.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

2. James Parton 'Air Force Spoken Here' Eaker's official account so handle with care but well done and infinitely better than Doolittle's 'I Could Never Be So Lucky Again.'

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

Mustang related and guaranteed to cause angst is the suggestion of blue camouflage paint on 361st Fighter Group aircraft. Stems from the use of a filter on early colour Kodak film in 1944. People regularly die on this hill.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Thatched roof with a wisteria growing on the side, I think. Constable country is very twee.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

It is a general history of the American wartime presence with an emphasis on commemorative efforts. It highlights the roll of honour placed in St Paul's Cathedral www.stpaulstrust.org/the-memorial

stpaulstrust.org

The Memorial — The Trust

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

Would love to see the piece - do you have a link? IWM are a bit odd in putting all this stuff online as creative commons but charging prohibitive prices if any author wants to use them in a book.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

That's not to say all Roger's photos were British press photos - a lot came from American veterans - but a large chunk did come from the IWM originally.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

As they couldn't establish copyright. Roger and few others on the grapevine (I know the guy who worked there at the time who sounded the alarm) went down and rescued them from the skip. When Roger passed, Winston acquired the collection and they eventually returned to IWM.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

The Ministry of Information required copies of all press photos during the war - you can still see the censorship marks and press stamps on the reverse of a lot of Roger's photos. At the end of the war, they went to the IWM. In the late 60s, the IWM threw them out...

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

He's also the reason IWM American Air Museum now have the Roger Freeman photo collection - a lot of which was originally theirs, but was thrown in a skip!

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I do think US Air Power history, at least, is dominated by military or ex military personnel writing from a utilitarian 'what can we learn from this' perspective. This probably contributes to that focus on the sharp end. That's a funding issue really - whoever pays the paper can call the tune.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I'd say that limitation is 'often' true of the popular end of the history market. There is a never-ending appetite for pilot and plane stories. Academic study is much broader, isn't it? I say this as someone currently writing a pilot bio but trying to set them in a much broader context/discussion.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

I loved it as a kid. My father bought it for me in lieu of pocket money. He called it "the magazine of dead bodies" because of its penchant for then and now photos of battles.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Statues will always be difficult but then so would something abstract - people would complain about the lack of clarity/certainty.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

And what of the subjects? A fighter pilot (Don Blakeslee), bomber pilot (Rosie Rosenthal), Commander (Jimmy Doolittle) and 'Snuffy' Smith as a token enlisted airman. This seems 'heroic' individial sculpture rather than art attempting to convey any broader meaning or engagement with strategic bombing

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Contemporary commercial tourism is a powerful draw here, I think. There has been a consolidation and Americanisation of D-Day as the emblematic experience of the war in Europe since the 1980s. This seems to fit the genre well.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

First is location. Normandy is problematic as the 8th's finest hour as General McNair and many French civilians would attest, so the link is, perhaps, drawing on the wider strategic contribution of the 8th in helping to enable D-Day.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Hah - you knew without me even mentioning a name. I have a picture of him nearly at the same height as me that I'll post if I can find it.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

I've been involved on the periphery of a small local air show and witnessed that process over the last 30 years. In 1995, the Mustang pilot cut the grass for us, but by 2022 we needed binoculars to see him.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Yes, my impression (rather than any real knowledge) is that things have got a lot more careful following several high profile accidents. And much more expensive to insure.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Oh, what a shame! Would have been nice to see you if you had a window between document orders. Have a successful trip.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

All down whether they could still be living - assumed to stop at 100 years and an adult (without a stated age) is assumed to be 16. My gripe was US service personnel, legally at least, had to be 18 so I argued you are currently fine up to 1943.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Looks like the hot water tank for an ablutions hut to me. The block has been demolished just leaving the boiler tower. Similar to WWII airfield buildings...

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

These five might be better quality photos to id the area as I scanned them from some originals bsky.app/profile/grah...

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Capt. Dewey Newhart's Thunderbolt. Newhart was from Missouri, hence 'Mud n Mules' Sadly, he was KIA June 12 1944.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

I'd also add that 8th FC was drawing on a further five P-47 and two P-51 groups from the 9th Air Force for escort in May 44, so although the conversion process to escorting with P-51s was well underway by June, it wasn't near completion.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

As a caveat, I'd add that 8th FC didn't become a majority P-51 outfit until July 44. In June 44 there were 4 P-38 groups and 4 P-47 groups to 7 P-51 groups. 8th FC kept those 4 P-47 groups till September 44, leaving just the 56th FG from then.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

I was in Ipswich for a few days last week and it really struck me that they cut the town off from the docks with those roads- makes it difficult for the dock development to gain any traction.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 29/04/2025

That part of Ipswich is full of building gems, but what possessed them with those roads?!

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

Have walked that from the Raydon end many times.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Just for the Nerd factor - Monk Moncavage in the book is based on Bud Mahurin of 56th Fighter Group fame. He was shot down in Korea and faced some heat for a 'confession' he and others were forced to sign while a POW.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

Hurriedly googled 'Sabre Dance' to see if I could find it, but found instead one of the weirdest film trailers I've seen. Top Gun, it ain't youtu.be/T0AKs4TRGP4?...

youtu.be

Official Trailer - THE HUNTERS (1958, Robert Mitchum, Robert Wagner, Richard Egan, May Britt)

YouTube video by Trailer World

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

I haven't seen it, but I hear it was more vehicle for Robert Mitchum than faithful adaptation of the book. Will look it up, so thanks for the reminder.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

It's worth a look if you have any interest in the psychology of fighter pilots and the importance of 'kills.' Reads a bit like Hemingway, but the pilots are definitely not victims of war to Salter.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

I picked up a bit of a fascination for this period after reading James Salter's The Hunters - wonderful book.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

There's not actually much reviewing in there, but nice to see LRB actually showing an interest.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

He wasn't always right, but was always fascinating.

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Graham Cross @grahamcross.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

On a happier note, proof of fan status...

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