This book tells the personal story of an American B-17 navigator who took part in the infamous daylight raid by B17’s on Schweinfurt on August 17th 1943. The book has been enhanced with a genuine Curtis LeMay ( leader of the raid ) signature, professionally mounted underneath a superb original pencil portrait of LeMay by Steve Teasdale. The 1980 hardback first US edition book is in excellent condition, with no creases, tears, bumps or spotting/browning. The dustjacket spine is slightly faded so some of the colour has been lost from the title red lettering however. 
When the U.S. entered World War II in December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, LeMay was a major in the United States Army Air Forces (he had been a first lieutenant as recently as 1940), and the commander of a newly created B-17 Flying Fortress unit, the 305th Bomb Group. He took this unit to England in October 1942 as part of the Eighth Air Force, and led it in combat until May 1943, notably helping to develop the combat box formation. In September 1943, he became the first commander of the newly formed 3rd Air Division. He personally led several dangerous missions, including the Regensburg section of the Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission of August 17, 1943. In that mission, he led 146 B-17s to Regensburg, Germany, beyond the range of escorting fighters, and, after bombing, continued on to bases in North Africa, losing 24 bombers in the process.
A lovely book telling the story of an incredibly dangerous raid.