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Into
The Valley is the story of USAAF Troop Carrier in World War II,
by Col. Charles H. Young, war-time commander of the 439th TC Group. This 616-page book
contains first-hand accounts of the airborne assault missions that
spearheaded the invasions
of Normandy, Holland, North Africa, Sicily, Southern France and the
Rhine River crossing into Germany. The book also includes detailed maps and more than 600 photos,
many of which are rare.
Update, May 2012: Copies of Into The
Valley are still available on this Web site for the original price.
Note that online stores sell this book for between two to eight
times the list price. Click the "Buy
the Book" tab at the bottom of the page to purchase a copy. |
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his is the
story of the aircrews and other members of USAAF Troop
Carrier, pioneers of the airborne assault, the third dimension in warfare.
It includes the story of the intrepid Airborne troopers they delivered
into battle behind enemy lines. This history was recorded by those who
were there, from commanders to enlisted men, pilots, radio
operators, crew chiefs, glider pilots, gliderborne and airborne
troopers, members of the ground echelon, flight nurses, French and Dutch
underground fighters, even German soldiers. The first-hand accounts are accompanied by
detailed historical summaries based on declassified material,
after-action reports and World War II analyses. The story is told in
chronological order, threaded together by the author’s personal war
diary. Col. Young was one of 15 Group Commanders in the U.S. Ninth Air
Force’s Troop Carrier Command. His vantage point is the cockpit of a
lead ship in some of World War 2’s most historic missions, including
Normandy, Southern France, Holland and the crossing of the Rhine River. To read
brief samples, click the "From the Book" tab above. The
current
stories and photos are from three chapters of the book focused on the
massive Allied invasion of Normandy that began with take-offs in England
on the night of June 5, 1944. More than 1,050 aircraft left to deliver
the paratroopers of three airborne divisions behind the German lines.
During the operation, more than 900 aircraft towed gliders to the same
areas with equipment and more men. The sample stories you will read here
include firsthand accounts of pilots, crew members and paratroopers, as
well as declassified Allied and German intelligence along with firsthand accounts by French residents of Ste Mère Eglise, the first French city to be
liberated by the Americans. You will read about the last-minute calculations that made some high-ranking Allied
commanders question whether Operation OVERLORD could succeed ... and
what would happen if it didn't. |
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Left:
At
the front
of the 439th Troop Carrier Group, 23 March 1945, marshaled for the next
day's takeoff.
Destination LZ S, east of the Rhine
River. This mission, which delivered the XVIII Airborne Corps, was the largest combat double-tow
mission in history. Airfield is A-39, Châteaudun, France. Tugs are positioned more
than half-way down the west runway, and the first 10 ships,
including Col. Young's Argonia at the head of the southern stream,
finished their takeoff
rolls in the wheat field off the end of the runway (see
photo, looking west). Note the patched bomb
craters. See Sights & Sounds
for a ride across the Rhine with Mutual correspondent Paul
Manning as he recorded his report from The Argonia as the 439th
flew into heavy flak.
The one-day invasion formation, the largest in World War II, took more
than 3 hours to pass a given point. |
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Right:
The
run-in to the drop zones in Normandy, just after
0100 on D-Day, 6 June 1944, at the beginning of World War 2's most
famous invasion. These aircraft flew 100 feet apart from nose
to nose within elements, without self-sealing gas tanks, their navigation lights
off. Pilots wore infantry helmets as required flight gear. At right, author’s ship,
The Argonia, depicted in an oil painting on the
book's dust jacket. For a description of
the run-in to DZ C in Normandy from the cockpit of a lead aircraft, see Col. Charles H. Young's wartime diary.
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