Varied stories of what it was like to be a proud member of a flight crew aboard that amazing Mach 2 strategic bomber back in the 1960's.

    (Not just based on a true story.) Rachel Blum was 12 when the Nazis invaded her town. Over the next three years, she witnessed war, risked her life to smuggle food for her family, escaped liquidation, hid with a kind Polish couple whose son worked for the SS, was questioned if she was a Jew by an SS General and engineered an incredibly dangerous scheme to overturn a moving trainload of 1,000 Nazi soldiers.Hers is not just an incredible, action-packed story, but represents a character arc that young women, as well as young men, as well as adults of all types can draw inspiration from. She did not begin as a selfless, courageous young girl she came to be. Her strength and determination evolved through her experiences.Once you start “Run Rachel Run,” you won’t be able to put it down. Once you finish, you’ll be shivering in awe how invigoratingly heroic the story of Rachel Blum is. Reviews “This is incredible!” Jessica Classen “What a testimony of courage and love” Rick Dearmore “Wonderful and inspiring and brave person” Helen Schwab An Excerpt July, 1944. Ivan Roluk couldn’t believe he was listening to a 15-year-old girl – and putting his life and the life of his family in her hands!But she was right. Driving trains for the Nazis for three years now, he knew exactly who the Germans were. He knew that there were once more than 20,000 Jews in the girl’s home town of Ludmir, and now there was only one. The courageous young girl, Rachel.Rachel -- who had just convinced him to risk his life, as well as the life of his wife and son.There was a risk either way, of course. The war was coming to an end and who knew what the Germans would do to them once they didn’t need his services any longer. It was a risk to do it, but a risk not to do it.He looked behind him. The 20 train cars filled with over 1,000 wounded Nazi soldiers snaked behind his engine-car like a meandering river. In the caboose at the tail of the train was his wife, his son and the little Jewish girl.Suddenly, he heard a slam. What was that? It sounded like the door connecting the engine-car to the first car, which was occupied by high-ranking Nazi officers. Was one of them coming up front?The moment of truth had arrived.He thrust the throttle full ahead….The train jerked forward…. He looked out the window. There, up ahead, was the bend! Had he waited too long?There was no more time to think. There was no more time for fear. It truly was now or never. He leaned out the open side door….

    Col. Merritt A. Edson's battalion, and author of the Dick Winters biography Biggest Brother and coauthor of A Higher CallOn the killing ground that was the island of Guadalcanal, a 2,000-yard-long ridge rose from the jungle canopy. Behind it lay the all-important air base of Henderson Field. And if Henderson Field fell, it would mean the almost certain death or capture of all 12,500 marines on the island . . .But the marines positioned on the ridge were no normal fighters. They were tough, hard-fighting men of the Edson’s Raiders; an elite fighting unit within an already elite U.S. Marine Corps. Handpicked for their toughness, and submitted to a rigorous training program to weed out those less fit, they were the Marine Corps’s best of the best.For two hellish nights in September 1942, about 840 United States Marines—commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Merritt Austin “Red Mike” Edson—fought one of the most pivotal battles of World War II in the Pacific, clinging desperately to their position on what would soon be known as Bloody Ridge.Wave after wave of attacking Japanese soldiers were repelled by the Raiders, who knew that defeat and retreat were simply not possible options. But in the end, the defenders had prevailed against the odds.Bloody Ridge and Beyond is the story of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, which showed courage and valor in the face of overwhelming numbers, as told by Marlin Groft, a man who was a member of this incredible fighting force.

    As Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party take control of the country, a young German woman returns to the country of her birth. Fleeing into the arms of her aunt, Charlotte Brookfield pays no attention to the events surrounding her as she tries to recover from a devastating discovery. Hans von Peterson is an officer in the country’s brutal SS. While courting the admiration of his superior and fighting off rivalries, Hans is sent to Berlin to accomplish a seemingly impossible task. That task has Hans crossing paths with Charlotte. Despite the odds, the two begin a love affair just as the Nazis begin to tighten their grip on the country leading to a bloody climax that will change everything.

    Much of it is told by the men who flew the Blenheim, Boston, Mitchell and Mosquito aircraft that carried out many daring daylight and night-time raids on vitally important targets in Nazi occupied Europe and Germany. These were not the famous thousand bomber raids that hit the wartime headlines, but low-level, fast-moving surprise raids flown by small formations of fleet-footed and skilfully piloted twin-engine light bombers. Their targets were usually difficult to locate and heavily defended because of their strategic importance to the Nazis. 2 Group also played a vital part in the invasion of Europe both before and after D-Day. Often they would fly at wave-top height across the English Channel or North Sea to avoid detection and then hedge-hop deep into enemy territory to deliver their precision attack. Enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire were a constant risk. This is a remarkable story of skill and bravery by a little known branch of the RAF.

    This is the thrilling untold story of the young helicopter pilots -- most barely out of their teens -- who risked their lives during this brief but ferocious war. In April 1982 Harry Benson was a 21 year-old Royal Navy commando helicopter pilot, fresh out of training and one of the youngest helicopter pilots to serve in the Falklands War. These pilots, nicknamed 'junglies', flew most of the land-based missions in the Falklands in their Sea King and Wessex helicopters. Much of what happened in the war -- the politics, task force ships, Sea Harriers, landings, Paras and Marines -- is well-known and documented. But almost nothing is known of the young commando helicopter pilots and aircrewmen who made it all happen on land and sea. This is their 'Boys Own' story, told for the very first time. Harry Benson has interviewed forty of his former colleagues for the book creating a tale of skill, initiative, resourcefulness, humour, luck, and adventure. This is a fast-paced, meticulously researched and compelling account written by someone who was there, in the cockpit of a Wessex helicopter.  None of these pilots has spoken before about: - The two helicopter crashes and eventual rescue following a failed SAS mission high up on an in hospitable glacier in South Georgia - The harrowing story of the Exocet strike that sunk the transport ship Atlantic Conveyor - The daring missile raid on the Argentine high command in Port Stanley - The constant mortar fire faced while supporting troops and evacuating casualties - The hair-raising head-on attacks by Argentine jets on British helicopters - The extraordinary courage shown during the evacuation of the bombed landing ship 'Sir Galahad'  If you liked Apache, Vulcan 607 and Chickenhawk, you'll love Scram!  The word "Scram" was coined by Falklands helicopter pilots to warn other 'junglies' to go to ground or risk being shot down as Argentinean jets blasted through 'bomb alley'. The term has never been used before or since.

    But what of the sailors who manned the landing craft, going back and forth under fire with nowhere to take cover, their craft the special targets of enemy gunners?In this book, Ken Wiley, a Coast Guardsman on an Attack Transport in the Pacific, relates the intricate, often nerve wracking story of how the United States projected its power across 6,000 miles in the teeth of fanatical Japanese resistance. Each invasion was a swirl of moving parts, from frogmen to fire support, transport mother ships to Attack Transports, the smaller Higgins boats (LCVPs), and during the last terrifying stage the courageous men who would storm the beaches.The author participated in the campaigns for the Marshall Islands, the Marianas the Philippines and Okinawa, and with a precise eye for detail relates numerous aspects of landing craft operations, such as ferrying wounded, that are often discounted. He conveys the terror and horrors of war, as well as, on occasion, the thrill, while not neglecting the humor and cameraderie of wartime life.An exciting book, full of harrowing combat action, Lucky 13 also provides a valuable service in expanding our knowledge of exactly how World War II's massive amphibious operations were undertaken.

    In 1940, Andrée “Dedee” de Jongh, a twenty-four-year-old Belgian nurse, is horrified by her country’s quick surrender to Nazi Germany. Every week she observes Germans inspecting the infirmary for injured Allied soldiers to ship off to work camps. Every day she witnesses new atrocities in the streets, such as Jewish countrymen being brutally beaten. Outraged at the injustice, Dedee devises a strategy with her father to aid in the resistance effort against the Germans. They hatch a plan to help downed Royal Air Force fliers escape Belgium and France and return to England, where they can rejoin the fight. It’s a dangerous endeavor and guaranteed death sentence if they’re caught, but Dedee is determined to do her part to defeat the enemy. Over time, the secret organization becomes one of the most successful wartime escape lines, saving more than eight hundred Allied fliers. Dedee manages to outwit the Nazis for a time, but with German soldiers hunting for the group and its leaders at every turn, will she be able to escape with her life?

    In Cambridge, England, the Fabians believe they have finally found the freedom that was denied to them in Germany. But the year is 1940, and prejudice, ignorance, and suspicion abound, propelling the British government to round up thousands of Germans Nazis, sympathizers, and Jewish refugees alike and ship them off to the Isle of Man, where they are to be interned until the war's end. It is there that Isaac's story will become intertwined with June Murray's, a translator at the Ministry of Information who is determined to expose the truth about the atrocities being perpetrated across the continent. But June's encounter with internee Isaac Fabian will radically shift her purpose, remolding it into something far more personal and complex than either of them could have ever imagined.

    A bohemian Berliner, a Flieger-Hitlerjugend member, a prodigy pilot, and a butcher’s son, with nothing in common but their love for the Luftwaffe and the freedom the sky has to offer. The bond they develop is put to the test by what might be a stronger adversary - war itself. Over the English Channel, in the dusty skies of Africa, on the brutal Eastern front, they will discover where their loyalty lies, and what true bravery means. “It’s Großdeutsches Reich, soldier. When one has a family at home, it doesn’t leave him many chances for the revolt.” As the war progresses, Willi and Johann grow more and more disillusioned with the regime they’re protecting with their lives. An SS unit appearing on their base to claim one of their own; bits of conversation revealing the truth about the extermination program accidentally overheard during the official reception - the pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together, but it’s too late to do anything but fight to the bitter end, whatever it may bring.   Set during one of the bloodiest wars in history, “Of Knights and Dogfights” is the story of the shattered illusions of youth, tyranny and freedom, friendship and love guiding one out of the darkest hell of Soviet captivity.

    is the number of Royal Air Force Bomber Command aircrew who lost their lives during World War 2. That's more than the total who serve in Britain's RAF today. With a terrifying 46% combat attrition rate, an Avro Lancaster Bomber was one of the most dangerous places to be during the conflict. Yet no one was enlisted to become aircrew: all were volunteers. So, at a time when Britain stood resolute in its fight against tyranny and oppression, young men from across the globe did just that. At just 18 years old, John Henry Meller was one such man.The ordeals and sacrifices endured by John and his generation were crucial to the success of the Allied nations. In the words of Winston Churchill, Great Britain's wartime leader:"Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands ...... Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and the Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour."As few remain to bear witness to that time, John - together with daughter Caroline Brownbill - have chosen to document his vivid recollections of wartime life. Join him as he shares what it was like to crew a Lancaster over Europe, during the darkest days of the War.

    The title story takes us on board a small gunboat with a distinguished WW II record; the shame is that it is being used as a smuggler.Other stories include "Oh To Be In England," "The Reconciliation," "The List," "The Thousand Islands Snatch," "Up the Garden Path," "The Man Who Wanted a Mark IX," "I Was There," "The Dinner Party," "Licensed to Kill" and "Postscript."

    Minutes later, the ship that had launched the Doolitte Raid six months earlier slipped beneath the waves of the Coral Sea. Of the pre-war carrier fleet the Navy had struggled to build over 15 years, only three were left: Enterprise, that had been badly damaged in the battle of Santa Cruz; USS Saratoga (CV-3) which lay in dry dock, victim of a Japanese submarine torpedo; and the USS Ranger (CV-4), which was in mid-Atlantic on her way to support Operation Torch. For the American naval aviators licking their wounds in the aftermath of this defeat, it would be difficult to imagine that within 24 months of this event, Zuikaku, the last survivor of the carriers that had attacked Pearl Harbor, would lie at the bottom of the sea. Alongside it lay the other surviving Japanese carriers, sacrificed as lures in a failed attempt to block the American invasion of the Philippines, leaving the United States to reign supreme on the world's largest ocean. This is the fascinating account of the Central Pacific campaign, one of the most stunning comebacks in naval history as in 14 months the US Navy went from the jaws of defeat to the brink of victory in the Pacific.

    It is primarily a story to share with family and friends about my personal involvement in the conflict and the turbulent decade of the 60s and does not attempt to question the politics of the era. It begins with a brief description of my quest to gain admittance to the United States Air Force Academy, my four years at the Academy, and the subsequent year of pilot training. I flew three different types of aircraft in combat and the book provides insight into the training that took place for the C-130 Hercules, the F-105 Thunderchief, and the A-1 Skyraider. Each of the three tours in combat over Laos and Vietnam is described with emphasis on the more memorable flights including a bailout in the A-1 and the final crash on takeoff that ended my active duty Air Force career. My time in various hospitals is described at the end of the book and the epilogue tells briefly of my life after retirement from the United States Air Force. The book has been described as a combination of Band of Brothers, Top Gun, and Forrest Gump.

    Among them are a frightened stewardess who is not what she seems; the steadfast navigator determined to win her heart; a naive cabin boy eager to earn a permanent spot on the world’s largest airship; an impetuous journalist who has been blacklisted in her native Germany; and an enigmatic American businessman with a score to settle. Over the course of three hazy, champagne-soaked days their lies, fears, agendas, and hopes for the future are revealed.Flight of Dreams is a fiercely intimate portrait of the real people on board the last flight of the Hindenburg. Behind them is the gathering storm in Europe and before them is looming disaster. But for the moment they float over the Atlantic, unaware of the inexorable, tragic fate that awaits them.Brilliantly exploring one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century, Flight of Dreams is that rare novel with spellbinding plotting that keeps you guessing till the last page and breathtaking emotional intensity that stays with you long after.