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Hitler's Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge
Hitler’s Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge
Hitler’s Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge provides an account of the history and results of the largest aerial bombing mission ever. The story begins with Hitler’s surprise last ground offensive, the Ardennes Offensive, and then details the Allies’ response: the dramatic immobilization of air bases, rail yards, stock, and the destruction of bridges and supply facilities. The Germans were forced back to the east side of the Rhine River in what would be their final retreat in a war that would end with Hitler’s suicide and Germany’s surrender just a few months later.
Author Donald F. Kilburg, Jr., has a direct connection to the event through his father, who was the lead bombardier and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his action that day. Kilburg, Jr., himself sits on the board of the 487th Bomb Group Association, whose members composed the lead formation of the 2046 heavy bombers dispatched that Christmas Eve in 1944. These participants encouraged him to write this book. Until Hitler’s Last Christmas, the story of their most memorable mission had never been told in print.
Hitler’s Last Christmas: The Day the Entire Mighty 8th Air Force Entered the Battle of the Bulge provides an account of the history and results of the largest aerial bombing mission ever. The story begins with Hitler’s surprise last ground offensive, the Ardennes Offensive, and then details the Allies’ response: the dramatic immobilization of air bases, rail yards, stock, and the destruction of bridges and supply facilities. The Germans were forced back to the east side of the Rhine River in what would be their final retreat in a war that would end with Hitler’s suicide and Germany’s surrender just a few months later.
Author Donald F. Kilburg, Jr., has a direct connection to the event through his father, who was the lead bombardier and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his action that day. Kilburg, Jr., himself sits on the board of the 487th Bomb Group Association, whose members composed the lead formation of the 2046 heavy bombers dispatched that Christmas Eve in 1944. These participants encouraged him to write this book. Until Hitler’s Last Christmas, the story of their most memorable mission had never been told in print.
- GenresWorld War II
322 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 28, 2020
The author covers an unbelievable amount of information describing in great detail each of the aerial missions flown on this incredible night. A Herculean task by today's standards, and they pulled it off with very little technology to assist.
Well researched and well written. I highly recommend this fine book!
Well researched and well written. I highly recommend this fine book!
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August 2, 2019MWSA Review
Many Americans know the basic story of the Battle of the Bulge, including the fact that bad weather grounded most Allied aircraft during its first few days. However, even fairly well-informed researchers might not be aware of the extent that the mighty 8th Air Force returned to the air on Christmas Eve of 1944. Hitler’s Last Christmas by author Donald Kilburg Jr. shines a needed light into this massive display of Allied airpower, which definitely helped turn back the last-ditch Nazi offensive that had started on December 16, 1944.
Kilburg’s well-researched book puts the reader in the middle of the action—drilling all the way down to bomb group (and even squadron-level) to provide a granular level of detail of the mission that day. The book includes an extensive bibliography to help the serious researcher, although lack of footnotes makes it hard to tell the specific source of information.
Despite a few rough spots, this book provides a great deal of detail, and will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in this important but largely overlooked part of World War II history.
Review by John Cathcart (August 2019)
Many Americans know the basic story of the Battle of the Bulge, including the fact that bad weather grounded most Allied aircraft during its first few days. However, even fairly well-informed researchers might not be aware of the extent that the mighty 8th Air Force returned to the air on Christmas Eve of 1944. Hitler’s Last Christmas by author Donald Kilburg Jr. shines a needed light into this massive display of Allied airpower, which definitely helped turn back the last-ditch Nazi offensive that had started on December 16, 1944.
Kilburg’s well-researched book puts the reader in the middle of the action—drilling all the way down to bomb group (and even squadron-level) to provide a granular level of detail of the mission that day. The book includes an extensive bibliography to help the serious researcher, although lack of footnotes makes it hard to tell the specific source of information.
Despite a few rough spots, this book provides a great deal of detail, and will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in this important but largely overlooked part of World War II history.
Review by John Cathcart (August 2019)
November 3, 2019
Kilburg writes a remarkable book of breadth and depth, detailing all facets of the largest single Allied air operation against Germany that occurred the day before Christmas in 1944. Not only does he provide us with a play by play of the day’s events, but he closely chronicles the results of each air group’s mission and the consequences faced by attackers and targets alike as the day’s mission unfolded. Kilburg provides us with operational insights about how the 8th and 9th AF did their work in Europe, showing how US air operations wrested air superiority from the Luftwaffe over Germany, and more specifically, how one day of excessive America sorties around the Ardenne crippled Germany’s war machine for good.
October 11, 2019
I thought I knew everything about the Battle of the bulge. When the sun came out on the 24th of December 1944, I only knew about the dropping of supplies to the men of the 101 Airborne Division. I knew nothing about the bombing missions of the 8th Air Force. The book is very readable and the research this late in history had to be long and exhausting. This brings World War II up to date. It appears the only ones who knew or remember about this were the ones who participated in it. If you care anything about military history, this is a must READ.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews