Fighting with the Screaming Eagles: With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne - Softcover

Bowen, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 193514930X ISBN 13: 9781935149309

Publisher: Casemate Pub, 2010

Synopsis

Robert Bowen was drafted into Company C, 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, as World War II broke out, and soon afterwards found himself storming ashore amid the chaos on Utah Beach, through unfamiliar terrain littered with minefields and hidden snipers. He was wounded during the Normandy campaign but went on to fight in Holland and the Ardennes where he was captured and his "trip through hell" truly began.

In each of Bowen’s campaigns, the 101st “Screaming Eagles” spearheaded the Allied effort against ferocious German resistance or, as at Bastogne, stood nearly alone against the onslaught of enemy panzers and grenadiers. His insights into life behind German lines, after his capture, provide as much fascination as his exploits on the battlefield. An introduction by the world’s foremost historian of the 101st Airborne, George Koskimaki, further enhances this classic work.

Written shortly after the war, Bowen's narrative is immediate, direct and compelling. His account, one of the few by a member of a glider regiment, provides a brutal insight into the battlefields of World War II and a vivid recreation of just what life was like in an elite unit. From the horror of D-Day and the despair of captivity, to the taste of C Rations and the fear of soldiers under fire, this memoir tells the full story of one man's total war.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
List of Maps
Foreword by George E. Koskimaki
Introduction

CHAPTER 1: You’re in the Army Now
CHAPTER 2: Marking Time
CHAPTER 3: The Reluctant Transport
CHAPTER 4: Atlantic Convoy
CHAPTER 5: No Milk or Honey
CHAPTER 6: The Calm Before the Storm
CHAPTER 7: D-Day: Operation Overlord
CHAPTER 8: Evacuated as a Casualty
CHAPTER 9: Windmills and Wooden Shoes
CHAPTER 10: The Fight for Veghel
CHAPTER 11: The Island
CHAPTER 12: Debilitation
CHAPTER 13: Bitter December
CHAPTER 14: Into the Frying Pan
CHAPTER 15: Siegburg to Hoffenstahl
CHAPTER 16: The Bottom of the Pit
CHAPTER 17: Hell Train
CHAPTER 18: Bremervorde: Stalag IOB
AFTERWORD: And Yet So Far

Bibliography
Roll of Honor

About this title

About the Author

Robert Bowen was drafted into Company C, 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, as World War II broke out, and soon after found himself storming ashore amid the chaos on Utah Beach, through unfamiliar terrain littered with minefields and hidden snipers. He was wounded during the Normandy campaign but went on to fight in Holland and the Ardennes, where he was captured and his "trip through hell" truly began.

Christopher J. Anderson has written many articles on military history, and is the author of The U.S. Army Today, Patton's Third Army and The Fall of Fortress Europe in the G.I. Series.

George Koskimaki was born in Michigan in 1922. While still in college, he enlisted in the Army and joined the famous 101st Airborne Division, The Screaming Eagles as a paratrooper and radio operator. After retiring, Koskimaki served as the Executive Secretary of the 101st Airborne Division Association. He was a, teacher, military historian and author of multiple books on United States military operations in the European Theater of World War II, particularly operations carried out by the 101st Airborne Division. He passed in 2016 at the age of 93.

Review

"The understated heroism of Bowen and his comrades shines through his humility and candour ... a valuable contribution to the growing body of works that cover the Allied invasion of Western Europe in World War II" (Air and Space Magazine)

“... one of the few accounts by a member of the Glider Infantry, contains realistic details of the horror of D-Day and the despair of captivity.” (Book News, Inc.)

"This book includes many fascinating black-and-white documentary photographs, a bibliography, and last, but not least, the Roll of Honor, listing members of Company C, 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, with asterisks by the names of those heroes who gave their lives in action. I highly recommend this book, not just for military history buffs, but to every American as a reminder of the sacrifices made by our soldiers in times of war." (City Book Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Casemate Pub
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 193514930X
• ISBN 13: 9781935149309
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Anderson Christopher