| International Standard Book Number |
9798891647954 (hardback ; alk. paper ; large print)
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| Personal Name |
Henderson, Bruce, 1946- author.
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| Title Statement |
Midnight flyboys : the American bomber crews and Allied secret agents who aided the French Resistance in World War II / Bruce Henderson.
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| Edition Statement |
Center Point Large Print edition.
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| Production, Publication, Distribution, Manufacture, and Copyright Notice |
Thorndike, Maine : Center Point Large Print, 2026.
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| Physical Description |
391 pages (large print) : map, photographs ; 23 cm.
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| General Note |
Regular print version previously published by: Gallery Books.
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| Formatted Contents Note |
Introduction -- "Where the hell are we?" -- Sworn to secrecy -- Training and tragedy -- Early missions, first combat losses -- Call them Josephine -- Harrington's War -- Return to France -- The Simon crew -- Escape and evasion -- The resistance -- D-Day -- Chef du Parachutage -- Star spangled hell -- Behind the lines -- Liberte! -- The last crew.
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| Summary, Etc. |
"In 1943, the OSS-precursor to the CIA-came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. To start, the OSS recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield twenty miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger. Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Some nights, the flyers also dropped Allied secret agents by parachute to assist the French partisans. Though their story remained classified for more than fifty years, the Carpetbaggers ultimately received a Presidential Unit Citation from the US military, which declared: "it is safe to say that no group of this size has made a greater contribution to the war effort." Along with other members of the wartime OSS, they were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal."-- Provided by publisher.
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| Subject-Corporate Name |
United States. Office of Strategic Services.
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| Subject-Corporate Name |
United States. Air Force. Air Force, 8th.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Large type books.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
World War, 1939-1945 Aerial operations, American.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Spies.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
World War, 1939-1945 Underground movements France.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
World War, 1939-1945 Secret service United States.
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
B-24 (Bomber)
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Air pilots, Military History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Bomber pilots History. United States
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| Subject Added Entry - Topical Term |
Airdrop.
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
Informational works.
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| Index Term-Genre/Form |
Large print books.
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