The "Magic" 1,000-foot Circle: Eighth Air Force Precision Bombing, Mission No. 113 of 9 October 1943

by Robert H. Hodges

A Merriam Press Original Publication
Military Monograph MM24

Complete, very detailed account of the aerial attack by B-17 bombers of the 94th, 95th, 100th, 385th, 390th Bomb Groups against the Marienburg Focke-Wulf factory.

This raid was a prime example of the USAAF’s ability to bomb targets with precision. Also includes coverage of the follow-up raids to the same target.

Contents

• Publisher’s Note

• Foreword

• “Critical Week” Begins

• Marienburg

• Results

• Marienburg Revisited

• Addendum

• Glossary

• Bibliography

• The Author

Specifications

• Third edition (July 2008)

• 58 – 8.5 x 11 inch pages

• Paperback (ISBN 1-57638-100-5) – $12.99
  • Perfect bound, full-color wrap-around cover
• Hardcover (ISBN 1-57638-103-1) – $29.95
  • Casebound, laminated full-color cover
• PDF file – $6.95
  • A complete copy of the book including the cover images in a single PDF file on CD disc
• 10 photos

• 1 illustration

• 1 map

• 1 diagram

• 2 tables

The Author

The various aspects of Mission No. 113 impressed the author while he was in USAAF/EFTC flight training and via press releases and the December 1943 issue of Impact, a wartime informational magazine distributed to the squadrons.

Subsequently, he flew 400 hours in B-17Gs, including 208 hours in the AF Form 5 combat category. Eighty per cent of the latter was logged in Column 22, Acting Command Pilot, with the lead crew section of the 486th Bomb Group, 4th Combat Bomb Wing, 3rd Air Division, Eighth Air Force, as 833rd Bomb Squadron air leader.

Between combat missions, he flew pre-mission weather recce, training missions for formation familiarization, instrument check rides, miscellaneous flight tests, taught ground school in B-17 cruise control, ditching and short-field landing technique, and studied mission strike photos.