With the Possum and the Eagle: The Memoir of a Navigator's War over Germany and Japan

by Ralph H. Nutter

Overview

Ralph H. Nutter was the lead navigator for Eighth Air Force raids over Germany when he was assigned as Maj. Gen. Curtis "the Eagle" LeMay's group navigator. Later, as the strategic air war over Europe was winding down, the ace navigator was transferred to B-29 Superfortress duty with the Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific, where he was picked by Brigadier Gen. Haywood "Possum" Hansell to be his bomber navigator. After LeMay succeeded Hansell as bomber commander, Nutter returned to navigation duty with LeMay. Hansell and LeMay were two of our country's leading combat commanders in Europe and the Pacific. They pioneered the concepts of strategic airpower and high-altitude daylight precision bombing. With the Possum and the Eagle affords a rare insider's perspective on aviation leadership and strategic issues, melded with extraordinary accounts of courage under fire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781574414639
Publisher:	University of North Texas Press
Publication date:	08/15/2005
Series:	Military Biography and Memoir Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	9 MB

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments	vii
	Preface	ix
Part I	The Air War Against Germany
1.	A Second Lieutenant Meets Colonel LeMay	3
2.	Across the North Atlantic	17
3.	Training for Combat	23
4.	Group Navigator for Colonel LeMay	28
5.	The Possum Becomes Our Commanding General	38
6.	Casablanca--The Air Force Rejects Area Bombing	52
7.	Our First Mission Over Germany	55
8.	Prelude to a Bloody Summer	64
9.	The Politics of High Command	88
10.	Bloody Summer	98
11.	Munich by Night, Schweinfurt by Day	127
12.	Hansell and LeMay in Washington	144
13.	Reflections at Sea	155
Part II	The Air War Against Japan
14.	General Arnold's $3 Billion Gamble	163
15.	Hansell and LeMay Lead the B-29s	170
16.	The Battle of Culver City	179
17.	A Different War, A Different Enemy	187
18.	The Divine Winds of Heaven	202
19.	The Beginning of the End for Hansell	208
20.	The Eagle Stretches His Wings	220
21.	LeMay Firebombs Japan	233
22.	The Aerial Mining of Japan	249
23.	Tinian and Muroc	262
24.	LeMay's Role in the Dropping of the Atomic Bombs	277
25.	A Postmortem	286
	Appendices	292