Mike Croissant, a retired CIA officer, set out on a mission to learn more about his uncle. His uncle was an a bomber crewman that survived World War II without of scratch but was then killed in a plane crash shortly after returning home. Drawing from his uncle’s letters home, along with dozens of interviews with surviving Veterans, Mike produced “Bombing Hitler’s Hometown; The Untold Story of the Last Mass Bombing Raid of World War II in Europe.” It describes the April 25, 1944 mission to bomb Linz, Austria.
Hitler spent many of his early life in Linz, Austria. He intended to make it the cultural capital of Europe after the war. Strategically, it was also a key location for Nazi Germany. As a transportation hub, tons of war materials flowed through the rail yards. It was also defended by more than 164 anti-aircraft batteries, one of the most intense defensive concentrations in 1944.
Given the fact that Russian troops had already entered Berlin on April 16th, we discuss whether this risky mission was even necessary. Hitler committed suicide on April 30th.
Mike’s book puts the readers right in the cabin with the aviators that flew B-24 and B-17 bombers on the April 1, 1944 mission. Readers will experience the cold, the terror of flying through the flak barrages and the heartbreak of seeing fellow aircrews get shot down.
He also does an excellent job of taking us through the experiences of the crews who were shot down and some of the residents on the ground that captured or helped them. Croissant tells us about one crew member was captured by Russian troops who, despite being our allies, tortured him for several days after accusing him of being a German spy. In one bizarre incident, an Austrian Commandant tried to draft crew members into joining a guerilla war against the Nazis.
TAKEAWAY: “I did it for the men because they deserve it and I did it for their kids. Their kids need to know, and indeed, all Americans need to know what those men did for us right at the very end of the most destructive conflict in human history.”
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