# I think I have something that may be of interest to people here...



## danjama (Mar 26, 2011)

...and would like to share it. I feel safe sharing this here, as we're all enthusiasts of historic aviation, particularly from the period that i'm about to discuss.

A few years ago, my brother-in-law was working in a house in Dagenham, where we lived at the time. He's a plumber, and was working on an empty council house. The tenant had passed away.

In the house he found something, that i'm very glad he brought home to me. It is this something that i'd like to share, and also, would like to know approx. how valuable it is, if possible. Not to sell it, you can understand, but purely out of interest.

I am going to upload pictures of the something, but I need to pick up some batteries, which i'll be able to do tomorrow.

Here's a description for now, and hopefully some of you will find it interesting, and may even have more information for me.

The object is a small book/magazine - called "Target:Germany". It's 120 pages, with B&W photos as well as the following chapters, in this order:

Mission 95
From Five Miles UP
ACT 1 SCENE 1
Luftwaffe Over Lille
Twelve feet of Concrete
Parlous Days
Target:Germany
Battles In The Sky
Men, Mud and Machines
The Old One-Two
The Log Of The Liberators
Full Stride
The Summing Up
Glossary

The object is in good condition inside, with a slightly ragged exterior, with some tears around the edges. The description on the front page, beneath the title reads:

"The U.S. Army Air Forces' official story of the VIII Bomber Command's first year over Europe".

It's priced at one shilling and sixpence net.

On the inside it says "British Edition. London: His Majesty's Stationary Office: 1944."

The contents really are excellent. The book itself has that peculiar smell that i am sure every one of us recognises, as only being present on old objects, especially from that sort of period - probably from being stored for a very long time.

Maybe i've got it all wrong, and this is some sort of mock-book, published long after the war to give the reader an authentic experience. If so, tell me. If it is the real deal, and people would like to see photographs or scans, I'd be willing to share them here, if it is of interest. I would also just like to add how lucky I feel to have come into posession of this, as the content just happens to be one of my main areas of interests; it was in fact a late night, by chance screening of Memphis Belle (1990) at a friends house, at the tender age of 7 or 8, that caused me to fall in love with the 8th AF, and especially the B17. I always find myself going back every now and then and reading every book I have on the 8th AF in England, just due to some unexplainable infactuation with the period.

Cheers.


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## Njaco (Mar 27, 2011)

Wow, sounds like a real find! I can't help you but have you tried Google the name or check Amazon? They sometimes list books from rare book stores.


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## A4K (Mar 27, 2011)

Great score mate! Be an interesting read.


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## N4521U (Mar 27, 2011)

Yep, here it is, Amazon.
Amazon.com: Target: Germany- The Army Air Forces' Official Story of the VIII Bomber Command's First Year Over Europe: U.S. Army Air Forces: Books


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## drgondog (Mar 28, 2011)

I have two copies (each) of Target Germany and First of the Many by Tex McCray - the first two were out of my father's library and I must have read both of them five or six times between age 7 and 8. If you want a gritty perspective on the early days of the 8th AF you will find no finer examples.


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## Snautzer01 (Mar 29, 2011)

or get this one ( it was on the net a long time ago when i dl all 7 volumes)


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