My darling boys: a family at war, 1941-1947
Fred H. Allison
- Resource Type:
- Book (Print/Paper)
- Publication:
- Denton, Texas : University of North Texas Press, [2023]
- Related Series:
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- Summary:
- "My Darling Boys is the story of a New Mexico farm family whose three sons were sent to fight in World War II. All flew combat aircraft in the Army Air Forces. In 1973 one of the boys, Oscar Allison, a B-24 top turret gunner and flight engineer, wrote a memoir of his World War II experiences. On a mission to Regensburg, Germany, his bomber, ravaged by German fighters, was shot down. He was captured and spent fifteen months in German stalag prisons. His memoir, the core of this unique book, details his training, combat, and prisoner-of-war experience in a truthful, introspective, and compelling manner. Fred H. Allison, the author and Oscar's nephew, gained access to family letters that supplement Oscar's story and bring to light the experiences of Oscar's brothers. Harold Allison, the author's father, was sidelined from combat as a bomber copilot due to a health condition. The letters also tell of the brother who did not come home, Wiley Grizzle Jr., a P-51 fighter pilot. Wiley's last mission brought his squadron of Mustangs into a pitched battle with German fighters bound for the front to attack American troops. The letters also introduce the boys' family, who fought the battle of the home front on their farm in New Mexico. Allison reveals the burden home folks bore for their boys in combat and then the emotional trauma from the dreaded War Department letters announcing "missing in action" or "killed in action." Allison conducted extensive research in the official records and in secondary sources to give context to the memoir and letters. My Darling Boys brings a new and important aspect to personal accounts of World War II combat, giving the reader a unique blend of first-person military action tied to the home front family"--Back cover.
- Table of Contents:
- Introduction
- Aviation, a Budding Interest, and Oscar into the Army Air Corps: 1940-1942
- Harold and Wiley Jr. into the Army Air Forces: 1943
- Oscar, Liberator Training: 1943
- Wiley Jr. and Harold, Flight Training: 1943-1944
- Oscar and the Sophisticated Lady to Italy: 1943-1944
- Oscar into Combat, and Anzio and Regensburg: 1944
- Oscar Captured: February 1944
- Oscar into the Stalags: March 1944-April 1945
- Oscar by Ship and by Train, and Stalag Moves: July 1944-April 1945
- Bombers and Fighters, and Harold and Wiley Jr., Flight Training: March-November 1944
- Farming on the Home Front, and Harold, Training to the End: March 1944-September 1945
- Wiley Jr. into Combat with the Eighth Air Force: December 1944-February 1945
- Wiley Jr., Deadly Dogfights: February 1945-March 1945
- Oscar, Liberation and Home: April 1945-1949
- Epilogue.
- Author/Creator:
- Allison, Fred H., 1950- , author
- Languages:
- English
- Language Notes:
- Item content: English
- Other Related Resources:
- Online version: My darling boys [by Allison, F.H.] (Denton, Texas : University of North Texas Press, [2023] — ISBN 9781574419184; LCCN 2023039000)
- Related Series:
- Subjects:
- General Notes:
- Text of collective biography incorporates a memoir written by Oscar Allison in 1972.
Includes bibliographical references and index. - Physical Description:
- xiv, 251 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm.
- Physical Characteristics:
- illustration; plate
- Call Numbers:
- D790.2 .A45 2023
- ISBNs:
- 9781574419061 (hardcover)
1574419064 (hardcover)
9781574419184 (electronic book) [Invalid] - Library of Congress Control Numbers:
- 2023038999
- OCLC Numbers:
- 1379266353