I received a free proof of this book through Net Galley, but this hasn't affected my review. These are my own thoughts and feelings, and is in no way influenced by the author, the publisher or Net Galley.

This is a book that feels too short, but at the same, is absolutely perfect. I wish this was longer. I wish that the author had access to more information, though I understand why he had to be tight with what he wrote. Howard Mansfield beautifully moves from subject to subject. There never feels as though not enough information was given, or, that it's too much of an overload. He knows how to keep it interesting.

This is based around his own father, who never spoke about the war. His father's experience in the war was only dropped suddenly in conversation, but never expanded upon. The author had his dad's writings, and later on, what his father would dictate into a dictaphone. Yet, with this, Howard Mansfield searched for more. He wanted to know more about what his father, and everyone else who was involved in the war, felt, but he hit wall after wall. Not many would speak of their experiences, and the archive building of the people, the plans, the battles, etc. were stored was partly destroyed in a fire. And yet, what Howard Mansfield did discover...

That's where the real gems of this book lies. Weaving around what he does know of his father, are the other people involved. It doesn't matter if they are only written of for a few paragraphs, or a chapter. Or, if it's details of the planes, the people, who flew, who were wounded, who were killed; there isn't a possibility of feeling as though fact after fact is being thrown at you. The reader feels as though each fact contributes more to this story.

This book may be short, but it has a big impact on the reader. I'd highly recommend this, whether you are interested in military history or not. This is a biography, and reads like a novel. This isn't dry. It isn't difficult to follow. When I started this book, I didn't expect to finish it in three days. And when I did finish it, I had to take a few days to think over it. I wanted to write a review that this book was worthy of.

Howard Mansfield (https://www.howardmansfield.com) is the author of more than a dozen books. I Will Tell No War Stories: What Our Fathers Left Unsaid about World War II was published last month. It is the 32nd book I completed reading in 2024.

Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own! Due to minor scenes of violence, I categorize this book/novel as PG.

The author knew his father had flown in the US Army Air Corps during WWII. He didn’t know many details as his father had always been reluctant to share his experiences. Shortly before his father passed, Mansfield found his father’s mission journal. This prompted him to investigate further and fill in the gaps found in the journal.

Sargent Pincus Manfield had been a waist gunner on a B-24 bomber serving in the 8th Air Force. This book focuses on Sgt. Mansfield’s experiences from the summer of 1944 through the end of the war. He lost many comrades in the raids over Nazi Germany. The book paints a bleak picture of those participating in bombing raids and their chance of survival.

I enjoyed the 5.5 hours I spent reading this 160-page WWII-era history. I found this book to be of particular interest because my uncle also served in the 8th Air Force. He was a radioman and gunner on a B-24. I like the chosen cover art. I give this book a rating of 3.7 (rounded to 4) out of 5.

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This story of a very young man from New York who was very keen to fly and serve his country in WWII is remarkable and follows his journey through school until he enlisted into the Air Force, training and then flying operational missions over Europe. That story is, in itself very personal and was put together by his grandson from is Grandfathers diaries. The air gunner was, in common with many veterans, very reluctant to talk about their involvement in the conflict, so the story does not flow as it would have done if produced by the principal.

Pincus Mansfield (28 September 1924-15 June 2019) kept silent about his war experiences serving with the 453rd Bomb Group but his son,Howard,the book's author found his flight logs and began searching for the truth.The 453rd Bombardment Group was first organized at Wendover Field, Utah on 1 June 1943,with the 732nd, 733rd, 734th,and 735th Bombardment Squadrons assigned as its original elements. It then moved to Pocatello Army Air Field, Idaho, where it was brought up to strength and trained with Consolidated B-24 Liberators. The group completed its training at March Field, California, in December before departing for the European Theatre of Operations, with the ground echelon embarking on 2 December. The ground echelon arrived at the group's combat station, RAF Old Buckenham, on 23 December 1943. By January 1944, it was fully established at Old Buckenham with the arrival of the air echelon. The 453rd flew its first mission against an airfield at Tours on 4 February 1944.Toward the end of February, the squadron took part in Big Week, the concentrated attack on the German aircraft manufacturing industry.The group also engaged in air support and air interdiction missions. It bombed V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket launch sites, airfields,and coastal defence guns to prepare for Operation Overlord.On D-Day, it struck coastal fortifications between Le Havre and Cherbourg Naval Base and enemy positions inland from the landing area. It made attacks on enemy troops to support Operation Cobra,in July 1944. It bombed German lines of communication during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945. In September 1944, it flew rations, gasoline and blankets to advancing troops in France. During Operation Varsity,it dropped medical supplies,food, and ammunition to troops at the bridgehead.The squadron flew its last mission on 12 April 1945, and was withdrawn from combat to prepare for possible redeployment to the Pacific.Hollywood star James "Jimmy" Stewart, was group operations officer during the spring of 1944.The group's 733rd Bombardment Squadron flew 82 consecutive missions without a loss,a record for Eighth Air Force bomber units.

Father. Grandfather. Farmer. Engineer. Clerk. WWII Badass. Wait. What? While this book focuses more on the air war over Britain and Europe, it does in fact get to the heart of what so many of us born in the post WWII era have only been learning over the last 20-30 yrs or so: Our fathers (in the case of Boomers/ maybe Gen Xers) or grandfathers (for Millenials and Zoomers) that we knew as just that (+ whatever occupation they may have had as we knew them) had experiences during WWII that most of the rest of us can never imagine. For Mansfield's dad and his dad's fellow Airmen, Mansfield does a fairly thorough job of combining the personal and the global, of showing both where his dad was and when and also what was going on in the overall war effort - at least as it related to the air war over Europe and what the fliers encountered up there.

Personally, as the grandson of a pair of Infantrymen who both survived the Battle of the Bulge (and one of whom became a legit hero during its mop-up, earning a Silver Star and Purple Heart, while the other became one of the first to liberate the concentration camps on the American side of the war), I was hoping for more of a general look at this entire phenomena, of our fathers and grandfathers choosing to remain silent about their experiences during this pivotal time in human history, rather than the far more personal and specific look we get here - but that is more my own fault than the author's. My own pre-conceptions and desires, rather than any fault of the author's motivations or writing skills.

Indeed, the only actual fault vis a vis the writing itself is the dearth of a bibliography, despite the author clearly doing quite a bit of research. So that was the star deduction right there, simply for that. Beyond the lack of bibliography though, this really was an excellent look at the Air War in the European Theater as it was felt by the people flying as crew in the bombers themselves.

Truly an excellent book anyone remotely interested in that era and in particular that facet of that era will very much enjoy and may find quite informative. Very much recommended.

The author’s father didn’t want to talk about his experiences as a B-24 gunner, yet he left a diary of his missions. The author has researched the war to learn what his father experienced. It’s all familiar to anyone well-versed with WWII. Emphasis is placed on how the horror and guilt over killing in the war is what led to many veterans’ silence.