Foreword by Andy Rooney

      Forty years ago, in World War II, the U.S. Eighth Air Force began a precision daylight bombing offensive against Nazi Germany from airbases in rural England. In support of this mission, nearly 350,000 Americans of widely different backgrounds were temporarily transported to English soil. For many of them this was a period of great danger — even death for some; it was also a time of endless fatigue, comradeship, boredom, and, sometimes, the excitement of radically new experiences and emotions. For most, however, this mission was destined to be the one great adventure of their young lives.

      At a certain point in life, everyone likes to look back, to revive memories of past glories, and some are even moved to return to the actual scene of a singular event, to relive the experience where it happened. Today, however, few traces remain of the numerous heavy bomber bases built then to serve the Eighth Air Force in England. Farms that were paved into runways and hardstands have returned to their primordial uses, and the old military buildings have been demolished or adapted to new roles.

      Nevertheless, in this compelling book one is truly taken back to wartime England — through a rare combination of the frank recollections of men who still vividly remember what it was like to be there (from flying through flak over the target to slogging through perpetual mud at the base), as well as vintage photos from their scrapbooks and other private collections, and a wide-ranging selection from the U. S. A. F: archives of both pictures and memorabilia — to richly illustrate the American experience in World War II England as it was lived. In addition to the historic photographs, the book features more than 100 color illustrations shot in recent years that show several of the Eighth Air Force bases as they are now, for the benefit of those who want to take one last look.

From One Last Look dust jacket.

© 1983 Abbeville Press

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Reviews

Never before have I encountered a more accurate prose-picture of the Eighth Air Force, as we who flew the missions knew it, than between the covers of ONE LAST LOOK. Every survivor of the 1943-1944 Eighth Air Force needs a copy of this book."
Burrell W. Ellison Prof. of History, Univ. of South Carolina, Former Pilot, 392nd Bomb Group

"Congratulations on the outstanding work you did on ONE LAST LOOK. You may be glad to know you brought both laughter and tears to the lips and eyes of this old Eighth Air Force pilot. WELL DONE!!"
J. Charles MacGill, Chairman Board of Directors, 486th Bomb Group

"A lot of people have told me it's the best World War II book they've ever seen, and I'll tell you what-if it's not, it's at least got to be in the top ten,"
Peter Boyles, Host, The Peter Boyles Show KNUS Radio, Denver

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