Hell Above Earth: The Incredible True Story of an American WWII Bomber Commander and the Copilot Ordered to Kill Him by Stephen Frater

The air battle against Nazi Germany lasted three years and cost 127,000 Allied aircrew their lives. U.S. Captain Werner Goering, accepted this and thrived on the adrenaline rush, becoming an exceptional pilot. He was also the nephew of Herman Goering, leading member of the Nazi party and Commander in Chief of the Luftwaffe.When Werner qualified to become a bomber commander in 1942, J. Edgar Hoover issued a top secret order to ensure that if his plane was downed for any reason over Nazi-occupied Europe, someone would be in the cockpit to shoot Captain Werner Goering dead. The FBI and the American military would not prevent Werner from serving his American homeland in war, but neither would they risk the propaganda coup that his desertion or capture would represent for Nazi Germany. So FBI agents fanned out across the U.S. to find a man capable of and willing to shoot Werner dead in the cockpit, who could then get the plane back home. They found Jack Rencher, a tough, insular, B-17 instructor who also happened to be one of the Armys best pistol shots. That Jack and Werner became unlikely friends is just another twist in one of the most incredible untold tales of WWII.

Author: Stephen Frater

Language: English

Binding: Hardcover

Pages: 320

Publisher: St. Martins Press

Publication Date: 2012-03-13