Bridgebusters

Thomas McKelvey Cleaver, screenwriter and military historian, is a contributing editor of Flight Journal and the author of Aces of the 78th Fighter Group, Air Combat Annals, and Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier Air Group 15. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.

"Want to know the true-life story behind the 57th Bomb Wing where Catch-22 author Joseph Heller spent the war? Read this thrill ride in the cockpit of a B-25.[and learn how] they bombed bridges and destroyed Nazi supply routes to win the war in Italy in World War II." -Lucian K. Truscott IV, author of Dress Gray and "Full Dress Gray and grandson of the American commander in Italy "One of Tom Cleaver's trademarks is that he somehow manages to weave mechanical facts into the fabric of a thoroughly human tale in such a way that you come away feeling as if you've just watched a wildly detailed movie. In The Bridgebusters, you can almost smell the engine exhaust and hear the empty .50 caliber casings clatter to the fuselage floor under the gunners' feet. He makes the truth read like well-done fiction." -Budd Davisson, editor of Flight Journal "U.S. Navy vet and lifelong aviation enthusiast Tom Cleaver is making a stunning appearance on the nonfiction book scene as a reliable chronicler of combat military aviation. The Bridgebusters goes a long way toward burnishing his sterling reputation for going the extra mile to bring us interesting and unusual detail layered into a heartfelt appreciation of aviators." -Eric Hammel, aviation historian and author of seventy books, including War in the Western Pacific and Big Week: The Bombing Offensive That Broke the Luftwaffe "Cleaver's superb The Bridgebusters is the book that finally credits the uniquely brave men of the 57th Bomb Wing with the recognition they so richly deserve. A rigorously researched work, The Bridgebusters is nevertheless fast-paced and personal. Cleaver's extraordinary characterization of the men and their actions during one of history's bloodiest air campaigns reads true and compelling, and is enhanced by judicious use of the men's own words, thoughtfully gleaned from contemporaneous letters and diaries. Highly recommended." -Jay A. Stout, author of" Hell's Angels: The True Story of the 303rd Bomb Group in World War II "In The Bridgebusters, Thomas Cleaver highlights one the ironies of World War II: seventy years later the public is mostly aware of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations via a fanciful 1961 novel and the 1970 movie. But in addressing author Joseph Heller's wartime service as a B-25 bombardier, Cleaver places much more in context. The little-known Twelfth Air Force fought a long, sanguinary campaign from North Africa to Italy, highlighted by the months-long 'bridge busting' effort in the Alps' Brenner Pass. Flying against lethally proficient anti-aircraft crews, the 57th Bomb Wing paid a steep price for its success. Yet far more is revealed than the 'glamorous' fliers sweating out open-ended combat tours. Cleaver introduces us to long-suffering ground crews who 'kept 'em flying'; careerist officers mostly interested in their next promotion; Italian civilians who suffered in the crossfire; and even Wehrmacht leaders and flak gunners. This is rare history-told almost at the last moment as more of those veterans depart the pattern every day." -Barrett Tillman, author of Forgotten Fifteenth "It makes for a riveting story and one that I offer my highest recommendation." -Scott Van Aken, ModelingMadness.com "Cleaver delivers more than what is amply promised in The Bridgebusters: the True Story of the Catch-22 Bomb Wing - so much more in both in material as well as what life was like for the 57th Bomb Wing (Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22, served in it and got his inspiration from that duty station)... Get this book to best understand World War II in the Mediterranean Theater. Get this book to better understand Joseph Heller and Catch-22 (which was inspired by his service in the 57th but not a history of it). Get this book to understand how the 57th fought-always cold, or wet or dusty-whether in the air or on the ground." -Joseph May, Seattle PI