Fighting With the Screaming Eagles: With the 101st Airborne from Normandy to Bastogne
Engaging inside story of the 401st Gilder Infantry in WWII. Covers fighting in Normandy, Holland and the Ardennes. Includes vivid first hand accounts of life as a POW From one former Screaming Eagle to another, an excellent book and a real credit to the story of the 101st Airborne Division during the cold days and nights of Winter 1944, leading to Victory in Europe (VE) day.' The NCO Journal (USA) 'Highly recommended' Military Modelcraft International'The understated heroism of Bowen and his comrades shines through his humility and candour. Air & Space Power Journal (USA)Introduction by George E. KoskimakiRobert Bowen found himself drafted into Company C, 401st Glider Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, as World War II broke out, and soon afterwards found himself storming ashore amid the chaos on Utah Beach, through unfamiliar terrain littered with minefields and hidden snipers. He was wounded during the Normandy campaign but went on to fight in Holland and the Ardennes where he was captured and his trip through hell truly began.Written shortly after the war, Bowen s narrative is immediate, direct and compelling. His account, one of the few by a member of a glider regiment, is a brutal insight into the battlefields of World War II and a vivid recreation of just what life was like in an elite unit. From the horror of D-Day and the despair of captivity, to the taste of C Rations and the fear of soldiers under fire, this memoir tells the full story of one man s total war. --Amazon U KTruly one of the best first-hand accounts of warfare that I have ever read . . . The author paints a vivid picture of life as a gliderman and life as a combat soldier . . . Highly recommended --Toy Soldier Immediate, direct and compelling. His account, one of the few by a member of a glider regiment, is a brutal insight into the battlefields of World War II and a vivid creation of just what life was like in an elite unit. From the horror of D-Day and the despair of captivity, to personal recollections of ordinary men in an extraordinary conflict, this memoir tells the story of one man's total war. The author writes in an easy to follow engaging manner: I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual book and can recommend it. --Gun Mart Robert Bowen has written an enlightening and riveting book that details his service in the 101st Airborne Division during the latter half of World War II . . . Vivid mental images readers can visualise, smell and conceptualise . . . Readers will find Nazi treatment of American POWs gut-wrenching and horrifying. His eye-opening experience at the stalags will keep any reader spellbound, as it paints a picture any author has unlikely to have provided before . . . From one former Screaming Eagle to another, an excellent book and a real credit to the story of the 101st Airborne Division during the cold days and nights of Winter 1944, leading to Victory in Europe (VE) day --The NCO Journal - --Amazon U KThe author served with the usually rarely mentioned 401st Glider Regt (formerly a Bn of the 327th). Somewhat ironically though, his unit entered Normandy across the beachhead and not by air. Bowen's Normandy is somewhat short lived but his descriptions are some of the best I have ever read. He could see bodies floating beneath the water and some of the sights on land, particularly the destroyed German column are very vivid and quite awful. The unit suffers many casualties to the point that Bowen writes it was never the same again. Bowen does not shy away from describing these. Some are the results of mistakes and foolishness. Regardless, few veterans have addressed this aspect of the war so graphically. Bowen often writes of a fellow soldier, giving a personal connection, perhaps recounting a conversation or some shared moment, before describing their eventual terrible fate on the battlefield. This device serves to both emphasize the humanity of each and the tragedy of their death, often after suffering horrific wounds and sometimes being abandoned screaming on the field. Some of this is delivered very bluntly, almost brutally. Bowen reveals how the war changed him. His wounds and subsequent treatment left him with health concerns for his whole life. He suffered personality problems, which is a confronting and stark admission. As for combat, aside from Normandy, Bowen fights in Holland (on The Island) and outside Bastogne. He sees futile deaths, some through souvenir hunting and poor field craft. He writes a fair bit about being in combat but it is mostly of what he directs and observes, without revealing too much about his personal deeds. He does write briefly about wounding one German soldier though. He sees quite a bit of combat all together. Bowen's style is very readable. He has an interesting turn of phrase and he is very good at describing what he sees. This brings home very graphically, aside from combat, his awful sea trip to England and the hellish conditions of his time as a POW. It also reveals his fascination with wartime England and his observations on this are very interesting. He is honest about his fears and doesn't try to gloss things over. He is critical of events and his fellow soldiers at times. His recounting of his experiences as an injured POW and repatriation and ongoing treatment is very eye opening. Overall, this is a good combat memoir. Recommended plus --John E. Larsen