Memoirs of Foggia: Book 1 1925-1942

Roy C. Parris and Robert A. Duffy were members of the 99th Bomb Group/ 15th Air Force who found themselves at Foggia, Italy after serving in North Africa during World War II. This book was inspired by their memoirs. In the process of organizing the book, I realized how little I knew about the history of the time. Moreover, I realized that much of the lore of World War II that Roy Parris and Bob Duffy took for granted (and that I, a member of the early post-war baby boom generation, was raised on) will be totally obscure to future generations. In order to tell the story in a way that will be coherent to people who did not live through it or who were not raised on stories of their parents and a steady stream of period movies, screenplays, and books; I decided to include a large cross section of the technology and politics of the WWII period. This allowed me to synthesize why and how people did what they did, not merely what they did. I am writing for generations who will have little understanding of the technology and politics of the period 1930-1945 and will, by the early part of the 21st century, be bewildered by books that do not provide this context.I beg the readers’ indulgence with respect to a certain redundancy in the book. It can be read at several levels: It began as a simple consolidation of two personal war memoirs. It includes a history of the development of military technology from 1925-1950 particularly the developments in fuels, engines and airplanes. It summarizes the major elements of both the planning and execution of the strategic air campaigns of WWII. It describes the origins and international politics of World War II, and it gives a brief view of domestic politics in the United States and other nations in the war period. Thus, some events are repeated from different points of view. On the one hand, this will facilitate the reader who wishes to skip over various sections; but on the other hand, it may be distracting to the reader who appreciates a smooth flowing narrative. This document may have some original historical insights, but I do not claim it to be a formal history and I point out that most of the sources are secondary or general references. I did not spend months pouring through archives reading faded copies of original battle and diplomatic reports. I did try to use the original accounts provided by the participants including the unpublished letters of Roy Parris (1942-1945). In spite of the absence of original research, I believe that the book is not just another history of air adventures during World War II. I believe it is a unique synthesis that will bring new insights to even widely read historians and airplane enthusiasts. —- ISBN: 9798703519356 | ISBN10: B08VLT1GSG | ISBN-13: 979-8703519356