A Wing and a Prayer

The “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action over Europe in World War II

By: Harry H. Crosby

Narrated by: Chris Monteiro

They began operations out of England in the spring of '43. They flew their Flying Fortresses almost daily against strategic targets in Europe in the name of freedom. Their astonishing courage and appalling losses earned them the name that resounds in the annals of aerial warfare and made the "Bloody Hundredth" a legend.

Harry H. Crosby—soon to be portrayed by Anthony Boyle in the miniseries Masters of the Air developed by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg—arrived with the very first crews, and left with the very last. After dealing with his fear and gaining in skill and confidence, he was promoted to Group Navigator, surviving hairbreadth escapes and eluding death while leading thirty-seven missions, some of them involving two thousand aircraft. Now, in a breathtaking and often humorous account, he takes us into the hearts and minds of these intrepid airmen to experience both the triumph and the white-knuckle terror of the war in the skies.

©1993, 2000 Harry H. Crosby (P)2023 Tantor

A Great Book

Read this book years ago so when I saw it was released as an audio book I figured it would be good to listen to before watching Masters of the Air. Through the years I have told many people that A Wing and a Prayer is one of the, if not the best personal accounts of service in World War 2 that I had read and after listening, I stand by that comment.

Very informative about bombing of Europe

I enjoyed the whole story, the way that Mr. Crosby wrote the story was very informative to someone that didn’t live at that time
I have a whole new meeting for the young men that flew B 17 
God bless him and God bless what they did to save the world 

Such a great review of the story of the Bloody 100th

I just finished listening to the story of the bloody 100th that AppleTV produced. And this is a crazy good follow-up of the navigator’s perspective. Well-written, fun to listen to.

Great stories

You learn about the tough and light moments of the Bloody 100th from a long time member of the group in World War II

The True Story behind Masters of the Air

Despite being named after Don Miller’s book, this is the book that Apple’s Masters of the Air is based on. It’s an excellent primary source of the bomber war over Europe. As a former USAF Nav, Crosby really captures the essence of being aircrew in my opinion.