SPRING 2021 - Volume 68, Number 1 WWW.AFHISTORY.ORG know the past .....Shape the Future Spring 2021 -Volume 68, Number 1 WWW.AFHISTORY.ORG know the past .....Shape the Future Features Building Malmstrom’s Minuteman Missile Fields in Central Montana, 1960-1963 Troy A. Hallsell 5 Lost in Space: The Defeat of the V–2 and Post-War British Exploitation of German Long-Range Rocket Technology Bryan Hunt 17 Silent Saviors: Gliders for American Resupply Operations in Normandy, June 1944 Cole A. Resnik 37 Minutemen and Roentgens: A History of Civil Air Patrol’s Aerial Radiological Monitoring Program Jayson A. Altieri 43 Book Reviews Over There in the Air: The Fightin’ Texas Aggies in World War I, 1917-1918 By John A. Adams, Jr. Review by Dennis H. Berger 52 Assured Destruction: Building the Ballistic Missile Culture of the U.S. Air Force By David W. Bath Review by Troy A. Hallsell 452 Unforgotten in the Gulf of Tonkin: A Story of the U.S. Military’s Commitment to Leave No One Behind By Eileen Bjorkman Review by Scott A. Willey 53 Race of Aces: WWII’s Elite Airmen and the Epic Battle to Become the Master of the Sky By John R. Bruning Review by Steven Agoratus 53 Iraqi Mirages: The Dassault Mirage Family in Service with the Iraqi Air Force, 1981-1988 By Tom Cooper Review by George W. Runkle 4554 Israeli Eagles F–15A/B/C/D/I By Amos Dor Review by Scott A. Willey 55 Many a Close Run Thing: From Jet Fighter Pilot to Airline Captain By Tom Enright Review by Tony Kambic 55 Beyond Valor: A World War II Story of Extraordinary Heroism, Sacrificial Love and a Race Against Time By Jon Erwin & William Doyle Review by Steven Agoratus 56 The Freedom Shield: When We Were Young, We Were There By John D. Falcon Review by Bill Staffa 56 Champions of Flight By Sheryl Fiegel & Theodore Hamady . Review by Gary Connor 57 Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War July 1937-May 1942 By Richard B. Frank Review by Steven D. Ellis 58 Widowmaker: Living and Dying with the Corsair By Tim Hillier-Graves Review by Steven D. Ellis 58 The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of WWII By Katherine Sharp Landdeck Review by Gary Connor 59 Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: 1939-1942 and Day Fighter Aces of the Luftwaffe: 1943-1945 By Neil Page Review by Gary Connor 60 The Petlyakov Pe–2: Stalin’s Successful Red Air Force Light Bomber By Peter C. Smith Review by Gary Connor 60 Jayhawk: Love, Loss, Liberation and Terror Over the Pacific By Jay A. Stout with George L. Cooper Review by Edward Young 61 Ace of the Black Cross: The Memoirs of Ernst Udet By Ernst Udet Review by Steven D. Ellis 62 Fallschirmjäger!: A Collection of Firsthand Accounts and Diaries by German Paratrooper Veterans... By Greg Way Review by John Cirafici 62 Mystery of Missing Flight F-BELV By Stephen Wynn Review by Scott A. Willey 63 Departments President’s Message 3 Upcoming Events 62 New History Mystery 64 COVER: A Minuteman III ICBM launches during a test at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (USAF photo.) The Air Force Historical Foundation The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation Spring 2021 Volume 68 Number 1 Editor Richard I. Wolf Editor Emeritus Jacob Neufeld Air Force Historical Foundation Book Review Editor P.O. Box 790 Scott A. Willey Clinton, MD 20735-0790 (301) 736-1959 Advertising Jim Vertenten E-mail: [email protected] On the Web at http://www.afhistory.org Circulation Angela J. Bear Board of Directors Patron Members Col Terry Balven, USAF (Ret.) Lt Gen Christopher D. Miller, USAF (Ret.) Col Christopher Brunner, USAF (Ret) Chairman Maj Gen Charles J. Dunlap, Jr., USAF Lt Gen Nicholas B. Kehoe, USAF (Ret.) Mr. Darrell Dvorak Air Power History (ISSN 1044-016X) is pro- First Vice Chairman Lt Col Raymond Fredette, USAF (Ret.) duced for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter by Maj Gen John L. Barry, USAF (Ret) Dr. Jerome V. Martin the Air Force Historical Foun dation. Second Vice Chairman Lt Gen George D. Miller, USAF (Ret.) Prospective contributors should consult the Dr. Rebecca Grant, Brig Gen Jon A. Reynolds, USAF (Ret.) Brig Gen William L. Shields, USAF (Ret) GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS at Secretary the back of this journal. Unsolicited manu- Brig Gen Wade R. Smith Lt Col Steven Gress, Jr., USAF (Ret.) scripts will be returned only on specific re- Treasurer Donations quest. The Editor cannot accept responsibility Douglas Birkey Col Terry Balven, USAF (Ret.) for any damage to or loss of the manuscript. Col Scott C. Bishop, USAF (Ret.) Robert Bauerlein The Editor reserves the right to edit manu- Col Christopher J. Brunner, USAF (Ret) Col M W Bertz scripts and letters. Lt Joseph Burke, USAFR (Ret.) Eileen Bjorkman Address LETTERS and manuscripts to: Gen Ralph E. Eberhart, USAF (Ret.) Lt Col Margaret Carnahan, USAF (Ret) Lt Gen Robert J. Elder, USAF (Ret.) Lt Gen Charles G Cleveland, USAF (Ret) Lt Gen Charles R. Heflebower, USAF (Ret.) Air Power History Mr. Ned E Derhammer 3043 Sunny Ridge Drive Ms. Jonna Doolittle Hoppes Gen Michael J. Dugan, USAF (Ret.) Maj Gen Paul T. Johnson, USAF (Ret.) Odenton, MD 21113 Lt Gen Charles R. Heflebower, USAF (Ret) e-mail: [email protected] Maj Gen Charles W. Lyon, USAF (Ret.) Robert Huddleston Col Stephen E. Newbold, USAF (Ret.) Col Wray Johnson, USAF (Ret.) Correspondence regarding missed issues or MSgt Keith A. Reed, USAF (Ret.) Col Joseph Marston, USAF (Ret.) changes of address should be addressed to Lt Gen Christopher D. Miller, USAF (Ret.) the CIRCULATION OFFICE: Emeritus Col Bobby B. Moorhatch, USAF (Ret.) Maj Gen Dale W. Meyerrose, USAF (Ret.) Sherman Mullin Air Power History P.O. Box 790 Chairman Lt Gen Michael A. Nelson, USAF (Ret.) Clinton, MD 20735-0790 Gen Lloyd Newton, USAF (Ret) Editor, Air Power History (301) 736-1959 Maj Gen John D. Paulk, USAF (Ret.) Richard I. Wolf e-mail: [email protected] Brig Gen Wade R. Smith, USAF (Ret) Editor Emeritus, Air Power History Dr. L. Parker Temple ADVERTISING Jacob Neufeld Curtis L. Weil Stuart S. Wright Jim Vertenten Staff Edward Young P.O. Box 790 Clinton, MD 20735-0790 Lt Col James A. Vertenten, USAF (Ret.) Corporate Sponsors Secretary to the Board and (301) 736-1959 Boeing e-mail: [email protected] Executive Director Calvert Systems Mrs. Angela J. Bear, Office Manager General Atomics Copyright © 2020 by the Air Force Historical President’s Circle General Electric Aviation Foundation. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Clinton, MD Lt Col Kenneth W. Sublett, USAF (Ret.) Leidos Lockheed Martin 20735 and additional mailing offices. Benefactor L3Harris Technologies Northrop Grumman Postmaster: Please send change of address Dr. John Farquhar to the Circulation Office. Lt Gen Nicholas B. Kehoe, USAF (Ret) Pratt & Whitney Wings over the Rockies Air Museum 2 AIR POWER History / SPRING 2021 From the President Dear Members, As always, Air Power History editor Richard Wolf has assembled a very thoughtful retrospective this quarter. He is able to do this because of au- thors who faithfully contribute thoughtful, disciplined accounts of success and failure, innovation and operations, people and weapon systems. Your membership helps sustain this work. Normal operations for the Foundation are on the horizon. While our An- nual Membership meeting is nearly certain to be virtual in the May-June timeframe, it seems likely we will be able to conduct our 2020-2021 Awards and Banquet in person sometime in the Fall. We are certainly planning for it. Many members of the Board are working hard on the Foundation’s book “75 Great Airmen,” to be released in early 2022 to help mark the 75th an- niversary of the Department of the Air Force. Member suggestions for names to include have been thoughtful and much appreciated, and your inputs remain welcome (via email to [email protected]) before 30 April. We will also soon decide on a revised publishing proposal for updating the Foundation’s “U.S. Air Force – A Complete History,” which would encompass the earliest days of air and space power all the way to the three- quarter century mark. Many thanks to the Foundation’s Life Members, who were recently recognized with a small token in the form of attractive Life Member cards. Their continued generous donations to the Foundation are deeply ap- preciated, especially during this past year of disruption. Should you have other ideas for ways to recognize members’ support, please pass them on. Incremental growth continues in outreach through our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linked-In, our daily e-mail, and archived journal issues. It is crystal-clear, however, that the Foundation’s value and its future existence depend on us successfully charting and pursuing even wider and more engaging ways to in- volve new generations of Airmen, Guardians, and historians. This is not an exercise. Passing one year from the onset of the pandemic’s impact on all aspects of life, it is worth reflecting on challenges ahead. At home, achieving “a more perfect union” remains a cacophonous, centuries-old work in progress, but as both CSAF C.Q. Brown and CSO Jay Raymond have stressed, we face rising threats from geopolitical competitors that will demand successful innovation, purposeful change, and hard work to over- come. In partnership with others, AFHF aids that cause by recording and sharing accurate and complete air and space power history. We must also help members of the Air Force and Space Force know and celebrate both their history and their heritage, and strive to provide insights on the ways air and space technologies have defended America and improved lives across the globe.