WWII Fighter Pilot's Historical Novel Provides Accurate Account of Aerial Combat in Europe
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World War II Fighter Pilot’s Historical Novel Provides Accurate Account of Fierce Aerial Combat in Europe
The Hellish Vortex by Richard M. Baughn describes the sacrifices of the airmen in the 8th Air Force during World War II
AUSTIN, TX -- December 2, 2008 -- The Hellish Vortex: Between Breakfast and Dinner, a historical novel by retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Richard M. Baughn gives a firsthand look at how the young airmen in Europe lived, fought and died in the fiercest aerial combat of World War II.
Baughn feels that, because the D-Day invasion at Normandy has become the centerpiece of the battle to end the Nazi occupation of Europe, much of the air war has gone unnoticed. But he points out that 60,000 British and American airmen were shot down or killed before D-Day while bombing German targets to help make the invasion possible. Regarding the fierceness of the air war, Baughn found that 41,802 airmen were killed from a force of about 100,000 pilots, navigators, bombardiers and aerial gunners. By comparison, the entire U.S. Navy, 3.3 million strong, lost less than 37,000 during WWII and less than 20,000 Marines were killed from a total force of over 475,000.
For greater story depth, the author adds the British, American and inter-service politics that affected the air war. He uses a 10-year flash-forward with his lead character doing a historical study of the 8th Air Force while attending the Armed Forces Staff College after the war. Excerpts of the study are blended into the story.
Dr. John F. Guilmartin, history professor at Ohio State University said, “In The Hellish Vortex, Richard Baughn captures the essence of aerial combat as well as any account of which I am aware, fictional or otherwise. In literary polish and drama it is the equal of Pierre Clostermann's autobiographical The Big Show, by the Royal Air Forces' top-scoring WWII European ace; in straightforward recounting of the tactical and operational realities of the fighter pilot's air war it replaces Robert S. Johnson's (with Martin Caidin) Thunderbolt as the gold standard…Compellingly written, The Hellish Vortex is intellectually honest and historically accurate. The next time I teach World War II it's a required text.”
For more information or to request a free review copy, members of the press can contact the author at dickbaughn@austin.rr.com. The Hellish Vortex is available for sale online at Amazon.com, BookSurge.com, and through additional wholesale and retail channels worldwide.
About the Author
Richard M. Baughn, a retired brigadier general, has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland and attended several military schools, including Great Britain’s most senior military school, the Imperial Defence College. He trained in P-40s and flew combat in P-51s with the 8th Air Force in Britain and had two combat tours in Vietnam. His decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Star Medal, 15 Air Medals and two Air Force Commendation Medals. He was the first U.S. Air Force officer in Europe to be awarded the prestigious Order of the Sword by the U.S. Air Force noncommissioned officers he served in Great Britain. The Hellish Vortex won a 2008 Eric Hoffer Notable Award for fiction and a 2008 honorable mention award for fiction from The Writer’s Digest.
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