Ghost Bombers

For the first time, author Nick Beale, tells the story of a Luftwaffe ground attack unit - NSG 9 - and its hazardous, pin-point bombing missions in Italy during the Second World War. NSG 9 was formed in late 1943 from veteran pilots drawn from the Eastern Front. Intended to use captured Italian aircraft for fighting partisans, it was rushed into action against the Anzio beachhead with just a handful of Fiat biplanes. Reequipped with the famous Ju 87 Stuka - and later the Fw 190 - the unit was heavily committed against the Anglo-American breakout in May 1944 and then operated over Rome and the Appenine Mountains during the summer of that year. It was the first German night attack unit to encounter modern Allied fighter defenses and suffered heavy losses, mainly at the hands of RAF Beaufighters. Ghost Bombers is based on interviews and correspondence with many former veterans of NSG 9. Much is told in the words of the men who fought on both sides in the night skies over Italy. Nick Beale is co-author of the widely acclaimed Air War Italy 1944-45: The Axis Air Forces from the Liberation of Rome to the Surrender. He was one of the first authors to use ULTRA material - deciphered German signals - in reconstructing the Luftwaffe's activities.