ON TO BERLIN - BATTLES OF AN AIRBORNE COMMANDER 1943-1946 by Gavin, James M

New York, 1978, Viking, 4th US printing, hard bound in dust jacket, VG/Good+ ( dj shows medium small tears & chipping on extremities), 6 1/2 x 9 1/2, xiv, 336 pages, 22 maps, illus, index.............................................................. "When you hear the roar of the engines turning over and you move down the runway and become airborne, you realize at that moment there is no turning back. Then your total faculties are concerned with survival, and that means carrying out things you have been trained to do as well as you possibly can.".......................................................................Led by General James M. Gavin, the men of the famous 82nd Airborne Division parachuted into the skies over Sicily, Salerno, Normandy, and Nijmegen in the ill-fated "Bridge Too Far" encounter. He and his men were among the infantry that fought the Winter War of the Bulge and marched across Germany to meet the Russians in Berlin.The story of the 82nd as told by its commanding officer is an unforgettable chapter in the saga of World War II. Gavin believes that to lead, one must be at the forefront, at the heart of the action. His front-line participation is what makes this book exceptionally vivid : On to Berlin gives a detailed account of the 82nd Airborne's every action, from the level of the fighting man to the strategic controversy over the taking of Berlin before the Russians.....................................................................Until the drop into Sicily in 1943, the Allied forces had not conducted airborne warfare on a large scale. It fell to Gavin to devise this new form of combat in training and under fire as parachute and glider operations played an increasing role in the European theater.