Robert V. Brulle, who flew seventy ground support missions with the
366th Fighter Group, links his daily experiences in the cockpit not only
with the battles in which he participated but also with events in the
wider European theater. Combining anecdotes from his personal diary,
research in US and German records, and interviews with participants from
both sides, Brulle details a combat career that began just after D-Day,
when he flew column cover for Allied troops as they chased the German
military out of France. He then describes the brutal, six-week Hürtgen
Forest campaign, during which his fighter group lost 15 pilots and 18
aircraft. He also tells how the otherwise bitterly fought Battle of the
Bulge provided the 366th with an opportunity to successfully engage 60
Luftwaffe airplanes in a dogfight directly over their airfield.
Angels Zero combines both personal and historical detail to vividly
re-create a lesser-known aspect of the air war in Europe.