REVIEW OF SHOT DOWN: The true story of pilot Howard Snyder and the crew of the B 17 Susan Ruth
AUTHOR: Steve Snyder
REVIEWER: William A. Glass
Date: 12/09/2020

Shot Down by Steve Snyder is a non-fiction book about the air war over Western Europe during World War II. The story focuses on the crew of an American bomber, the Susan Ruth, piloted by the author’s father, Lieutenant Howard Snyder. In 1944 the Susan Ruth was hit by a German fighter and the crew bailed out over Nazi occupied Belgium. The flyers were trained in escape and evasion. The story tells how they put their knowledge to the test.

This is a meticulously researched, clearly written, historical work. Remarkable, in that Steve Snyder is not a trained historian. Since this book sets forth the heroic actions of his deceased father, one can surmise that Steve’s passion for telling the story motivated him to do the on-the-job training needed to master the historian’s craft.

After an informative preface, Shot Down kicks off with a jolting, attention-getting scene that got me interested enough to wade through the next hundred pages of background information. I’m glad because this section puts what happens later into context and explains how the aircrew of the Susan Roth came to be in Germany dropping bombs.

Steve’s research provides a wealth of fascinating details. I’ve read about the vast fleets of allied bombers that attacked Germany, but nowhere before did I learn how they managed to get into formation in the low-to-no visibility conditions that often prevailed over England. Now, thanks to this book, I understand the role radio beacons played in the process.

An aspiring historian would do well to note how Steve enhances Shot Down with excerpts from letters and diaries, statistics gleaned from military records, eyewitness reports, and photographs. It’s one thing to read about the frigid cold B-17 crews endured at 20,000 feet, and quite another to see pictures of airmen in action wearing bulky, artic-proof clothing.
Steve does a great job humanizing the frightful odds that made it statistically impossible for the airmen to survive. After a horrendous day of losses known to the airmen as “Black Friday,” he talks about the demoralization that ensued when crews returned to sleep in rooms containing the empty cots of comrades who didn’t make it.

This book focuses on the story of one B-17 crew that fails to return, but in doing so, the author chronicles the fate of many others. The story of the Susan Ruth is stirring, but it’s only one of many planes whose end the author describes. In dramatic fashion, Steve relates grim tales of other bombers limping home, often bedeviled by German fighters, some with an engine on fire, bomb bay doors jammed open, and horribly wounded crew members struggling to survive. A gunner has his leg shot off, and to stop the bleeding, he pokes it through a hole in the fuselage to freeze it. Incredible courage is routine in this narrative, with many instances of pilots staying at the controls and dooming themselves in order to steer their damaged plane away from populated areas and give their crew time to bail out.

The climax of the story comes when it’s the crew of the Susan Ruth whose bunks are left empty one night. Steve recounts the dramatic shoot down using excerpts from his father’s diary. As he describes what comes next for the survivors, we learn myriad historical facts about conditions in POW camps for those captured and about life on the run for ones who evade the Germans. Shot Down gives us an understanding of the resistance groups operating in NAZI occupied Belgium, the underground escape networks created to aid allied airmen, and the dangers they faced from home-grown Fascists plus the Gestapo. For the evaders lucky enough to avoid capture and summary execution, Steve describes their efforts to rejoin the war. Some flee NAZI occupied Europe by crossing into neutral Spain, hoping to rejoin their units in England. Others continues their fight against the Germans by joining resistance fighters.

I learned much from Shot Down thanks to Steve’s in-depth research and clear writing. My only quibble with the book is that early on, he occasionally gets too detailed. Do we need to know the serial number on the special orders that sent Snyder’s crew overseas, or that his mother gave his father a hickey so powerfully that it was visible weeks later? Still, I give Shot Down five stars for the story’s strength and the author’s excellent rendition. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in World War II. It fills in many important details about the battle in the skies over Western Europe, even for knowledgeable readers.

Steve Snyder has written a very detailed account of his father, Howard Snyder, and the rest of his crew that was shot down near the French / Belgian border in 1944. For a large majority of the book, we read about Howard and his buddies, their families, their training, their desire to be part of the action. There is a lot of information about the life of the soldiers and what they did while being between missions. There is a personal approach to the book, with the author relying on many of his father's letters to his wife, Ruth, the author's mother. These letters give an intimate feel to the book.
There are lots of statistics and details about the planes and the missions required. It was interesting to read about many of these.
Late in the book, the author discusses when the plane was shot down and the fate of the crew. Howard Snyder was hidden and aided by the Belgians. There is a memorial in Belgium in recognition of these men.
I also learned about many German words that are in our vocabulary now, and their origin. Words like Luftwaffe, Blitz, Nazi, and Gestapo, as well as others, which I have heard, but never knew their full German word(s).
I enjoyed reading this book, as it brought to mind the kindness of people who are willing to risk their lives to help others. I also was reminded how it is amazing that the Allied Forces were able to win the war when the airplanes and missions were so often destroyed and damaged. My father also served in WWII, and never liked to talk about the war, so it was good to read this account with its personal insight.
I appreciate that the author spent so much time researching this work. It is a gift and a tribute to his father and all the other brave men and the countless men and women who contributed to defeating Hitler and the Nazis.
#ShotDown #SteveSnyder ( )

Shot Down by Steve Snyder
Not a real war reader but enjoyed this one as it spoke of the war with our US bombers and what they went through overseas.
Liked how they talk about what things they are not able to get and I can compare with what is available in the states at the same time.
Day to day, hour to day details of the days flying, bombing, debriefings and meetings of strategy.
Also with letters from his wife in the US we find out how she's doing with her latest pregnancy.
Enjoyed the pictures along the way also.
Received this review copy from the publisher and this is my honest opinion. ( )

A PORTION OF THE BLURB FROM GOODREADS:

For the first time, the full and complete story of the B-17 Flying Fortress Susan Ruth is shared in unbelievable detail. Author Steve Snyder’s story of his father, Lieutenant Howard Snyder, and the Susan Ruth crew, provides in-depth details about many aspects of World War II few understand or know about including the:

• separation for young families as men went off to war;
• training before heading to foreign soil;
• military combat operations;
• underground and resistance and what Lt. Snyder did when he joined it;
• German atrocities toward captured crew and civilians;
• behind-the-scenes stories of the Belgium civilians who risked all to save American flyers who were in the air one moment, spiraling down in flames the next;
• creation and dedication of the monument to the Susan Ruth and its crew located in Macquenoise, Belgium in 1989

Shot Down was created from the vast number of letters and journals of Howard Snyder; diaries of men and women on the ground who rescued, sheltered and hid the crew; and interviews conducted by historians. Centered around the 306th Bomb Group in Thurleigh, England, it is informative, insightful and captivating.

QUOTE FROM THE BOOK:

This book is a nonfiction, hstorical documentary. Every incident about the crew members has been taken from personal letters, interviews, declassified military records, and verbal and written by the people who were involved 70 years ago.

MY VIEWS:

Shot Down is a compelling read. It is full of interesting facts and tidbits as to how the pilot and crew man the planes during this difficult time in history. The author began his research with the diaries and letters of his father, Lieutenant Howard Snyder, the pilot of the Susan Ruth, a B17 bomber, and other reference materials, including previous books and even films made about that time. Indeed, a well-researched book.

This is the first book of this type for me. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to read it. There were many, many things about the war that I was not aware of. The diaries, photographs and letters that Howard and other crew members wrote to their families were just so tender and sad. This helped to show the humanity that existed behind the war. Kudos for Steve Snyder for presenting things in this manner. ( )