Into the Inferno: The Story of a B-17 Gunner Over Nazi-occupied Europe
Bill Ibelle
Aug 2025 · Casemate
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192
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About this ebook
"Into the Inferno is more than just another war story. It’s an intriguing tale of best friends—one fighting at 25,000 feet above German flak guns and the other in the steaming jungles of the Pacific—and of the unforgettable girl they left behind. A page turner to the very end." — Travis L. Ayres, author of The Bomber Boys
The temperature was 40 degrees below zero when fighter planes screamed out of the clouds, puncturing the fuselage with a spray of machinegun fire and sending the bomber beside them into a death spin. This was followed by intense flak, as a hundred cannons on the ground tried to blow them out of the sky.
When they finally made it back to the base, another enemy awaited them: homesickness, crushing boredom, relentless cold, and more mud than they could imagine.
Bert Ibelle was a 19-year-old freshman at Dartmouth College when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fly dozens of bomber missions over Nazi-occupied Europe and win the Purple Heart. His buddy, Fran Brighenti, served as an infantry marksman on the opposite side of the globe, slogging through the steaming jungles of the Philippine and the fiery hell of Okinawa.
Their wars couldn’t have been more different, nor could their approach to life. While the ever-exuberant Fran was a ladies man, Bert only had eyes for “Red,” the girl back home who was in love with another young man.
This is their story—one that combines terror, humor, friendship, and a son’s search for his elusive father.
The temperature was 40 degrees below zero when fighter planes screamed out of the clouds, puncturing the fuselage with a spray of machinegun fire and sending the bomber beside them into a death spin. This was followed by intense flak, as a hundred cannons on the ground tried to blow them out of the sky.
When they finally made it back to the base, another enemy awaited them: homesickness, crushing boredom, relentless cold, and more mud than they could imagine.
Bert Ibelle was a 19-year-old freshman at Dartmouth College when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fly dozens of bomber missions over Nazi-occupied Europe and win the Purple Heart. His buddy, Fran Brighenti, served as an infantry marksman on the opposite side of the globe, slogging through the steaming jungles of the Philippine and the fiery hell of Okinawa.
Their wars couldn’t have been more different, nor could their approach to life. While the ever-exuberant Fran was a ladies man, Bert only had eyes for “Red,” the girl back home who was in love with another young man.
This is their story—one that combines terror, humor, friendship, and a son’s search for his elusive father.
"Into the Inferno is more than just another war story. It’s an intriguing tale of best friends—one fighting at 25,000 feet above German flak guns and the other in the steaming jungles of the Pacific—and of the unforgettable girl they left behind. A page turner to the very end." — Travis L. Ayres,...
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About the author
Bill Ibelle is a career journalist who worked as executive editor of Northeastern Magazine, features editor of Lawyers USA, and as a reporter and columnist on several daily newspapers.
Bill Ibelle is a career journalist who worked as executive editor of Northeastern Magazine, features editor of Lawyers USA, and as a reporter and columnist on several daily newspapers.
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