Beginning with a crazy plan, and an even crazier reliance on the word of the Nazis, Operation Chowhound dropped food to 3.5 million starving Dutch civilians in German-occupied Holland. Between May 1 and May 8, 1945, it took raw courage to fly on Operation Chowhound, as American aircrews never knew when the German AAA might open fire on them or if Luftwaffe fighters might jump them. Dando-Collins takes the reader into the rooms where Operation Chowhound was born, into the aircraft flying the mission, and onto the ground in the Netherlands with the civilians who so desperately needed help.

Includes maps of: Allied Heavy Bomber Airfields, Eastern & Central England, April-May, 1945; German-Occupied Holland(B2) and the Chowhound Targets, April-May, 1945.

Navigator Ellis B. Scripture's prayer -- Hitler's secret agent -- The suspect prince in the world of James Bond -- The bridge too far : the failure to liberate Holland -- The Germans go on the offensive -- Surviving the hunger winter -- An offer from Nazi Governor Seyss-Inquart -- President "Dutch" Roosevelt's promise -- "Beetle" Bedell Smith's plan -- Farley Mowat goes behind German lines -- The Achterveld Agreement -- The first nervous test flight -- Ike's hatchet man tells the Nazi Governor straight -- The US 8th Air Force prepares for Chowhound -- May 1, 1945 : B-17s over Holland at 400 feet -- Germans open fire on Chowhound bombers -- Audrey Hepburn's birthday present : the liberation of Holland -- Grif Mumford's special air delivery to a Dutch sister -- Bombardier Braidic's fateful decision -- The end : for Seyss-Inquart and the War -- The aftermath -- The best thing we ever did in the War.