On a cold April morning in 1945, nearly five thousand young American airmen climbed into B-17s and B-24s on dusty airfields in southern Italy. A few hours later, they were flying through a sky turned black with flak over Linz, Austria, Hitler’s
adopted hometown, the city he dreamed of remaking into the cultural capital of his empire.
For the men in those bombers, it was supposed to be one of the last missions of the war, maybe the last. None of them wanted to die with peace so close. But as they flew toward those sprawling rail yards along the Danube, they entered what one gunner later called “a man-made hell”, crippled aircraft tumbling from formation, parachutes blossoming over enemy territory, and, below, Austrian civilians running for shelter as the bombs fell.
Some of those airmen ended up as POWs. Some were marched into the gates of Mauthausen. Others fell into Soviet hands and discovered that being “liberated” could also mean being beaten and interrogated as suspected spies. Many survived, but came home with memories they locked away for decades.
To talk about this operation, Djene speaks with Mike Croissant, author of a new book on the topic, Bombing Hitler’s Hometown: The Untold Story of the Last Mass Bomber Raid of World War II in Europe, published in 2024 by Citadel Press.
Mike Croissant is a retired CIA officer who served for more than 20 years as an analyst and counterterrorism targeting officer in locations ranging from Washington, DC, to the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Upon retirement, he received the CIA’s Career Commendation Medal for meritorious service. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and graduate degrees from Indiana University and Missouri State University.
