Includes bibliographical references and index.

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.

Beginning with a crazy plan hatched by a suspect prince, and an even crazier reliance on the word of the Nazis, Operation Chowhound was devised. Between May 1 and May 8, 1945, 2,268 military units flown by the USAAF, dropped food to 3.5 million starving Dutch civilians in German-occupied Holland.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. Flying at 400 feet, barely above the tree tops, with guns pointed directly at them, they would have no chance to bail out if their B-17s were hit--and yet, over eight days, 120,000 German troops kept their word, and never fired on the American bombers. As they flew, grateful Dutch civilians spelled out "Thanks Boys" in the tulip fields below. Many Americans who flew in Operation Chowhound would claim it was the best thing they did in the war.In this gripping narrative, author Stephen 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. James Bond creator Ian Fleming, Hollywood actress Audrey Hepburn, as well as Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Churchill all play a part in this story, creating a compelling, narrative read.