Through the use of 527 black and white and 32 color, many rare, unpublished photos and 42 color profiles by Thomas A. Tullis, the story about the pilots, the planes, the ground crews of many trades and the military unit that gave them cohesion making them an outstanding team, the complete story of the 357th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, is told. As the official historian for the 357th and a dedicated history buff, author Merle Olmsted has been associated with and written about fighter pilots and ‘his group’ for some fifty years. Included are listings from the official documents tallying the group’s accomplishments. Utilizing mission reports, monthly statistical and operational reports, the pilot’s individual encounter reports, the Missing Air Crew Reports, USAAF accident reports and the British police repots on accidents among other information-laden personal notes, books, and articles plus the original 357th Group records on file at the Air Force Historical Archives, Olmsted weaves together the many stories, comments , incidents and hairy tales of the 357th FG.

TO WAR WITH THE YOXFORD BOYS is the final, ‘super’ book on the 357th. As of the fall 2001, the 357th Fighter Group Association, a post-war gathering of their members, has ‘turned out the lights and locked the hangar doors’.