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Good stuff. While the article is focused on the European war, it is important to note that airmen on the Pacific side of the war faced the same difficulties at high altitudes. Even though they were mostly in the tropics, air temperatures at 30,000 feet were still well below zero.

Just finishing up Ian Toll's trilogy on the Pacific War. These books are highly recommended to get a better understanding of the war in the Pacific, especially as most WW2 histories is European-centric.

For instance, most people are familiar with the Enola Gay atomic bombing of Hiroshima led by Col. Tibbetts but how many know that the second atomic bombing mission to Nagasaki (Bockscar led by Maj. Sweeney) was riddled with problems and almost a complete disaster. Nagasaki was not even the primary target and as the Bockscar was nearly out of fuel, it had to make an emergency landing on Okinawa with just 7 gallons left in the tanks!

In fact, it was discussed initially bringing Maj. Sweeney up on court martial for what was considered a rash of bad decisions on Sweeney's part during the mission. But fortunately, the bombing itself was a success and brought the war swiftly to an end so it never came to be (fortunately, because Sweeney was a good man who did get his crew back safely in the end). This was not known until decades later.

Anyway, a really good set of books on the Pacific War by Ian Toll. Made for fascinating reading from page one.