The skies were filled with bombers and fighter planes. Their engines hummed steadily, in the otherwise quiet skies above Germany. The target of the March 24, 1945, mission was the Daimler-Benz tank assembly plant—one of the most heavily guarded targets of the Third Reich. As they approached Berlin, the reality of one of the most dangerous air missions of World War II became apparent. They were up against the world’s first operational fighter jets—the German ME 262. Amid the horrors of World War II, these were the monsters of the skies. They could fly 150 mph faster than the fastest...