Tag: aerial combat

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New Book Compiles Air Combat Recollections From Pilots in Every Theater of WW2

Coming soon from Air World and author Martin Bowman is Voices in Flight: Squadrons Scramble!: RAF and Commonwealth Fighter Pilots of the Second World War, which offers air combat stories and follows fighter pilots scrambling under alarms, from southern England and Malta to the Blitz.

Feel your pulse race and your heart pound as you follow the pilots of The Few running for their aircraft as the alarms sound and the enemy attack for a second time on a day of glory and death over the sunny skies of southern England. Then, beyond the Spitfire Summer of 1940, how the RAF’s pilots scrambled to defy the enemy over the battered ruins of Malta, the George Cross Island, or to defend Britain at night during the blacked out months of the Blitz.

The prelude to D-Day, the disastrous raid on Dieppe was the scene of the RAF’s biggest air battle up to that point in the war, and Operation Overlord was shielded by the overwhelming aerial might of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. All these momentous events are told through the words of those pilots who fought in the unforgiving arena of the dogfight where a single moment can turn victory into defeat, life into certain death. Continue reading New Book Compiles Air Combat Recollections From Pilots in Every Theater of WW2

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Follow the 9th Bomb Squadron Into WW2’s Most Dangerous Flying Conditions

Coming soon from McFarland Publishing and author Charles B. Kastner is To War and Back with the 9th Bomb Squadron: In the Skies Over Burma, Thailand, and China in 1945:

Written by his son, and incorporating his father’s stories, personal papers, and original research, this work follows Lt. Walt Kastner from the start of World War Two until its end. Walt joined a new B-24 bomber crew that fought with the 9th Bomb Squadron from its base in India during the drive to liberate Burma from the Japanese Army. His air crew attacked Japanese troop concentrations that barred the advance of the British 14th Army and flew missions deep into Thailand, including attacking the Burma-Siam Railway, the crucial rail link that carried supplies that fed and equipped the Japanese Army in Burma–a railway made famous by the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. When air combat ended in May 1945, the squadron moved to Assam in eastern India where they hauled aviation gasoline over “the Hump” to the 14th Air Force in China, exposing them to the most dangerous flying conditions in the world.

The 155 page book is currently available for pre-order with release set for August 21.

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Defeating the Zero: How a Tactical Innovation Overcame Japan’s Deadly Fighter

Coming soon from Air World and author R J Gorman is Defeating the Japanese Zeros: Lieutenant Commander John S. ‘Jimmie’ Thach: One U.S. Navy Pilot and his Part in the Victory in the Pacific , detailing how a brilliant U.S. aerial tactic overcame Japan’s deadly Zero fighter, turning Midway into a decisive Pacific victory.

Lieutenant Commander John S. “Jimmie” Thach of the U.S. Navy recognized the threat posed by the Zero and devised a tactic to counter it. With the Japanese preparing to attack Midway Atoll, Thach trained his pilots in the “Thach Weave,” a revolutionary formation designed to offset the Zero’s superior performance. This tactic proved highly effective in air combat and allowed Thach’s squadron to neutralize the Japanese advantage. The battle at Midway became a turning point in the Pacific War. The U.S. Navy’s victory, aided by Thach’s tactical innovation, crippled Japan’s offensive capabilities. After Midway, the Japanese would never win another major battle, while the Americans would never lose one, marking a decisive shift in the war’s outcome.

The 240 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 30.

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