The War In The Air Vol 2

This second volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific for the two crucial months of March and April 1942 when a deadly struggle for Port Moresby played out. It can be read alone or as part of a trilogy which culminates in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942.The period begins with the stunning 10 March US Navy carrier strike against Lae and Salamaua which caused the Japanese to pause their advance until their own carriers were available. Instead they tried to grind the Allied forces at Port Moresby into submission through an unrelenting air assault by their Betty bombers and superlative Zero fighters. After a long wait, Allied land-based fighters finally arrived in the form of Royal Australian Air Force No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawks. These were backed up by a growing collection of United States Army Air Force bombers including A-24 Banshees, B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders (the latter two types making their worldwide combat debut over the skies of New Guinea). Together this motley force took the fight to the Japanese, resulting in a complex aerial campaign which saw units from both sides reach exhaustion. Never before has such a detailed chronicle of this air war been published, and for the first time the authors match Allied accounts with Japanese records. The result is both thrilling and surprising, with the resulting dispositions of the air forces of both sides setting the scene for the Battle of the Coral Sea in May.Both authors are uniquely qualified to tell this story. Raised in Port Moresby, Michael Claringbould is an acknowledged expert on the Pacific air war and Japanese aviation in particular. Peter Ingman is an acclaimed military history author specialising in the early Pacific War period.

This second volume in the seminal series on aerial combat, pilots, and tactics in Libya and Egypt in the middle of World War II. In volume two of this series, historian Christopher Shores begins by exploring the 8th Army’s movements after Operation Crusader when they were forced back to the Gazala area in northeastern Libya, as well as their defeat in June, 1942, the loss of Tobruk, and the efforts of Allied air forces to protect their retreating troops. Shores continues with the heavy fighting that followed in the El Alamein region. This features the Western Desert Air Force and the arrival of the first Spitfires. The buildup of both army and air forces and the addition of new commanders on the ground aided the defeat of Rommel’s Deutsche Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa, after which came the Second Battle of El Alamein. With the arrival of the United States Army Air Force, the Allied air forces gained dominance over the Axis. Shores recounts the lengthy pursuit of the Italo-German forces right across Libya, including the capture of Tripoli and the breakthrough into Southern Tunisia. This allowed a linkup with other Allied forces in Tunisia (whose story appears in Volume 3). Included with the action are stories of some of the great fighter aces of the Desert campaign such as Jochen Marseille and Otto Schulz of the Luftwaffe, Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the Regia Aeronautica and Neville Duke, Billy Drake, and “Eddie” Edwards of the Commonwealth air forces. Finally, Shores touches on the Allied and Axis night bombing offensives and the activities of the squadrons cooperating with the naval forces in the Mediterranean.

These books contain photographs of the Vietnam War. The focus is on various aspects of the air war following no strict chronology or subject line, but is aimed to give an overall impression of the conflict through this random selection. Volume 2 covers the operations between 1964 and 1968. The third volume contains photographs of the war as recorded by a variety of photographers who were lucky enough to be present at an interesting scene in the sky or on the ground. Volume 4 is a full-color pictorial survey of US air involvement during the war. The compiler hopes to convey the atmosphere of that difficult combat environment, as well as provide a general overview of the major aircraft types used in the war.

Vol.2 contains chronologies of victories by air and ground fire, losses front and rear, and a list of all those men, Russian, Romanian and French who received the coveted St. George Awards. There are also chapters on Russian, Romanian and French orders and medals, as well as maps of the fronts.

This valuable reference is devoted to the history of Naval air bases in the eastern US during WWII and describes the status and use of those bases today. The author's goal is to make the story of each of these airfields available to all that might be interested. Filled with 84 air stations featured in aerial photographs and fully profiled by the author. Hdbd., 11 1-4"x 8 3-4", 241 pgs., 259 b&w ill.

Excerpt from The War in the Air, Vol. 2: Being the Story of the Part Played in the Great War by the Royal Air ForceSir Walter Raleigh, after he had finished correcting the proofs of the first volume, set out on a flying tour of the Middle East. At Mosul he fell sick of a fever and came home to die. The late Dr. D. G. Hogarth was appointed to the task of carrying on the history, but he was compelled, through ill-health and pressure of other work, to give it up.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.