David McCampbell was the leader of the most successful naval air group in combat in World War II. An unequalled naval aviator, McCampbell shot down a total of 34 Japanese aircraft across numerous battles. Eventually awarded the Medal of Honor, he first served in the Atlantic as a carrier Landing Safety Officer, then as an air group leader in the Pacific theater. McCampbell's 31-year career reveals an astounding diversity of leadership roles and service assignments. McCampbell commanded ships, training centers and aircraft squadrons and held a variety of Navy and Defense Department senior staff positions.
On Tuesday, October 24, 1944, nearly three years after the United States entered World War II, over 2,600 Americans perished—more than on any other single day of the conflict—yet the day remains overshadowed by more widely remembered dates in WWII history. Drawing from the accounts of men from diverse backgrounds who served in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Corps, Rona Simmons offers a gripping retelling of the fateful day, hour by hour and incident by incident. The book begins with Army Private First Class Paul Miller’s demise in a prisoner of war camp and ends with the death of Navy Seaman Second Class Wanza E. Matthews after the Japanese submarine I-56 attacked his ship off New Guinea. The sinking of the Japanese “hellship” Arisan Maru—a lesser-known tragedy of the war—looms large, deftly interwoven through each part of the narrative. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of No Average Day is its attention to the human side of conflict, telling the stories of ordinary individuals—clerks, radio operators, cooks, sailors, machinist mates, riflemen, and pilots and their air crews—as they grapple with the horrors of the war. Despite its narrow focus, or perhaps because of it, No Average Day reveals the vastness of World War II through a consideration of the largely overlooked events that unfolded on what, for members of the US Armed Forces, was its deadliest day.
The Medal of Honor is the highest military award that can be bestowed on personnel in the United States' Armed Forces. This book is the first of two titles looking at the recipients of the Medal of Honor during World War II. It covers Navy and Marine Corps awardees in all theaters of war, from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 to the brutal fighting on Iwo Jima in 1945. Among the inspiring stories told are those of Signalman 1st Class Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to ever receive the Medal of Honor, and Commander Antrim, who faced almost certain death to save fellow prisoners in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
The Grumman F6F Hellcat and Mitsubishi A6M Zero-sen were the two principal opposing fighters in the brutal aerial clashes of the Pacific War from 1943 onwards. Reminiscent of the preceding F4F Wildcat, the F6F Hellcat was designed specifically to counter the earlier A6M2 Zero-sen, the strengths and weaknesses of which became fully understood by US designers after an undamaged example was recovered in the Aleutians. The powerful Hellcat had an impressive top speed, rate of climb and armament, and it retained its predecessor's incredible ruggedness. The A6M5 Zero-sen was also born out of an earlier type, but was intended merely as a stop-gap until more modern Japanese fighters could be produced to restore performance parity with Allied aircraft. The chaotic conditions of the Japanese Aircraft industry and war economy prevented new types from being built.Featuring detailed artwork illustrating the technical specifications of these two types and the dramatic encounters between them, this volume focuses on how these iconic fighters came into being, and how they fared as they faced one another over the Pacific skies of World War II.
Aces is an illustrated history of the brave World War II fighter pilots who earned the title of ace, with archival and modern photos of their aircraft.
Three legendary fighter pilots from the Pacific War—all recipients of the Medal of Honor—tell their own stories in this remarkable collection. Marine ace Pappy Boyington is perhaps the most celebrated of all American pilots in the war against Japan, fighting in the skies with both the famed Flying Tigers and his own Black Sheep Squadron. Marine Joe Foss joined Guadalcanal’s Cactus Air Force and destroyed a Japanese Zero on his first mission—the first of twenty-six aerial kills achieved during the war. Navy captain David McCampbell didn’t notch his first kill until June 1944, but he would quickly go on to assemble one of the most remarkable aerial-combat records in history with thirty-four victories, including nine in one day. In this gripping oral history—which spans the entire war— from the Americans who fought the Japanese in China to the final, desperate battle for Okinawa, these three heroes tell their own stories, in their own words. These interviews, personally conducted by military veteran and historian Colin Heaton, are the final testimony of some of America’s greatest warriors.
Naval aviation arrived early in the last century in the form of balloons and airships employed by the British Royal Navy for reconnaissance, and interest was stirring in naval circles in a greater aeronautical capacity for the service. Britain's tradition of projecting a global reach through her sea power would, in the view of many, be greatly enhanced by such a capability. Among the first advocates of military aircraft development was British naval minister, Winston Churchill.??Over the course of the last century since this point of inception, huge leaps have been made in the design, development, and performance of naval aircraft. This comprehensive account, brought to us by eminent aviation historian Philip Kaplan, details the journey from origin through early development into wartime deployment. This is carried forward through post-war innovations and into modern conflicts such as the Falklands campaign. Attention is paid to the key landmarks of aviation history, such as Taranto, Pearl Harbour, The Doolittle Raid, the Battle of Midway and the Korean campaign. Reference is also paid throughout to the flying aces; the high points in the combat careers of the greatest naval and marine aviators of the past century. ??Kaplan weaves multiple threads in an effort to produce a comprehensive and detailed history. One of these is the part played by women in the history of flight, detailing a journey characterised by ever-closer involvement at the vanguard of aviation development, showing how societal changes have impacted upon this area in tune with others. Bringing the history up to date, there is a section dedicated to the Helicopter, its varying uses, current disposition and status of the various types in the U.S and British navies. ??Complemented by a collection of interesting photographs, this is sure to appeal to aviation enthusiasts as well as social historians of the past one hundred years; this isn't just a history of the various aircraft but of the people who got them off the ground and flew them into a new century.
A unique and enthralling anthology compiled by WWII flying ace, Laddie Lucas, Voices in the Air tells the story of the air battles of the Second World War in the voices of those who took part. Drawn largely on the writings of the combatants themselves from all sides of the conflict, this book offers a vivid and highly individual account of the great aerial campaigns of WWII. From a thrilling account of the first sustained dogfight between Spitfire and Messerschmitt in 1940, to an eighteen-year-old Japanese suicide pilot's last letter home and the Luftwaffe leaders' analysis of 'what went wrong' after the Battle of Britain, the book dramatically deals with every aspect of the war. Full of stories of astonishing escapades, incredible bravery, dogged persistence and moving feats of arms, Voices in the Air honours both the sung and the unsung heroes of the war.
