Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific
352
Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific
352Hardcover
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Overview
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Curran volunteered to try flying in the blue yonder, and trained as an Army fighter pilot. He got his wish to fly the P-47 in the Pacific, going into combat in August 1943, in New Guinea, and later helping start the “Black Rams” fighter squadron. The heavy U.S. Thunderbolts were at first curious to encounter the nimble, battle-hardened Japanese in aerial combat, but soon the American pilots gained skill of their own and their planes proved superior. Bombers on both sides could fall to fighters, but the fighters themselves were eyeball to eyeball, best man win.
Check Six! is an aviation chronicle that brings the reader into flight, then into the fight, throughout the Pacific War and back. This work, from someone who was there, captures the combat experience of our aviators in the Pacific, aided by pertinent excerpts from the official histories of units that “Jug” Curran flew with.
It is a tale of perseverance, as Curran flew over 200 combat missions, and with the men of the 348th Fighter Group proved the Thunderbolt’s great capability as they battled their way against a stubborn and deadly foe. This work increases the body of knowledge on the critical role of aviation in the Pacific War, as U.S. fighter pilots took the lead in our counteroffensive against the short-lived island Empire.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781612002996 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Casemate Publishers |
| Publication date: | 08/02/2015 |
| Pages: | 352 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d) |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Dedication 7
Foreword 9
Preface 12
Acknowledgments 13
Introduction 17
Part 1 Getting to the War 19
1 The War Begins 21
2 Pilot Training 28
3 The Long Journey to the Pacific 41
Part 2 War in the Pacific 53
4 Into the Fight 55
5 R&R in Australia 90
6 Fighting "Westward 96
7 Wakde 120
8 With the Black Rams 144
9 Leyte 168
10 Into December 198
11 Tanauan 226
12 San Marcelino 249
Part 3 Pacific Aftermath 269
13 Getting Home 271
14 Home from the War 281
15 Flying Again 285
Epilogue 294
Appendix 1 USAAF Pilot's Issue Flying Gear 298
Appendix 2 Pidgin English Phrases used in SWPA 299
Appendix 3 Credit for Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, 25 October 1943 301
Appendix 4 348th Fighter Group Air Combat Intelligence Report, 2 February 1944 302
Appendix 5 341st Fighter Squadron Statistical Data for May 1944 304
Appendix 6 Notes from Charles Lindbergh Lecture on P-47 Operations 306
Appendix 7 460th Fighter Squadron Monthly "A" to "L" Report for November 1944 309
Appendix 8 Unit Narrative Combat Report, 10 December 1944 311
Appendix 9 Press Release by Fifth Air Force to All Correspondents, circa May 1945 313
Appendix 10 Awards and Decorations of fames C. Curran 314
Appendix 11 A Brief History of the 460th Fighter Squadron 317
Appendix 12 460th Fighter Squadron Combat Losses in World War II 323
Glossary 327
Bibliography 328