Fire In The Sky: The Air War In The South PacificIn the first two years of the Pacific War of World War II, air forces from Japan, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand engaged in a ruthless struggle for superiority in the skies over the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. Despite operating under primitive conditions in a largely unknown and malignant physical environment, both sides employed the most sophisticated technology available at the time in a strategically crucial war of aerial attrition. In one of the largest aerial campaigns in history, the skies of the South Pacific were dominated first by the dreaded Japanese Zeros, then by Allied bombers, which launched massed raids at altitudes under fifty feet, and finally by a ferocious Allied fighter onslaught led by a cadre of the greatest aces in American military history.Utilizing primary sources and scores of interviews with surviving veterans of all ranks and duties, Eric Bergerud recreates the fabric of the air war as it was fought in the South Pacific. He explores the technology and tactics, the three-dimensional battlefield, and the leadership, living conditions, medical challenges, and morale of the combatants. The reader will be rewarded with a thorough understanding of how air power functioned in World War II from the level of command to the point of fire in air-to-air combat. |
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5th USAAF air arm air bases Air Group air units aircrews airmen airplane Allied altitude antiaircraft attack Australian aviation battle began Betty bomb Bougainville Cactus campaign carrier combat Combined Fleet command Corsair craft damage defense developed dive early enemy engine escort feet field Fifth Air Force fighter pilot fire flew flight flying going ground crews Guadalcanal Guadalcanal campaign Guinea guys imperial island Japa Japan Japanese air Japanese aircraft Japanese army Japanese fighters Japanese pilots JNAF Kenney killed knew land large numbers MacArthur machine guns major maneuver Marine military mission Moresby naval navy nese never numbers officers operations Pacific war Pearl Harbor Philippines planes Port Moresby proved RAAF Rabaul raid ships Solomons South Pacific speed squadron strafing strategic target theater things Thirteenth Air Force Tokyo troops U.S. Army U.S. fighters U.S. Navy USAAF victory warships Wewak Wildcat wing World World War II Zealand Zero