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Panel użytkownika
Jestes niezalogowany
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49th Fighter Group Aces of the Pacific William N Hess | ||||||||||||
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Cena okładkowa: 14.99 GBP
Cena detaliczna: 63.00 zł
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| "The Fifth Air Force1s 49th FG was the pioneer USAAF fighter group in the South-west Pacific (SWPA), being sent to Australia in early 1942 in the hope that it could help stem the tide of Japanese conquest in Java. Its arrival proved too late for the latter island, but the Forty-Niners went into action in the defence of Darwin, Australia, where the group’s handful of P-40E Warhawks were thrown into combat. Joined by survivors from the defeated forces that had fled from the Philippines and Java, the men of the 49th turned in an outstanding performance against superior Japanese forces sent to soften up northern Australia as a prelude to invasion. The group moved to New Guinea in mid 1942 as the action shifted to the defence of Port Moresby. Pilots flew both defensive and offensive missions as they supported the Allied push through the near impenetrable jungle. The Battle of the Bismarck Sea and the taking of Dobodura, Nadzab and Rabaul all featured prominently in the history of the 49th in l943. Re-equipped with the P-38 Lightning that same year, the group subsequently fought over Wewak and Hollandia in 1944, and the campaign in the SWPA climaxed with the invasion of the Philippines in the autumn of 1944. The fight for Leyte saw a series of massive aerial engagements fought as the USAAF seized air supremacy over the Pacific islands. From its new base on Luzon, the 49th FG carried the fight to the Japanese on the island of Formosa. By VJ-Day the 49th had scored 668 aerial victories and won three Distinguished Unit Citations and ten campaign stars for its outstanding efforts. " | ||||||||||||