Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 26 : Mustang and Thunderbolt Aces of the Pacific and CBI

Although far better known for their exploits over the war torn skies of Germany and Italy, the USAAF's premier fighters, the P-47 and P-51, also made significant contributions to the victory against Japan from 1943 onwards. This book relates the appearance of the Allison-engined A-36As and P-51As over Rangoon from India in November 1943, the 1st Air Commando Group in China, P-47s over the jungles of New Guinea in 1943, escorting B-29s on long-range bombing sorties against the Home Islands in 1944-45 and elsewhere. It also deals with the aces who flew them. Fittingly, the top ranking pilot was Medal of Honor recipient Col Neel Kearby, who claimed 22 aerial victories whilst proving the worth of the big Republic fighter in-theatre. Other high-scoring P-47 pilots included Maj William 'Dinghy' Durham with 15 (plus one with the P-51 K) and Col Bob Rowland with nine. The highest scorers with the Mustang were Maj. John 'Pappy' Herbst and Lt. Col. Ed McComas of the CBI's 23rd FG, who both scored 14 victories apiece, whilst Maj Robert Moore of the 15th FG (in the Central Pacific) claimed 11 victories in the P-51. Text by John Stanway with illustrations by Tom Tullis.

Contents

• Introduction
• P-47 Comes to the Pacific
• P-51s Over Burma
• Fifth Air Force P-47s in 1944-45
• P-51s Over the Philippines
• P-51s of the Fourteenth Air Force
• Central Pacific
• Appendices