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Pacific Sweep: The 5th and 13th Fighter Commands in World War II
Second Library copy- San Diego Air and Space Museum
278 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2009
Pacific Sweep is an excellent book about the history of the 5th and 13th Fighter Commands in the Pacific during World War II.
William has presented what must have been a tremendous amount of material in a very decent package. All major action of these two commands are told about in this book, from individual fighter sweeps and attacks to major battles such as Leyte. I'm sure that a lot of information had to be perused to make up such a complete book, but you would probably not find a single book anywhere that covers it better...the next step would be the Library of Congress!
Yet the book is not droll or boring. You get a clear view of the action, from the dismal days following Pearl Harbor to the "turkey shoots" of the Marianas and Truk.
You don't get the feel of being in the cockpit of Tommy McGuire shooting down his 40th Jap, but that is not the intent of the book...it is a documentary of the USAAF fighter war in the Pacific.
And from that perspective it does an excellent job.
William has presented what must have been a tremendous amount of material in a very decent package. All major action of these two commands are told about in this book, from individual fighter sweeps and attacks to major battles such as Leyte. I'm sure that a lot of information had to be perused to make up such a complete book, but you would probably not find a single book anywhere that covers it better...the next step would be the Library of Congress!
Yet the book is not droll or boring. You get a clear view of the action, from the dismal days following Pearl Harbor to the "turkey shoots" of the Marianas and Truk.
You don't get the feel of being in the cockpit of Tommy McGuire shooting down his 40th Jap, but that is not the intent of the book...it is a documentary of the USAAF fighter war in the Pacific.
And from that perspective it does an excellent job.
September 12, 2016
My copy had a different dust jacket with a b&w photo of a string of P-38s in flight over the water.
Reads more like a series of action reports from the pilots. It made it difficult to read, since the pilots tend to skinny down their reports to mostly factual accounts of actions that occurred during their missions. It will be a very good and valuable research tool for anyone attempting to detail events during the Pacific WWII air war.
I found the appendix writings to be more informative to me than the actual book. Pilots discussed the flight characteristics of the planes and the battle tactics resulting from the planes and pilots for the most effective manner in which to achieve success in the air. From someone not familiar with the different planes abilities, it may be better to read the Appendix before reading the main portion of the book. Just something to consider if you are not that familiar with the planes and tactics.
This was a GoodReads, for the WWII buff.
Reads more like a series of action reports from the pilots. It made it difficult to read, since the pilots tend to skinny down their reports to mostly factual accounts of actions that occurred during their missions. It will be a very good and valuable research tool for anyone attempting to detail events during the Pacific WWII air war.
I found the appendix writings to be more informative to me than the actual book. Pilots discussed the flight characteristics of the planes and the battle tactics resulting from the planes and pilots for the most effective manner in which to achieve success in the air. From someone not familiar with the different planes abilities, it may be better to read the Appendix before reading the main portion of the book. Just something to consider if you are not that familiar with the planes and tactics.
This was a GoodReads, for the WWII buff.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews