Free Delivery Over $100
|
|
|||
|
||||
OverviewThe first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the ‘hottest outfit afloat’ due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second ‘Fighting Two’ was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr Edward H ‘Butch’ O’Hare, the Medal of Honor-winning first US Navy ace of World War 2, that he requested the squadron replace VF-6 in his CAG-6 aboard USS Enterprise. No unit US Navy unit created more aces than VF-2, whose pilots went into action over the Carolines, Marianas, Guam, Iwo Jima and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Using exquisite photographs and first-hand accounts from the elite fliers themselves, this volume tells the story of the ace pilots who comprised the original VF-2 and the second. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver , Jim Laurier (Illustrator) , Mark Postlethwaite (Cover Illustrator)Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Imprint: Osprey Publishing Volume: 125 Dimensions: Width: 18.40cm , Height: 0.70cm , Length: 24.80cm Weight: 0.360kg ISBN: 9781472805584ISBN 10: 1472805585 Pages: 96 Publication Date: 20 February 2015 Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , General , Professional & Vocational Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: Manufactured on demand  We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier. Language: English Table of ContentsPrewar activity and Battle of the Coral Sea, which gives the original unit its first, and only, taste of combat. /Overview of the formation and training in the United States of the second ‘Fighting Two’, and its first experience of combat in the Gilberts Invasion. /Development of nightfighters, VF-2 working with ‘Butch’ O’Hare to create the US Navy’s first nightfighter capability, and the loss of O’Hare in combat. /Operation Forager and the Battle of the Philippine Sea – the ‘Marianas Turkey Shoot’ and the Mission Beyond Darkness. /The Bonins Campaign – air battles over Iwo Jima in July 1944 and completion of the Marianas Campaign. /Task Force 38 and the Philippines Campaign. Air battles throughout the Philippine Islands in September 1944 that brought about the later invasion of Leyte Gulf. /APPENDICESReviewsAuthor InformationThomas McKelvey Cleaver is a screenwriter who has written 12 produced motion pictures, and who holds both BA and MA degrees in History. He is a long-time contributor to such aviation publications as Air International, Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Air Force Magazine and Aviation History Magazine. He has been a Contributing Editor to Flight Journal since 1998 and is the author of the book Air Combat Annals, as well as having written Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 115 - Aces of the 78th Fighter Group in 2013. He is a historical consultant at The Air Museum, Planes of Fame, in Chino, California. He served in US Naval Aviation as enlisted aircrew during the Vietnam War. Jim Laurier is a native of New England, growing up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has worked in many mediums creating artwork on a variety of subjects. He has worked on the Osprey Aviation list since 2000. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
||||
