USAAF Fighter Operations in the Southwest Pacific: Role of the 475th Fighter Group ~ WWII Pacific Theater History ~ New Guinea/Philippines

Title: USAAF Fighter Operations in the Southwest Pacific: Role of the 475th Fighter Group
Author: Major Charles L. Brammeier, USAF / Faculty Advisor & Sponsor: Lt Col David L. McFarland, ACSC/EDCJ
Publication: Maxwell AFB, AL: Air Command and Staff College / Air University, 1987

Description: Blue cloth over boards, with silver stamped title illustration on front cover. Previous owner's blind stamp on few leaves, else clean and unmarked. Illustrated with 28 photographs and about a dozen other maps and illustrations. 93 pages. 11 x 8.5 inches.

A history of the 475th Fighter Group, an Army Air Force (USAAF) unit that flew P-38 Lightnings in the Southwest Pacific during World War II. It flew bomber escort, fighter sweep, defensive combat air patrol, and air-to-ground missions from a series of austere bases in New Guinea and the Philippines. It was one of the few UAAF groups to finish the war with over 500 air-to-air victories, and produced with second- and fifth-highest scoring USAF aces of the war. The paper begins with an overview of the USAAF role in the Southwest Pacific theater of operations, then expands on the history of the 475th, and finally examines the tactics employed.

The 475th FG included the famous fighter pilots Thomas B. ''Mickey'' McGuire Jr and Charles Henry ''Mac'' MacDonald , amongst their 41 aces.

The previous owner's father was the highly decorated USAF combat ace, Clyde Bennett ''Stonewall'' East, the first American to shoot down an enemy aircraft on D-day, who also flew in Korea and over Cuba during the missile crisis.

Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Near Fine

Keywords: ACSC, Maxwell Air Force Base, WWII, World War II, Pacific Theater, New Guinea, Philippines, P-38, USAAF, history,