Suggested reading regarding the low-level strafing missions in the PTO?

[Felix C]

I have read Warpath from Schiffer, Bats Outa Hell Over Biak and Peppy Blount's We Band of Brothers book. Any other to recommend which are of similar missions?

I do have Wreaking Havoc on that list.

[Lagarto]

The Grim Reapers (At Work in the Pacific Theater), subtitled: The Third Attack Group of the U.S. Fifth Air Force, by Major General John P. Henebry.

[Jim Oxley]

A really excellent first-hand account (truly outstanding) is
"Air Combat At 20 Feet: Selected Missions From A Strafer Pilot'S Diary", by Garrett Middlebrook. It's in the same vein as "Wrecking Havoc" by Joseph Rutter (which I see you have on your list). Some of the descriptions are quite breathtaking. Best two first-person books on the subject.


Another superb Unit history worth reading is "Rampage of the Roarin' 20's : The Illustrated History of the 312th Bombardment Group During WWII" by Michael Clarignbould and Lawrence Hickey. Marvellous detail on the Unit, similar in quality to Warpath and The Grim Reapers.


For a slightly different approach I can't recommend highly enough "Fortress Rabaul: The Battle for the Southwest Pacific, January 1942-April 1943" by Bruce Gamble. Whilst more a campaign book, it compliments the others mentioned above by providing the 'broader context' look at the effects of low level attacks on arguably the most hostile target in the SWP

[Edward]

Felix C. asked about:
Suggested reading regarding the low-level strafing missions in the PTO?

I certainly agree with Jim Oxley's endorsement of Garrett Middlebrook's "Air Combat At 20 Feet: Selected Missions From A Strafer Pilot's Diary".

Roy Lee Grover, a squadron mate of Middlebook's has published his memoir Incidents in the Life of a B-25 Pilot (AuthorHouse 2006) describing his bombing, strafing & skip bombing missions over New Guinea. He provides a detailed account of the harrowing mission against Japanese shipping off Wewak on 2 September 1943 (which Middlebrook also describes in his book). I believe that Grover & his crew hit and sank the Nagato Maru that day.

Grover describes his reasons for publishing his memoir of WWII: "The stories of war are generally about valor, excitement and/or achievements. However, wartime military service is mostly composed of training, waiting with boredom and a little action for a few people. This collection is composed of stories of incidents that reflect my attitudes, beliefs and feelings that occurred to me during World War II. My combat experience was as a pilot of a B-25C, a medium altitude bomber, and B-25C-l, a modified B-25C for low level bombing and strafing, during parts of 1942 and 1943. I remember these incidents very clearly. Historians, who research records of events of the past, often interpret the events with a value system that was developed years after the events occurred. This gives a distorted picture of what happened and why it happened. I hope to help the readers of this collection to see the events through my eyes rather than through the filters of their experiences. The events or incidents did happen and made an impression on me."

Jim Oxley wrote:
Another superb Unit history worth reading is Rampage of the Roarin' 20's : The Illustrated History of the 312th Bombardment Group During WWII by Michael Claringbould and Lawrence Hickey. Marvellous detail on the Unit, similar in quality to Warpath and The Grim Reapers.

Rampage of the Roarin' 20's is another excellent unit history on a low level strafer group by Larry Hickey's International Historical Research Associates. Michael Levy, a retired Air Force historian, wrote the manuscript for the book (utilizing work by Michael Claringbould & Larry Hickey) as well as undertaking his own research on the 312th.

http://airwar-worldwar2.com/about/authors#Levy

Mr. Levy has recently finished writing Harvest of the Grim Reapers Vol. II: The Illustrated History of the 3rd Bomb Group During World War II (October 1943 – December 1945) (no publication date yet).

http://irandpcorp.com/products/books/3bg2

Edward

[Felix C]

Thank you gentlemen. Appreciate all of the titles. Just ordered Henebry and Gamble for starters.

[fsbofk]

Just found this thread . . . if you liked Schiffer's Warpath, then you should also read Lawrence Hickey's Warpath Across the Pacific. While Schiffer's edition is a reprinting of the very good unit history of the 345th BG published shortly after the war, Hickey's 1984 history is a very detailed and thorough history of the unit's service in the Pacific. Detailing every mission, it is full of high quality b&w and color photos, and includes color aircraft profiles & histories, color action paintings, and detailed appendices of losses, aircraft, markings & nose art. I believe it's the first in his International Historical Research Associates' multi-volume US Pacific bomb group series , and is on par with Rampage of the Roarin' 20s.