"Central Pacific 1943–45: Seventh Air Force's Island-Hopping War" - Coming in October from Osprey

[Edward]

For anyone looking for a detailed history of the 7th Air Force in WWII I would recommend John Lambert's book

The Pineapple Air Force: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo
(Schiffer Military History - 2006)
by John W. Lambert
224 pages - hardback

Central Pacific 1943–45: Seventh Air Force's Island-Hopping War
(Osprey Publishing - 23 October 2025)
by Brian Lane Herder. Illustrated by Gareth Hector
96 pages - paperback
£16.99

"The little-known history of the Hawaii-based Seventh Air Force's war as it fought in all the major island campaigns from the Gilberts and Marshalls to the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.

Rebuilt after being shattered at Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii-based Seventh Air Force was assigned responsibility for the new Central Pacific Area, which (bar Midway) was then very quiet. But when the Navy began its counteroffensive in late 1943, Seventh Air Force was sent into action as the USAAF's contribution to the Central Pacific.

In this book, military historian Brian Lane Herder details Seventh Air Force's part in the Pacific War, actions long overshadowed by the Navy's carrier war. He explains how Seventh Air Force fought in all the major 1943–45 Central Pacific campaigns – the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. As each island fell, and sometimes with the airfield still under Japanese fire, a detachment flew ashore to provide organic air defense and to start attacking the next targets. The Seventh provided a major part of the airpower at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and as the end of the war approached, its P-51s and P-47s then flew ultra-long-range B-29 escort missions.

Researched almost entirely from primary sources, this book is spectacularly illustrated with many unpublished photos, original artwork, maps and 3D diagrams. It is a long-overdue account of Seventh Air Force's unjustly overlooked Pacific War campaign."

Table of Contents
Introduction
–Prelude: 1941–42
Chronology

Attacker's Capabilities
–Commands
–Airfields
–Meteorology
–Long range heavy bombers
–Day fighters
–Very Long Range (VLR) fighters
–Light and medium bombers
–Defending Seventh Air Force airbases
–Night fighters
–Carrier airpower
–Search and Rescue (SAR)

Defender's Capabilities
–Commands
–Japanese island defenses
–Fighter defenses
–Counter-attacking air assets
–Defense of the Home Islands 1945
–IJN anti-aircraft artillery

Campaign Objectives
The Campaign
–Prelude: January–August 1943
–Gilbert Islands operation, November–December 1943
–The Marshall Islands Operation, January–March 1944
–Neutralizing the Caroline Islands, March 1944–August 1944
–The Mariana Islands Operation, June–August 1944
–Philippine Sea diversions, August 1944–January 1945
–The Iwo Jima operation, February–March 1945
–The Ryukyus operation, April–June 1945
–The first Empire missions, April–June 1945
–Endgame over the Empire, July–August 1945

Aftermath and Analysis
Select Bibliography
Index

https://www.ospreypublishing.com/uk/...9781472864871/