Description

After six years of research, author and illustrator S.W. Ferguson, along with William K. Pascalis, have recreated the war-years odyssey of the famous 49ers, the most successful fighter group in the war against Japan. Flyers Paul Wrutsmith, Bob Morrissey, Ernie Harris, Gerry Johnson, Bob DeHaven and leading American ace Dick Bong, are but a few of the men who contribute to the 49ERS legend. From their desert air strips of Northwest Territory, Australia, through their jungle camps of New Guinea and the Philippines, to the final moment of victory on the Japanese homeland, all are detailed in this new volume. Derived from the diaries and logs of 49ers veterans, the groups official USAF history and the U.S. National Archives, the story chronicles more than thirty aces and their crews who achieved over 600 aerial kills in three years of continuous combat. The text is highlighted by more than 600 black and white photos, six campaign maps, and twenty-four colour profiles of select P-40s, P-57s, and P-38s.