Manoeuvres, Shots and Drops - Dive Bomber Pilot Richard Halsey Best In World War 2

Manoeuvres, Shots and Drops - Dive Bomber Pilot Richard Halsey Best In World War 2 PDF Author: Edgar Wollstone
Publisher: AJS
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Richard H. Best, or simply Dick as known among his comrades was an American dive bomber who managed to sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, including the flagship Akagi on a single day during the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was one of the most decisive battles that turned the tables for the United States of America in the Second World War. Best was in his best as he shot one Japanese carrier after the other. He was the recipient of the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross awards. Though Best was posthumously recommended for Medal of Honor, it didn’t see fruition. It is incredulous that one man was able to turn the tides of the World War II in just one day. With all four carriers decimated, the Japanese navy was in tatters. If its fleet wasn’t annihilated by the American dive bombers, Japan would have continued its belligerence unabated and with impunity. Born in Bayonne, Best always aspired to be a pilot someday. He grew up listening to the legends of air veterans of World War One. It is no wonder that Best came out to be the best dive bomber during World War 2.

Manoeuvres, Shots and Drops - Dive Bomber Pilot Richard Halsey Best In World War 2

Manoeuvres, Shots and Drops - Dive Bomber Pilot Richard Halsey Best In World War 2 PDF Author: Edgar Wollstone
Publisher: AJS
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
Richard H. Best, or simply Dick as known among his comrades was an American dive bomber who managed to sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, including the flagship Akagi on a single day during the Battle of Midway. The Battle of Midway was one of the most decisive battles that turned the tables for the United States of America in the Second World War. Best was in his best as he shot one Japanese carrier after the other. He was the recipient of the Navy Cross and the Distinguished Flying Cross awards. Though Best was posthumously recommended for Medal of Honor, it didn’t see fruition. It is incredulous that one man was able to turn the tides of the World War II in just one day. With all four carriers decimated, the Japanese navy was in tatters. If its fleet wasn’t annihilated by the American dive bombers, Japan would have continued its belligerence unabated and with impunity. Born in Bayonne, Best always aspired to be a pilot someday. He grew up listening to the legends of air veterans of World War One. It is no wonder that Best came out to be the best dive bomber during World War 2.

Never Call Me a Hero

Never Call Me a Hero PDF Author: N. Jack Kleiss
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062692364
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Hailed as "the single most effective pilot at Midway" (World War II magazine), Dusty Kleiss struck and sank three Japanese warships at the Battle of Midway, including two aircraft carriers, helping turn the tide of the Second World War. This is his extraordinary memoir. NATIONAL BESTSELLER • "AN INSTANT CLASSIC" —Dallas Morning News On the morning of June 4, 1942, high above the tiny Pacific atoll of Midway, Lt. (j.g.) "Dusty" Kleiss burst out of the clouds and piloted his SBD Dauntless into a near-vertical dive aimed at the heart of Japan’s Imperial Navy, which six months earlier had ruthlessly struck Pearl Harbor. The greatest naval battle in history raged around him, its outcome hanging in the balance as the U.S. desperately searched for its first major victory of the Second World War. Then, in a matter of seconds, Dusty Kleiss’s daring 20,000-foot dive helped forever alter the war’s trajectory. Plummeting through the air at 240 knots amid blistering anti-aircraft fire, the twenty-six-year-old pilot from USS Enterprise’s elite Scouting Squadron Six fixed on an invaluable target—the aircraft carrier Kaga, one of Japan’s most important capital ships. He released three bombs at the last possible instant, then desperately pulled out of his gut-wrenching 9-g dive. As his plane leveled out just above the roiling Pacific Ocean, Dusty’s perfectly placed bombs struck the carrier’s deck, and Kaga erupted into an inferno from which it would never recover. Arriving safely back at Enterprise, Dusty was met with heartbreaking news: his best friend was missing and presumed dead along with two dozen of their fellow naval aviators. Unbowed, Dusty returned to the air that same afternoon and, remarkably, would fatally strike another enemy carrier, Hiryu. Two days later, his deadeye aim contributed to the destruction of a third Japanese warship, the cruiser Mikuma, thereby making Dusty the only pilot from either side to land hits on three different ships, all of which sank—losses that crippled the once-fearsome Japanese fleet. By battle’s end, the humble young sailor from Kansas had earned his place in history—and yet he stayed silent for decades, living quietly with his children and his wife, Jean, whom he married less than a month after Midway. Now his extraordinary and long-awaited memoir, Never Call Me a Hero, tells the Navy Cross recipient’s full story for the first time, offering an unprecedentedly intimate look at the "the decisive contest for control of the Pacific in World War II" (New York Times)—and one man’s essential role in helping secure its outcome. Dusty worked on this book for years with naval historians Timothy and Laura Orr, aiming to publish Never Call Me a Hero for Midway’s seventy-fifth anniversary in June 2017. Sadly, as the book neared completion in 2016, Dusty Kleiss passed away at age 100, one of the last surviving dive-bomber pilots to have fought at Midway. And yet the publication of Never Call Me a Hero is a cause for celebration: these pages are Dusty’s remarkable legacy, providing a riveting eyewitness account of the Battle of Midway, and an inspiring testimony to the brave men who fought, died, and shaped history during those four extraordinary days in June, seventy-five years ago.

Fist from the Sky

Fist from the Sky PDF Author: Peter C. Smith
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 9780811733304
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
- Fascinating look from the Japanese side at Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway - Fully authorized account including contemporary interviews with those that flew with Lt. Cdr. Egusa Lieutenant Commander Takashige Egusa was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's most skillful and influential dive-bomber pilots. He led an attack force against Pearl Harbor, calmly circling his special flame-red Aichi dive bomber before selecting his target. Assaults on the deadly gun batteries of Wake Island followed, as well as air support for the invasion of Ambon. Badly burned at Midway, Egusa returned to duty, only to be killed on his final mission. As one Japanese officer said, "He was the 'God of Dive-Bombing.'" Fully placed in historical context and backed by a wealth of detail from archives, family records, photographs, and memories of contemporaries, the full story of Egusa's bravery, leadership qualities, and illustrious career comes to life.

Dauntless Dive Bomber of World War II

Dauntless Dive Bomber of World War II PDF Author: Barrett Tillman
Publisher: Naval Institute Press
ISBN: 1612515436
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Popularly known as the Douglas Dauntless, the U.S. Navy's SBD dive bomber was well named. Though considered obsolete at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dauntless turned the tide of war in the Pacific with the destruction of four Japanese carriers at the Battle of Midway, making its mark in aviation history for sinking more enemy carriers than any other aircraft. Still in service at war's end, the Dauntless was the only U.S. carrier aircraft in operation from Pearl Harbor to V-J Day. The Dauntless was the only American Navy aircraft to fly in al five of the naval engagements fought exclusively by aircraft carriers and was credited with sinking the first Japanese fleet submarine and dropping the first bombs on Japanese-occupied soil during the war. The SBD was also active in the Atlantic, sinking Vichy French shipping at Casablanca and German vessels in Scandinavian waters. In between his authoritative accounts of these missions, Barrett Tillman tells the rousing story of the men who took the "slow but deadly" Dauntless into combat, loving her for her ruggedness and dependability while wishing for more speed and firepower. Among the people he describes is the pilot who nearly single-handedly knocked out a Japanese carrier and died in the process, and SBD squadron that flew unexpectedly into the Pearl Harbor attack. Filled with fascinating photographs, this book was widely acclaimed in 1976 when first published and is now available for the first time in paperback.

A Marine Dive-bomber Pilot at Guadalcanal

A Marine Dive-bomber Pilot at Guadalcanal PDF Author: John Howard McEniry
Publisher: University Alabama Press
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description


The History of Dive Bombing

The History of Dive Bombing PDF Author: Peter C. Smith
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783409088
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 539

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Book Description
The incredible story of the dive bomber is told through official reports and personal accounts from combat pilots in this sweeping military history. The History of Dive Bombing delves beneath the myths to present an in-depth history. Peter Smith tells the full story of these planes from the first true combat dive bombing by a Royal Air Force pilot in 1917 to the last stirring wartime actions. Interviews with pilots from both World Wars representing all combatant nations give eyewitness viewpoints on many of the major actions and methods employed. From the first dive-bomber missions of World War II, through accounts of British attacks on German warships during the Norwegian campaign, and Stuka missions against the French and British forces, this volume vividly recreates the drama, strategy and tactics of dive bombing. Some well known aircraft types include, such as the Curtiss Helldiver, Aichi D3A1, Blackburn Skua, and the infamous Junkers Ju 87.

U. S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers of World War II

U. S. Navy Dive and Torpedo Bombers of World War II PDF Author: Barrett Tillman Robert L. Lawson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781610607643
Category : Dive bombers
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
With their stout airframes, innovative airbrakes and near-vertical dive capabilities, U.S. Navy torpedo and dive bombers rendered Japanese deck gunners nearly defenseless and played a crucial role in Allied victory. Remarkable period color photography and quotes and anecdotes from pilots and crewmembers relate the stories behind Navy dive bombers. Included in the collection are the legendary SBD ("Slow But Deadly") Dauntless, SBC Helldiver, TBD Devastator and TBF and TBM Avengers. In addition to depicting the aircraft, photos show American airmen testing and training, while first-person accounts tell of missions against Japanese vessels.

Wade McClusky and the Battle of Midway

Wade McClusky and the Battle of Midway PDF Author: David Rigby
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472834712
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
During the Battle of Midway in June 1942, US Navy dive bomber pilot Wade McClusky proved himself to be one of the greatest pilots and combat leaders in American history, but his story has never been told – until now. It was Wade McClusky who remained calm when the Japanese fleet was not where it was expected to be. It was he who made the counterintuitive choice to then search to the north instead of to the south. It was also McClusky who took the calculated risk of continuing to search even though his bombers were low on fuel and may not have enough to make it back to the Enterprise. His ability to remain calm under enormous pressure played a huge role in the US Navy winning this decisive victory that turned the tide of war in the Pacific. This book is the story of exactly the right man being in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Wade McClusky was that man and this is his story.

Slow But Deadly

Slow But Deadly PDF Author: James M. Volo
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781490924465
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
The theme of this book is the exploration of the theory and practice of dive-bombing, which tactic proved more precise than that of level-flight bombers and more effective than air-launched torpedo attacks against surface ships. It is also the author's purpose to come to a more general conclusion as to the effectiveness of dive-bombing under actual combat conditions. In this regard the words and observations of several dive-bomber aviators have been incorporated. While the best known dive-bomber was the Stuka, the most successful of the major dive-bombing airframes was undoubtedly the American-made Douglas SBD Dauntless that would prove (like most of its type) to be Slow But Deadly-hence the title of this book. Unlike high altitude level-flight bombing, which was not precise, and unlike low altitude precision attacks with guns and rockets, which became more popular later in the war, dive-bombing was highly effective for many types of precision attacks. This book was begun under the tutelage of author's mentor Dr. Jeffrey L. Ethell at American Military University. Dr. Ethell found it, "A fascinating and comprehensive study." On June 6, 1997, Ethell was killed when the vintage P-38 "Lightning" fighter he was piloting crashed near Tillamook, Oregon. The book is dedicated to his memory.

Sinking the Rising Sun

Sinking the Rising Sun PDF Author: Jonathan Winters, William E. Davis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781616739614
Category : Dive bomber pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
Awarded the Navy Cross, Lieutenant William Davis, III, of the United States Naval Reserve was cited for "extraordinary heroism" while serving as pilot of a carrier based fighter aircraft on 25 October 1944. "Flying through intense anti-aircraft fire," the citation read, "he made an aggressive attack on a Japanese carrier, first strafing and then delivering a well placed bomb from low altitude. After this attack the carrier was left burning and subsequently sank." The burning carrier was the Zuikaku, the last Japanese carrier afloat that had taken part in the Pearl Harbor attack. In this gripping memoir, Davis gives us a fighter pilots view of World War II. Recreating the life-and-death drama of dog fighting and dive bombing over the Pacific, Davis recounts how his squadron shot down 155 enemy planes while losing only 2 of their own in aerial combat. No torpedo bomber or dive bomber they escorted was ever downed by an enemy aircraft. His is a story of "courage and skill . . . in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval service," as his citation noted. It is also a rare true-life account of what such heroics feel like behind a cockpit, in the face of a deadly enemy.