A Daring Rescue under Fire.
The early morning light glittered on the whirling propellers of 48 82nd FG P-38J Lightnings as they taxied for takeoff at Foggia-11/ Vincenzo airfield in southern Italy. “Tail-end Charlie” in group commander Col. Litton’s flight was Flight Officer Dick Andrews, a 100-hour P-38 pilot who had celebrated his 20th birthday the day before and was looking forward to his first strafing mission. Just behind in the pack of Lightnings was 23-year-old Capt. Richard “Dick” Willsie, the 96th FS’s operations officer and one of the most experienced pilots in the group, for whom this would be his second shuttle mission to Russia. Neither could know that this mission— Willsie’s 60th and Andrews’ 10th— would enter the history books in a way that has only been matched twice since. Following D-Day, June 6, 1944, the air war in southeastern Europe reached a crescendo as the strategic bombing campaign of the 15th Air Force struck the Ploesti oil refineries and other important targets in the region. With the promised Soviet ground offensive hitting Germany’s Eastern European allies, it looked as though the Eastern Front would crack, leading to Germany’s defeat.
Commencing in 1943, Gen. Henry “Hap” Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces, had tried to get Stalin to allow AAF bombers to fly from England and Italy to the Soviet Union on “shuttle” raids that allowed them to bomb previously unreachable targets. If the shuttle raids could be carried out successfully, it was hoped this would lead to the use of bases in Siberia for bombing Japan. The Soviets had erected roadblock after roadblock, delaying the possibility of such operations through months of negotiating.
Esta historia es de la edición 2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War de Flight Journal.
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Esta historia es de la edición 2019 Special Issue: WWII Air War de Flight Journal.
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Scourge of the Allied Fighters
IT HAD TO BE THE MOST HELPLESS FEELING in the world: you're at 25,000 feet over Europe knowing that your primary function is to drop bombs-or flying escort for the bombers while being a slow-moving target for some of the world's finest shooters. However, you have John Browning's marvelous .50 caliber invention to give some degree of protection. Unfortunately, you're absolutely helpless against flak. Piloting and gunnery skills play no role in a game where sheer chance makes life and death decisions. For that reason, the Krupp 88 mm Flak 18/36/37 AA cannon could be considered WW II's ultimate stealth fighter. You never saw it coming.
ZERO MYTH, MYSTERY, AND FACT
A test pilot compares the A6M5 Zero to U.S. fighters
Fw 190 STURMBÖCKE
The Luftwaffe's \"Battering Rams\" against the USAAF heavy bombers
American BEAUTY
\"Forgotten Fifteenth\" top-scoring Mustang ace John J. Voll
BANSHEE WAIL!
Flying Skulls over Burma
KILLER CORSAIR
Albert Wells, Death Rattlers Ace
BACKSTREET BRAWLER
A young man, his Hurricane and the Battle of Britain
Still Flying After All These Years
One of the oldest airworthy J-3 Cubs
NOORDUYN NORSEMAN
Canada's rugged, fabric-covered workhorse
A good landing is one you can walk away from
NO, THIS IS NOT A SCENE FROM A MOVIE where the hero staggers away from a \"good landing\" on Mindoro, Philippine Islands, after being shot down by a Japanese Zero.