Medal of Honor, Volume 5: AAF Aviators of WW2, Part 1

Published on
Review Author(s)
Book Author(s)
Alan Durkota
ISBN
781953201485
E-Book ISBN
N/A
Other Publication Information
Paperback (8.3”x10.875”), 256 pages with 295 black and white photographs, 65 color photographs, 43 color profiles, 32 graphics (15 in color)
MSRP
$49.99
Product / Stock #
N/A
Company: Aeronaut Books - Website: Visit Site
Provided by: Aeronaut Books - Website: Visit Site

Author Alan Durkota succinctly explains this book in his Introduction:

The Army Air Force has 36 aviation-related Medal of Honor recipients in World War Two. One mission to attack oil refineries located at Ploesti, Romania, resulted in five Medals of Honor being awarded. making it the most highly decorated mission of the war. Two of the five will be presented in this volume.

James Doolittle’s raid on 18, April,1942 (sic), shocked the Japanese military and at the same time filled Americans with hope. History would show this mission caused the Japanese military to prioritize their effort to eliminate the American carriers which escaped the attack at Pearl Harbor, thereby setting into motion a series of events, including the Battle of Midway.

Many of the recipients sacrificed their lives in an effort to save others. Miraculously, Henry Erwin’s action to save life did not cost him his, but he required 43 surgeries to recover from his heroic action that justly earned him his Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor Volume 5: AAF Aviators of WW2 Part 1 is the fifth book in the Aeronauts Books Aviation Medal of Honor series. The 256-page book is complete with extensive photographs, technical details and specifications, and detailed illustrations, composing the following eight chapters:

  • Introduction
  1. Addiston Baker (KIA) & John Jerstad (KIA)
  2. Richard Bong
  3. Horace Carswell (KIA)
  4. Frederick Castle (KIA)
  5. Ralph Cheli (KIA)
  6. James Doolittle
  7. Henry Erwin
  8. Robert Femoyer

This is the first book I have read from Aeronaut Books (who specialize in World War One aviation) and I was eager to dive in. Each chapter is well researched about the aviator and their aircraft, to include serial numbers, paint schemes, markings, etc. While I knew a little about most of the stories, there were some fascinating details I learned about (like a Second Lieutenant who was a tail gunner on Brigadier General Frederick Castle’s B-17 (Treble 4) Medal of Honor mission). The photographs throughout the book, both black and white and color, are phenomenal and add immensely to their chapters. The color profiles are likewise very good, and the author does a fantastic job calling out the colors and markings of not only the aircraft, but their units and their evolution of markings as the raids got larger and more complex.

Another great thing the author does is the detail into radar equipped pathfinder aircraft fielding the ground mapping radar system named”H2X” (colloquially called “Mickey” by its crews) and its position replacing the bombers ventral turret. Both chapters (3 and 4) describe the radar and its use in both the B-24 (Pacific) and B-17 (Europe), respectively. The book also includes German and Japanese aircraft photographs and profiles that highlight the adversaries faced by these Army Air Force aviators.

While I really enjoyed this book, it could have greatly benefited from a good editor. Aside from the spelling and grammar errors that are noticeable in the first few pages, a lot of the photos are credited to the National Archives, but an equal amount were sourced from the internet (https://www.americanairmuseum.com, www.memorialploesti.org, .bp.blogspot.com, Wikipedia, etc). There are several instances of the same photograph used within pages of each other, and a lot of the material within the chapters are not sequential and jump around. Another minor niggle is that this book feels like a collection of chapters written separately and put together at the end. While the research is thorough, it is presented at times for the sake of the story. A good editor could have caught these mistakes, make the chapters flow sequentially, and make the chapters united in one voice. That aside, this is still a good book with lots of details for modelers and anyone wanting to learn more about US Army Air Force aviation in World War II.

Modelers will enjoy the photographs and profiles of the aircraft. Chapter 1 focuses on the B-24 Liberators that flew the Ploesti Raid, Chapter 2 refers to Richard Bong and his P-38s, Kawasaki Ki-43 Oscars, and the Lockheed P-80 that he died in stateside. Chapter 3 focuses on B-24s flying anti-shipping snooper missions in the South China Sea with good detail on the radar system employed, complete with amazing profiles and nose art. Chapter 4 focuses on another radar-equipped heavy bomber, the B-17 and the missions flown by BG Frederick Castle, along with ME-109s adversaries. Chapter 5 focuses on B-25s flying against Japanese airfields and shipping in the New Guinea theater, including para-fragmentary bombing, skip bombing and strafing missions; complete with the Green Dragons nose art of the 405th Bomb Squadron, as well as Japanese Oscars.Chapter 6 is about the prolific and amazing career of James Doolittle from his Thompson Trophy Gee Bee R-1 and Schneider Trophy Curtiss R3C-2 Racer to his leadership on the famous Doolittle Raid on Japan, complete with color profiles of all 16 B-25s. Chapter 7 focuses on the only non-officer Medal of Honor recipient in the book, Sergeant Henry Erwin’s actions in a B-29 that saved the entire crew, but resulted in most of his body covered in third degree burns from a phosphorous smoke bomb. Chapter 8 is about a B-17 navigator who safely got his damaged aircraft back to England despite being severely wounded (he died within hours of safely returning to the air base from his wounds).

This is a good book for aircraft modelers and those wishing to learn more about the air campaigns fought by Army Air Forces in World War II. There is a good variety of aircraft, missions, and theaters of operations that showcase the widely disparate experiences of American airmen on a truly global war. Each chapter fills in the details behind the Medal of Honor citations and is truly a great concept to illustrate these brave airmen and their aircraft.

Profuse thanks to Aeronaut Books and IPMS/USA for providing the review sample.

MoH AAF Aviator of WW2

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