Forty of
the Fifth is impossible
to put down, and reads like good fiction. It is hard to believe some
of these stories are true, and sadly, that so few people
know about
the incredible feats of the 5th Air Force.
As the title implies, the book tells the story of forty
different planes in the 5th AF's WWII history. Needless to say, this
book is a must for any aviation enthusiast, military historians, veterans
or anyone interested in tales of true adventure. Everything from strange
collisions, inferior equipment and facilities, unique air combat, and
MIA searches that have gone unsolved to this day are cover in the 133
jam packed pages. Never before published photographs, maps, diagrams,
nose art and airplane sketches, and photos of some of the wrecks today
accompany each story. Listed below is a brief description of each profiles
included in this remarkable book.
Profile 1
B-25 Mortimer |
Flew on the daring Royce Mission. Later,
goes MIA with no trace of the plane, or its crew found even to this
day. |
Profile 2
P-39F |
Documents the first encounter between
the Aircobra and the Zero. Read about all sorts of mechanical troubles. |
Profile 3
P-51 Snooks |
5th Shoots down seven planes in Twelve
minutes in the Philippines! |
Profile 4
B-17E |
Its navigator was the only American
to go MIA in Australia after a crash. |
Profile 5
B-25 |
Crew evades the Japanese and Communist
(who also took USAAF prisoners) in after crash-landing in China. |
Profile 6
B-17E |
Two bombers collide on the runway of
Horn Island. |
Profile 7
C-46 |
Crashes in New Guinea mountains after
the end of WWII. Only post war air crew lost in New Guinea. |
Profile 8
A-20 Spook |
Rearming the Havoc with a nose gun pack,
and its pilot's tragic loss. |
Profile 9
C-54 Skymaster |
Used to carry the Japanese delegation
to surrender proceedings in Manila. |
Profile 10
A-20 |
A pilot nicknamed "sweetmilk"
because he did not drink is lost at Wewak |
Profile 11
B-24 |
Given to the RAAF, and immediately pressed
into service over Java |
Profile 12
C-47 Flying Dutchmen |
Sad legacy of a diary scrawled on the plane's door. |
Profile 13
B-24 |
Photo Recon plane barely lands at a recently recaptured island. |
Profile 14
P-61 |
Photo recon plane operating from Dutch
New Guinea |
Profile 15
B-17D |
The first combat aircraft to return
to the USA, and finally rest with the Smithsonian. |
Profile 16
B-32 |
Engages in the final aerial combat of
WWII, after armistice flak and a die hard Navy pilots refused to give
up the fight. |
Profile 17
B-17F |
Taxpayer's Pride shot down by a Japanese
Irvin nightfighter over Rabaul |
Profile 18
A-20G Big Nig |
Half Century PHoenix
Hit by flak and force lands in a New
Guinea swamp salvaged 1985 |
Profile 19
B-24D Big Emma |
|
Profile 20
B-25D Chatterbox |
Low Level and the Moresby Wreck
Lost on a practice strafing run against
SS Purth. |
Profile 21
B-25 Chow Hound |
Forced landed in the Philippines on
March 30, 1945 |
Profile 22
B-25D Stinky Jo
|
This plane accumulated 182 combat missions,
and retired from service in April 1945 |
Profile 23
A-20 Old S
|
Destroyed in an explosion on the ground
in March 1945 |
Profile 24
B-17E Chief Seattle |
Purchased by citizens of Seattle, this
plane went missing August 14, 1942 |
Profile 25
P-47D
|
Story of Patricia Gaffney-Ansel whose
father was MIA in PNG for 55 years, before being discovered and buried
at Arlington National Cemetery |
Profile 26
P-40N |
Shot down by Japanese Ki-43 and crash
lands at Gusap |
Profile 27
L-5 Jug Haid
|
Of the "flying sergeants"
L-5's piloted by non-commissioned officers, otherwise know as the
"Guinea Short Line" |
Profile 28
B-24M
|
Under attack, the pilot offers a cigar
for each fighter shot down. Damaged, the plane crash lands on June
25, 1945 |
Profile 29
B-24D Moby Dick
|
After a successful combat tour has a
propaganda tour to sell war bonds in the US. |
Profile 30
C-47 Man-O-War
|
Flew disparately needed supplies to
Guadalcanal, and work around the clock. They even shower underneath
their plane. |
Profile 31
B-25D
Mitch the Witch |
Medium Bomber Dogfight: B-25 shoots
down a Japanese Sally over open water of the Bismarck Sea. |
Profile 32
B-24J
|
Destroyed in a landing at Cairns, Australia
in August 21, 1944. The pilot kept a cylinder of the plane at his
desk after the war until his death. |
Profile 33
A-20G |
The remains of the pilot remain with
this wreck, unclaimed by the US Military because they are deemed "non-recoverable" |
Profile 34
A-20A Little Hellion |
This plane had a double life, first
as Little Hellion, then after being written off, was rebuilt as "The
Steak and Eggs Special" |
Profile 35
P-39Q |
Missing on January 12, 1944, and the
search by his family members that goes on to this day. |
Profile 36
A-26B |
Account of the A-26's first combat in
the South Pacific, the replacement for the A-20, that pilots rejected
as inferior. |
Profile 37
P-38
Skull with Tophat #16
|
Veteran of two theaters: New Guinea
and Guadalcanal went MIA over the Bismarck Sea |
Profile 38
B-26 Dixie
|
Crashed, and remains discovered in the
early 1990's investigation by US and PNG governments still underway |
Profile 39
P-38J Marge |
Strange crash circumstances of USAAF
ace Richard Bong's famous plane |
Profile 40
A-20G Ravin Rachael
|
A mid air collision triggers napalm
to explode destroying two planes killing three. The gunner of one
plane survives with minor injuries. |
