Air Combat Dogfights Of World War II – Tony Holmes (1)

Australian Coastwatchers regularly provided radio warnings of impending raids to the ‘Cactus Air Force’, enabling the Wildcat pilots to gain altitude in time to intercept Japanese formations. back up to altitude for a second run. In the space of three minutes the US Marine Corps pilots claimed 14 Zero-sens shot down for no loss. Smith was credited with four victories and Carl three, this being their best day against the Mitsubishi fighter. The Japanese appear to have lost nine A6Ms, all flown by veteran carrier pilots. Over the next two weeks, until bad weather over Rabaul brought a hiatus, the Japanese carried out eight raids on Guadalcanal.

The units at Rabaul were all below their authorized strength, so the raids tended to consist of 18 or 27 Type 1 bombers, with an escort of 12 to 14 Zero-sens flying behind and above the bomber formation. John Smith quickly developed intercept tactics that all subsequent US Marine Corps and US Navy Wildcat squadrons fighting on Guadalcanal adopted. When they had adequate warning, Smith would lead his divisions up to an altitude some 4,000–5,000ft above the Japanese bomber formation, pulling ahead and off to one side of the enemy aeroplanes.

The Wildcats would then take the opposite course, flying towards the bombers and then rolling in on a high-side run to avoid the Type 1’s 20mm tail gun. If they New Britain New Guinea New Ireland Bougainville Buka Island Choiseul Santa Isabel Santa Cruz Islands New Georgia Guadalcanal Malaita San Cristobal Buin Henderson Field Buka Passage Battle of Santa Cruz (October 26, 1942) Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 24–25, 1942) Japanese base Japanese airfield Extent of Japanese occupation USAAF base 200 km 200 miles Rabaul Hell in the Pacific Capt Marion Carl, from VMF-223, claimed a total of 16.5 kills over Guadalcanal during 1942.

Eight of his victories were Zero-sens. (NARA) could, the Wildcat pilots launched their attack from right to left in sections, pulling up in a climbing turn to the left after their first pass to take stock.

OSPREY is a trademark of Osprey Publishing Ltd First published in Great Britain in 2019 Abridged from the previously published: Duel 39: La-5/7 vs Fw 190 by Dmitriy Khazanov and Aleksander Medved, Duel 54: F4F Wildcat vs A6M Zero-sen by Edward M. Young, Duel 67: Spitfire II/V vs Bf 109F by Tony Holmes, and Duel 73: F4U Corsair vs Ki-84 “Frank” by Edward M. Young. © Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN: HB 978 1 4728 3676 2; eBook 978 1 4728 3674 8; ePDF 978 1 4728 3675 5; XML 978 1 4728 3677 9 Maps and formation diagrams by Bounford.com Index by Zoe Ross Layouts by Myriam Bell Design, Shrewsbury, UK Front cover: Combat between F4U-4s and Ki-84 ‘Franks’ in the Pacific theatre, June 1945. (Artwork by Gareth Hector, © Osprey Publishing) Editor’s note For ease of comparison please refer to the following conversion table: 1 mile = 1.6km 1lb = 0.45kg 1yd = 0.9m 1ft = 0.3m 1in = 2.54cm/25.4mm 1 gallon = 4.5 litres Osprey Publishing supports the Woodland Trust, the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity.

To find out more about our authors and books visit www.ospreypublishing.com. Here you will find extracts, author interviews, details of forthcoming events and the option to sign up for our newsletter. The author of Part I: Channel Clashes: Spitfire II/V vs Bf 109F would like to thank historians Donald Caldwell, Peter Caygill, Norman Franks and Donald Nijboer for allowing him to quote from their published works. This electronic edition published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc CONTENTS Foreword 7 Part I by Tony Holmes 13 Channel Clashes: Spitfire II/V vs Bf 109F The Machines 15 Type History 26 The Strategic Situation 38 The Men 45 Into Combat 60 Analysis 82 Aftermath 88 Part II by Edward M. Young 91 Hell in the Pacific: F4F Wildcat vs A6M Zero-sen The Machines 95 Type History 110 The Strategic Situation 119 The Men 124 Into Combat 133 Analysis 161 Aftermath 164 Part III by Dmitriy Khazanov and Aleksander Medved 167 Air War in the East: La-5/7 vs Fw 190 The Machines 171 Type History 187 The Strategic Situation 199 The Men 214 Into Combat 228 Analysis 243 Aftermath 246 Part IV by Edward M. Young 251 Ill-Fated Defence of the Home Islands: F4U Corsair vs Ki-84 ‘Frank’ The Machines 254 Type History 270 The Strategic Situation 277 The Men 282 Into Combat 290 Analysis 315 Aftermath 321 Further Reading 324 Index 329 7 FOREWORD This richly illustrated volume details the exploits of fighter pilots engaged in air combat on a truly global scale during World War II.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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