475th Fighter Group

Description

Formed with the best available fighter pilots in the Southwest Pacific, the 475th Fighter Group was the pet project of Fifth Air Force chief, General George C Kenney. From the time the group entered combat in August 1943 until the end of the war it was the fastest scoring group in the Pacific and remained one of the crack fighter units in the entire US Army Air Forces with a final total of some 550 credited aerial victories. Amongst its pilots were the leading American aces of all time, Dick Bong and Tom McGuire, with high-scoring pilots Danny Roberts and John Loisel also serving with the 475th. This book details these pilots, the planes they flew and the campaigns and battles they fought in including such famous names as Dobodura, the Huon Gulf, Oro Bay, Rabaul, Hollandia, the Philippines and Luzon.

John Stanaway is a native Minnesotan who has for the past twenty years travelled all over America with his wife, Susan, their schnauzer, named 'Messerschmitt 109 Gustav', and Cocker Spaniel 'Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird'. He began writing about aviation history in 1981 after a spell in the USAF, and has 12 books and scores of articles to his credit. Four of those books are Osprey titles in the Aircraft of the Aces series (Aces 14, 19, 26 and 36). He is also an official historian of the P-38 National Association. Artist Chris Davey has illustrated more than 20 titles for Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Elite Units series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of choice for both USAAF fighters and RAF subject matter, as well as modern aircraft types such as the F-15 and F/A-18.

"The author John Stanaway does a superlative job of telling the story of the 475th. His writing style, mixed with a goodly number of firsthand accounts and official battle reports, makes it a most interesting read. This is all further enhanced with an excellent selection of period photographs and the fine artwork of Chris Davey. Aviation Elite Units #23 is one of the best around and a book I can recommend to you without reservation." --Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com