P-40 Warhawk Aces of the Pacific

Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series (2003)
96 Pages / 112 photos / 43 illustrations
$22.95
ISBN 1-84176-536-8
Purchase: Osprey Publishing

The first USAAF fighters to engage the Japanese in World War II, a handful of P-40s rose to defend Pearl Harbor from attack on the morning of 7 December 1941. Warhawk units were also heavily involved in the ill-fated fight to stem invading Japanese forces in the Philippines and Java between December 1941 and April 1942 and again in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands between January 1943 and March 1944. This book examines The Warhawk's wartime exploits and all of its aces, including “aces-in-a-day” Mel Wheadon and Joe Lesicka. It closes with a chapter covering the little-known operations of P-40 pilots in the remote Aleutian Islands off Alaska.

“Moving through the history of the Pacific air war for land-based operations, the author competently deals with chapters on the Dutch East Indies and attacks on Darwin and mainland Australia and follows the turn of the tide with New Guinea, Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, ending up with a vivid account of the forgotten war in the foul weather of the Aleutian chain. Surely the most loathed posting any USAAF pilot could wish for.” - Tony Oliver, Largescaleplanes.com