Torpedo Squadron Four - A Cockpit View of World War II - Couverture souple

Thomas, Gerald W

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0982870906 ISBN 13 : 9780982870907

Editeur : Doc45 Publishing, 2014

Synopsis

The only published firsthand memoir of a World War II U.S. Navy carrier-based torpedo bomber pilot.

For twenty-five months of continuous combat, Gerald W. Thomas flew TBM Avenger torpedo bombers with Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4), serving aboard three legendary aircraft carriers — USS Ranger, USS Bunker Hill, and USS Essex. As a member of Air Group Four, the only U.S. Navy carrier air group to fight in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, Thomas participated in some of the most significant naval air operations of World War II.

His combat career began in the North Atlantic during Operation Leader, the U.S. Navy's historic carrier strike against German shipping and shore installations near Bodø, Norway — the largest American carrier attack ever launched against occupied Northern Europe. During the raid, Thomas's TBM Avenger was hit by intense anti-aircraft fire while attacking an ammunition-laden vessel. With his aircraft burning, oil covering the windshield, and one crewman's parachute accidentally deployed inside the airplane, bailout became impossible. Thomas nursed the crippled aircraft back to USS Ranger and crash-landed aboard the carrier, saving the lives of all three crewmen.

Transferred to the Pacific, Thomas flew combat missions over the Philippines, Formosa, French Indochina, Hainan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Japan. He participated in the first carrier strikes against the Japanese home islands since the famous Doolittle Raid and witnessed firsthand the relentless final campaigns of the Pacific War.

While serving aboard USS Essex, Thomas had just returned from a strike when the carrier was struck by a kamikaze aircraft, killing sixteen sailors and wounding forty-four. Later, after another combat mission, he was forced to ditch his Avenger in the China Sea when it ran out of fuel. After enduring towering pre-typhoon seas in life rafts, Thomas and his crew were rescued by USS The Sullivans.

Unlike memoirs written decades after the war from memory alone, this book is grounded in Thomas's wartime journal, letters home, and more than forty years of interviews with fellow pilots and crewmen. Supported by twenty oral histories, five combat journals, and 209 photographs, most never before published, it provides an unparalleled cockpit-level view of carrier aviation during World War II. Among the illustrations are gun-camera photographs, reconnaissance images, rare photographs collected during the war, and the extraordinary image of Thomas's own torpedo bomber sinking beneath the China Sea after his forced water landing.

For his extraordinary combat service, Gerald W. Thomas received three Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Air Medals, and two Presidential Unit Citations, retiring from the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander.

Richly illustrated and meticulously documented, Torpedo Squadron Four is essential reading for anyone interested in naval aviation, aircraft carriers, the TBM Avenger, the Atlantic and Pacific air wars, Operation Leader, USS Ranger, USS Bunker Hill, USS Essex, and the personal experiences of the men who flew some of World War II's most dangerous combat missions.

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur

Thomas, in the only combat account of World War II Torpedo Bomber pilot ever published, relates his 25 months of service with Torpedo Squadron 4 (VT-4) on the USS RANGER, USS BUNKER HILL, and USS ESSEX. Thomas served in both the Atlantic and Pacific Theaters, and in some of the most important World War II battles.

While on the RANGER, he participated in OPERATION LEADER, the most significant attack on Northern Europe by a US carrier during the war. During LEADER, while attacking a freight barge carrying 40 tons of ammunition, Thomas' plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire. Surprisingly, in spite of the considerable engine damage, the plane made it back to the RANGER, where Thomas crash-landed. That landing was his 13th official carrier landing.

In the Pacific, Thomas participated in the numerous actions against Japanese targets in the Philippines, including strikes on Ormoc Bay, Cavite, Manilla, Santa Cruz, San Fernando, Lingayen, Mindoro, Clark Field and Aparri.

Following these actions, Thomas' squadron made strikes on Formosa, French Indo-China, Saigon, Pescadores, Hainan, Amami O Shima, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Japan. The attack on Japan was the first attack on Japan from an aircraft carrier since the "Doolittle Raid."

While on the ESSEX, just after Thomas had returned from a strike on Santa Cruz, the ship was hit by a Kamikaze piloted by Yoshinori Yamaguchi, Yoshino Special Attack Corps. Yamaguchi was flying a Yokosuba D4Y3 dive bomber. The Kamikaze attack killed 16 crewman and wounded 44.

Returning from a strike on Hainan, off the Chinese coast, Thomas' plane ran out of fuel. After a harrowing water landing, Thomas and squadron photographer Montague succeeded in inflating and launching one rubber boat and his crewman Gress another. After a long day in pre-Typhoon weather with 40 foot swells, the three were rescued by the USS SULLIVANS.

In recounting the events in this book, Thomas draws upon his daily journal, his letters home, and extensive interviews and research conducted over 40 years with fellow pilots and crewman. The book cites 20 interviews and 5 combat journals, and contains 209 photos documenting the ships, planes, men, and combat actions of Torpedo Squadron 4. Many of the photographs were collected by Thomas during the war and include gun photo shots, recon photos, and, remarkably, a picture of the tail of Thomas' Torpedo plane as it sinks in the China Sea following his water crash landing.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Doc45 Publishing
• Date d'édition: 2014
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN 10: 0982870906
• ISBN 13: 9780982870907
• Reliure: Broché
• Numéro d'édition: 3
• Nombre de pages: 282
• Éditeur: Thomas David
• Coordonnées du fabricant: Manufactured by Amazon on behalf of the author; https://www.amazon.fr/hz/contact-us; ; c/o Amazon Media EU S.à.r.l., 38 Avenue John F. Kennedy; Luxembourg; L-1855; Luxembourg