Book Review of
South Pacific Air War, Vol. 5
Crisis in Papua, September-December 1942
Authors: Michael Claringbould & Peter Ingman
Avonmore Books
ICBN: 978-0-6489262-9-0
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $ 48.95
ICBN: 978-0-6489262-9-0
Copyright: 2022
MSRP: $ 48.95
HISTORY:
By early September the strategic picture in the theatre had changed markedly within just six weeks. From their new Buna beachhead the Japanese Army commenced a Papuan mountain campaign which threatened the Allied bastion of Port Moresby. Meanwhile, the battle for Guadalcanal was raging, with the outcome of the wider Pacific War in the balance.
Against this background, a strengthened U.S. Fifth Air Force took the fight to the IJA with direct air support. While this was being conducted by P-39s, P-40Es , A-20As and B-25s, raids by B-17s against Rabaul aided U.S. forces in the neighboring Solomons. RAAF Beaufighters, Beauforts, Bostons and Hudson's also contributed substantially to these efforts.
At Rabaul, a wide variety of fresh IJN fighter and bomber units poured into the theatre, although these became focused mainly in the Solomons. Such were the massive losses experienced, by November the IJN undertook a complete operational and administrative reorganization of its airpower.
Then, despite a strong reluctance to become involved, the JAAF sent an advanced reconnaissance detachment to Rabaul, the forerunner of major reinforcements that would arrive in December.
Never before has this campaign been chronicled in such detail, with Allied and Japanese accounts matched together for a truly factual account of the conflict.
Vol. 5 of this series chronicles aerial warfare in the New Guinea theatre in the critical period between September and December 1942. It can be read alone as a continuation of the previous four volumes which span the first nine months of the Pacific War.
THE BOOK:
Avonmore Books is based in Kent Town, South Australia.
This book is soft-bound of 236 pages in 7’ x 10” page format and is ¾” thick.
The cover art is an illustration in Color. I call it and other ones in the book illustrations because I cannot determine if they are color photos or paintings. The captions with them do not say which.
The one on the cover is of a Douglas A-20 “Havoc” flying low over trees. It is in a camouflage of a base of sand with dark-green wave pattern. On the side of its nose there are 16 white mission marks, over “War Bond Special”.
The book contains 64 black and white photos.
Six data lists
Five definitely color photos that show:
This book’s authors in front of a B-20J, with yellow “Pulk” on the side of its nose at Parafield Airport in S. Australia, a photo of a Hudson dropping 4 bombs over Northern Papua, a wrecked A-20A with “Old Man Mose” on its nose being stripped of parts, a 39th FS P-38F warming up for takeoff with blue spinners and white 15 on the sides of its nose and an abandoned No. 582 Ku D3A2 Val after a forced landing.
There are 9 maps in the book.
Black and white photos show:
A P-400, a B-25C with crew and 16 mission marks and “Ole Cappy” on its nose, an A-20A in flight, Brigadier General Kenneth Walker and officers, a No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter, the airfield at Port Moresby, a B-25C with “Eager Eagle” on its nose, a C-47 with 7-man crew that has “Dear Mom” and No. 56 on its nose from the 6th TCS, IJN Rufes & Pete's aboard a ship, Zeros lined up on Buin’s airfield, a Rufe with 60 kill bombs under its wings, a wounded Allied airman being brought ashore, boxes of armament being unloaded from a former Dutch C-60 Loadstar, 33rd TCS C-47s taking off, a B-17E getting engine maintenance, a group of IJN fighter commanders, a B-26 with 7 man crew in front of it, Japanese students in front of a Dinah, a Ki-46 Dinah, Japanese on a new road they built, a IJN Nell arriving at Buna airport, a IJN patrol boat, a C-47 from the 25th Brigade overflying the Kokoda Tract, Australian troops next to a C-47 with “Norman” on its nose at Kokoda airstrip, Japanese POWs, a C-47 with “Swamp Rat” on its nose, a No, 22 Squadron Boston at Port Moresby, B-24D “Eight Ball” in rout to the Shortland's, Troops of the 2nd Div. on the beach, B-24D “Butcher Boy” with the 90th Australian BG, a P-38F with No. 33 & “Japanese Sandman II” on its nose and shark-mouths, a Stinson O-49 Vigilant light aircraft, 2 photos of a British Wireway aircraft, an aerial photo of Buin’s runway, six No. 204 Ku Zero pilots, a survivor from the crash of B-24D “Little Eva”, a film canister being unloaded from a 8th PRS F-4 Lightning, a 49th FG P-40E with a ;air of 300 lb. bombs, aerial photo of Buna drome, B-24D “Moby Dick”, B-25D “Madam X”, B-25C “Stinky”, an awards ceremony for the 89th Bg at Kila drome in December 1942, Lt. Walter Beane with 2 crewmen beside his shark mouth decorated P-38, 2 crewmen in cockpit of an Wirraway A-20, General Douglas MacArthur visiting New Guinea.
Color illustrations (not said if photos or paintings) show;
The cover art, two No. 6 Kokutai Model 32 Zeros patrolling over a flotilla of IJN destroyers, two Warhawks flying low over jungle, a model 32 Zero and an Airacobra dogfighting, a Zero attacking a B-25 with “Battlin Biffy”on its nose, IJN sailors waving from a destroyer to a D3A1 flying over, a Zero attacking a B-17 and 2 IJN Ki-46 Dinah’s flying above the clouds.
Color side view profiles show:
An A6M3 Model 32 Zero that is medium-green overall with a black cowling, white spinner, red ball roundel, followed by a red chevron around the fuselage and red 0-122 outlined in white on the rudder, with No,3 Ku at Rabaul.
A 33rd BG B-26 that is olive-drab over light blue bottom, with “Shittengitten” in white on the side of its nose and yellow rudder tip.
A Tainan Ku Model 31 Zero that is overall light-green with a black cowling and white spinner. It has a red ball roundel, followed by a diagonal red fuselage band, 2 horizontal narrow bands with red V-108 between them on the rudder.
A No. 41 Ku D3A1 Val that is overall light-green. It has white serial no. 31-212 on the rudder sides.
A C-47 that Is overall olive-drab, with “Swamp Rat” on its nose in yellow over an image of a white rat. It was with the 6th TCS.
A 8th FS British P-40E-1 that is in a wave pattern camouflage of two shades of green, with a light blue under-carriage and a black and yellow spinner, It has black V V V V V over yellow Jerry 43 on the side of its nose and a blue roundel with white star on it on the fuselage sides.
A Japanese Val dive bomber that is medium-green with a light green cowling over a light green under-carriage. It has a yellow chevron around the fuselage and white serial no. T3226 on the rudder and Japanese red ball roundels under its wings.
A P-38F with the 39th FS. It is olive-drab, over a light blue under-carriage. It has a white no. 11 on the sides of its nose and on the rudder sides, a small blue roundel with white star on fuselage sides. On one side of its nose there is a light red circle with a black panther’s face on it over “Les”.
A Nakajima Model 1 Ki-54 Hayabusa of the headquarters chutai, 11 Sentai, in overall light-green, it has a red roundel outlined in white followed by a narrow white fuselage band. There is a diagonal blue stripe across its rudder.
The book ends with a 9 page APPENDICES, 3 pages of SOURCES & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and 7 pages of INDEX OF NAMES, MILITARY UNITS AND SHIPS.
This is one nifty book. It will be of great interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Avonmore Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
By early September the strategic picture in the theatre had changed markedly within just six weeks. From their new Buna beachhead the Japanese Army commenced a Papuan mountain campaign which threatened the Allied bastion of Port Moresby. Meanwhile, the battle for Guadalcanal was raging, with the outcome of the wider Pacific War in the balance.
Against this background, a strengthened U.S. Fifth Air Force took the fight to the IJA with direct air support. While this was being conducted by P-39s, P-40Es , A-20As and B-25s, raids by B-17s against Rabaul aided U.S. forces in the neighboring Solomons. RAAF Beaufighters, Beauforts, Bostons and Hudson's also contributed substantially to these efforts.
At Rabaul, a wide variety of fresh IJN fighter and bomber units poured into the theatre, although these became focused mainly in the Solomons. Such were the massive losses experienced, by November the IJN undertook a complete operational and administrative reorganization of its airpower.
Then, despite a strong reluctance to become involved, the JAAF sent an advanced reconnaissance detachment to Rabaul, the forerunner of major reinforcements that would arrive in December.
Never before has this campaign been chronicled in such detail, with Allied and Japanese accounts matched together for a truly factual account of the conflict.
Vol. 5 of this series chronicles aerial warfare in the New Guinea theatre in the critical period between September and December 1942. It can be read alone as a continuation of the previous four volumes which span the first nine months of the Pacific War.
THE BOOK:
Avonmore Books is based in Kent Town, South Australia.
This book is soft-bound of 236 pages in 7’ x 10” page format and is ¾” thick.
The cover art is an illustration in Color. I call it and other ones in the book illustrations because I cannot determine if they are color photos or paintings. The captions with them do not say which.
The one on the cover is of a Douglas A-20 “Havoc” flying low over trees. It is in a camouflage of a base of sand with dark-green wave pattern. On the side of its nose there are 16 white mission marks, over “War Bond Special”.
The book contains 64 black and white photos.
Six data lists
Five definitely color photos that show:
This book’s authors in front of a B-20J, with yellow “Pulk” on the side of its nose at Parafield Airport in S. Australia, a photo of a Hudson dropping 4 bombs over Northern Papua, a wrecked A-20A with “Old Man Mose” on its nose being stripped of parts, a 39th FS P-38F warming up for takeoff with blue spinners and white 15 on the sides of its nose and an abandoned No. 582 Ku D3A2 Val after a forced landing.
There are 9 maps in the book.
Black and white photos show:
A P-400, a B-25C with crew and 16 mission marks and “Ole Cappy” on its nose, an A-20A in flight, Brigadier General Kenneth Walker and officers, a No. 30 Squadron Beaufighter, the airfield at Port Moresby, a B-25C with “Eager Eagle” on its nose, a C-47 with 7-man crew that has “Dear Mom” and No. 56 on its nose from the 6th TCS, IJN Rufes & Pete's aboard a ship, Zeros lined up on Buin’s airfield, a Rufe with 60 kill bombs under its wings, a wounded Allied airman being brought ashore, boxes of armament being unloaded from a former Dutch C-60 Loadstar, 33rd TCS C-47s taking off, a B-17E getting engine maintenance, a group of IJN fighter commanders, a B-26 with 7 man crew in front of it, Japanese students in front of a Dinah, a Ki-46 Dinah, Japanese on a new road they built, a IJN Nell arriving at Buna airport, a IJN patrol boat, a C-47 from the 25th Brigade overflying the Kokoda Tract, Australian troops next to a C-47 with “Norman” on its nose at Kokoda airstrip, Japanese POWs, a C-47 with “Swamp Rat” on its nose, a No, 22 Squadron Boston at Port Moresby, B-24D “Eight Ball” in rout to the Shortland's, Troops of the 2nd Div. on the beach, B-24D “Butcher Boy” with the 90th Australian BG, a P-38F with No. 33 & “Japanese Sandman II” on its nose and shark-mouths, a Stinson O-49 Vigilant light aircraft, 2 photos of a British Wireway aircraft, an aerial photo of Buin’s runway, six No. 204 Ku Zero pilots, a survivor from the crash of B-24D “Little Eva”, a film canister being unloaded from a 8th PRS F-4 Lightning, a 49th FG P-40E with a ;air of 300 lb. bombs, aerial photo of Buna drome, B-24D “Moby Dick”, B-25D “Madam X”, B-25C “Stinky”, an awards ceremony for the 89th Bg at Kila drome in December 1942, Lt. Walter Beane with 2 crewmen beside his shark mouth decorated P-38, 2 crewmen in cockpit of an Wirraway A-20, General Douglas MacArthur visiting New Guinea.
Color illustrations (not said if photos or paintings) show;
The cover art, two No. 6 Kokutai Model 32 Zeros patrolling over a flotilla of IJN destroyers, two Warhawks flying low over jungle, a model 32 Zero and an Airacobra dogfighting, a Zero attacking a B-25 with “Battlin Biffy”on its nose, IJN sailors waving from a destroyer to a D3A1 flying over, a Zero attacking a B-17 and 2 IJN Ki-46 Dinah’s flying above the clouds.
Color side view profiles show:
An A6M3 Model 32 Zero that is medium-green overall with a black cowling, white spinner, red ball roundel, followed by a red chevron around the fuselage and red 0-122 outlined in white on the rudder, with No,3 Ku at Rabaul.
A 33rd BG B-26 that is olive-drab over light blue bottom, with “Shittengitten” in white on the side of its nose and yellow rudder tip.
A Tainan Ku Model 31 Zero that is overall light-green with a black cowling and white spinner. It has a red ball roundel, followed by a diagonal red fuselage band, 2 horizontal narrow bands with red V-108 between them on the rudder.
A No. 41 Ku D3A1 Val that is overall light-green. It has white serial no. 31-212 on the rudder sides.
A C-47 that Is overall olive-drab, with “Swamp Rat” on its nose in yellow over an image of a white rat. It was with the 6th TCS.
A 8th FS British P-40E-1 that is in a wave pattern camouflage of two shades of green, with a light blue under-carriage and a black and yellow spinner, It has black V V V V V over yellow Jerry 43 on the side of its nose and a blue roundel with white star on it on the fuselage sides.
A Japanese Val dive bomber that is medium-green with a light green cowling over a light green under-carriage. It has a yellow chevron around the fuselage and white serial no. T3226 on the rudder and Japanese red ball roundels under its wings.
A P-38F with the 39th FS. It is olive-drab, over a light blue under-carriage. It has a white no. 11 on the sides of its nose and on the rudder sides, a small blue roundel with white star on fuselage sides. On one side of its nose there is a light red circle with a black panther’s face on it over “Les”.
A Nakajima Model 1 Ki-54 Hayabusa of the headquarters chutai, 11 Sentai, in overall light-green, it has a red roundel outlined in white followed by a narrow white fuselage band. There is a diagonal blue stripe across its rudder.
The book ends with a 9 page APPENDICES, 3 pages of SOURCES & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and 7 pages of INDEX OF NAMES, MILITARY UNITS AND SHIPS.
This is one nifty book. It will be of great interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the N. American distributor of Avonmore Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.