Here is yet another Kagero unit history. This time the famous 475 FG, unit of ace Tommy McGuire (for whom McGuire AFB in New Jersy is named). This unit was equipped with the P-38 and proved to be more than the equal of the Japanese forces that faced them. It was with the 475th that Charles Lindberg shot down a hapless Ki-51 while a civilian with Lockheed. He was teaching long range fuel-saving techniques at the time.

The unit was formed in mid 1943 in New Guinea and eventually disbanded in August 1945 while on Ie Shima. During its time, it was in the forefront of the fighting on the 'spine' of New Guinea and up through the islands to the Philippines. Its last several months of action  in the P.I. were spent in ground attack missions, having run the Japanese out of the sky. The last air to air kill by the 475th was in March of 1945.

As with all Kagero publications, this one is a combination of Polish and English with excellent profiles, a goodly choice of photos and a freebie. In this case, the freebie is a Start photoetch set in both 1/72 and 1/48 that covers the instrument panel and seat harness.

You know by now that Kagero translations are not consistent. This is one of the worst I've ever tried to read. Spelling errors are rife as are such phrases as "The activity of the 475th temporarily adjourned", "..using the clouds and blaring sun..", "The third quarter of the year did not boast many combat actionings worth mentioning..".  Then there is the rather irritating tendency to put quotation marks around words like "Lightnings", "Mitchelles", "Catalins", "Oskars" and so on, including squadron names. This is a book about P-38s and their squadrons so it is very distracting. Miraculously, this disappears 67 pages into the book and the spelling improves with Mitchelles becoming Mitchells!

If you are willing to plod through the book, you can glean some interesting historical information as well as some very exciting combat actions. However, the poor translation and lack of proper editing, at least for the English portion, makes it a volume I cannot honestly recommend.

Purchased by me.

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