The first US fighter group to see any significant action in the European theater was the 4th. This unit was made up of men and aircraft already in the UK with the RAF as the 'Eagle' squadrons. Thought their reputation outweighed their actual achievements, the men of the Eagle Squadrons were already combat veterans, something the USAAF badly needed as it struggled to get up to speed. So it was that the fighter branch of the Army Air Force went to war flying Spitfires.

Of course, these aircraft were soon replaced by American planes, and it was quite a transition from the nimble Spitfire to the huge and powerful P-47C Thunderbolt. To say that many had their reservations about things would be putting it mildly, but once the pilots saw how fast and heavily armed it was, the opinions changed. Of course, it was a pig when it came to climbing and it couldn't maneuver quite as well as the Spitfire, but it was rugged and enemy planes just fell apart under the mass firepower of its 8 .50 caliber guns.

As the war progressed, the unit transitioned to the Mustang, much due to the politicking of Col. Don Blakeslee who had seen how well the Mustang performed and who was frustrated by the Thunderbolt's lack of range. Despite the Top Brass's heel-dragging regarding the Mustang ("It wasn't designed for us and we shouldn't use it"), he was successful in getting the Merlin powered plane into the hands of US pilots and the rest is, as they say, history.

In his book on the 4th Fighter Group, author Chris Bucholtz takes us through the formation and eventual success of one of the USAAF's premiere fighter groups and the famous pilots that were part of it. Names like Beeson, Gentile, Blakeslee, Hofner, Godfrey and others have become well known to enthusiasts as well they should. Here are the stories of some of their most memorable feats and some of their disasters as well. All of this is superbly illustrated with period photographs of the men and their machines as well as the profiles of artist Chris Davey.

Here is a book about some of the best in the USAAF during that time. A book that is a great read and one that I can most highly recommend to you.

December 2008

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