The 12 Air Force was formed just in time to participate in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November of 1942. At the time, their equipment was the P-40F and variants along with the A-36 Mustang. The Mustang was mostly used for ground support missions where it was quite effective and much loved by its crews.

When the P-47 became available to the 12th AF, which at the time was based in southern Italy, it was not used as a high altitude fighter as it was in Northern Europe, but was developed into a ground attack aircraft. The units that were flying P-40s were glad to have the new mounts as their Warhawks were getting pretty old in the tooth and the 8 .50 caliber machine guns of the Thunderbolt was devastating against the typical target found in Italy.

This effectiveness was increased by the development of wing pylons on which 1,000 pound bombs could be carried, making it a truly effective fighter-bomber. Those who were flying the A-36 finally had to give up their faithful mounts due to a lack of spares as much as anything. They were initially not happy about flying Thunderbolts as they had hoped for new Mustangs. A bit of experience flying the P-47 soon changed their mind as the T-bolt was a truly effective ground strike aircraft, often bringing back pilots after damage that would have caused a loss of their earlier A-36s.

Even though used as ground attack in both the Italy and southern France campaigns, the Thunderbolt was still able to knock down an enemy fighter or two. Though no 12 AF pilot was credited with more than three air to air victorys, had their been a greater Luftwaffe air presence and had these units been flying more bomber escort missions, there may easily have been an ace or two.

Besides operating out of Italian bases, these units also flew from Corsica to attack targets in Southern France during the Invasion in mid 1944, before moving back to Italy where they finished the war.

In tune with other books of the series, author Jonathan Bernstein looks at the various operations flown by the many fighter groups in the 12th AF when they received their P-47s. A bit of background history on the various groups is provided as well as the usual pilot stories. These crews operated out of tents and had to suffer through both heat and rain. The latter often made airfieds into muddy quagmires or were flooded to the extent that they could not fly operations. All maintenance was also held outdoors, making it a tough life for those who worked on the aircraft. In line with others in this series, there are several pages of full color profiles of the aircraft flown by the 12th AF as well as a nice selection of period photos.

It all makes for another fine book in the Osprey Combat Aircraft series and one that no fan of the aircraft or theater should be without.

March 2012

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