South Pacific Air War Volume 1: The Fall of Rabaul December 1941 - March 1942 [Paperback]

This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, during which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence. As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight. However it was the supreme power of aircraft carriers that had the biggest impact. Four Japanese fleet carriers facilitated the capture of Rabaul over a devastating four-day period in January 1942. The following month, the USS Lexingtons fighter squadron VF-3 scored one of the most one-sided victories of the entire Pacific War. By March 1942 the Japanese had landed on mainland New Guinea, and the scene was set for a race to control Port Moresby.This is the full story of both sides of an air war that could have been won by either incumbent, but for timing, crucial decisions and luck.This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, during which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence. As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight. South Pacific Air War definitely weaves together many different threads, especially highlighting the Japanese perspective wherever possible. It's an informative, engaging, and attractive book that will be of interest and value to anyone who wants to know more about the opening weeks of the war, especially the air war, around Truk, Kavieng, Port Moresby, Buka, Kapingamarangi, Rabaul and other southwest Pacific locales far from the global centers of population, industry, strategic resources, and military power. Recommended. The authors provide well-researched data on personnel involved on both sides. In the multivolume South Pacific Air War, Australian experts Michael Claringbould and Peter Ingman colc_