Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 043 - P-40 Warhawk Aces of the MTO

thrown Into Action Following The Torch Landings Of Late 1942, The ‘green’ American Pilots Flying The Obsolescent P-40f Suffered Cruelly At The Hands Of Seasoned German Fighter Pilots Flying Superior Machines. Those That Survived Learnt Quickly, And A Handful Of Warhawk Pilots Succeeded In Making Ace By The Time The Axis Forces Surrendered In North Africa. The Action Then Shifted To Sicily And Italy, And The P-40 Remained In Service Until Mid-1944. This Book Charts The Careers Of The 23 Men Who Succeeded In Making Ace During That Time, Despite The Advent Of Much Better P-47 And P-51 Fighters. " This volume details the colourful experiences of the American P-40 pilots of the Desert Air Force and Twelfth Air Force in the North African and Mediterranean theatres during World War 2. Thrown into action in the summer of 1942, and desperately short of combat experience, the green American pilots flying obsolescent P-40Fs were at a disadvantage in aerial combat with the seasoned German fighter pilots in the superior Bf 109F/Gs and Fw 190As. However, the Warhawk soon proved to be highly effective in fighter-bomber operations, and a handful of pilots succeeded in 'making ace' by the time the Axis forces surrendered in North Africa in May 1943. The action then shifted to Sicily and Italy, where the P-40 remained in service until mid-1944, when it gave way to much better P-47 and P-51 fighters. A total of 16 USAAF fighter squadrons saw action with the Warhawk in the MTO, claiming 592 Axis aircraft shot down. Sixteen pilots scored five or more kills with the aircraft, and their exploits are all featured within this volume - thie third int the Aces series on the venerable Curtiss fighter." --Back cover The teletype in the headquarters office of the 57th Fighter Group (FG) at East Boston, Massachusetts, began to clatter on the morning of 24 June 1942 with a message from the Eastern Defense Command Headquarters, United States Army Air Force. Beretter om jageroperationer med det amerikanske jagerfly P-40 Warhawk over Middelhavsområdet under 2. verdenskrig