The PBY is not getting much love in the comments. It was an old war horse that did just about everything that was asked of it. It found the Bismark in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It fought well every theater. It was the first MAD equipped plane. It was a handsome ship too. I know the...
The F4F/FM Wildcat/Martlet was the only fighter suitable for operation off of CVEs. It would not have been obsolete until the widespread introduction of the F8F Bearcat with its shortdeck capabilities.
I'd like to get back on point a little bit. Not that the liberation of the Philippines isn't a fascinating subject, if for no other reason than my old man liberated them and he even had a bit of ribbon to prove it.
First of all I don't think the atomic bombs were universally seen as war...
Achieving strategic objectives quickly with low casualties. Allied forces captured Manila, Manila Bay, Subic Bay and Clark Airfield. IJA forces retreated into the hills where they were contained by PI and US forces. For all the strategic effect these troops had, they might as well been in a...
Dave -
What do you have against "Dugout" Doug? The defense of the Philippines was horrific but he learned from his mistakes and I always thought his campaign in the SW Pacific and the liberation of the Philippines were well conducted. He was a prima donna that made Montgomery and Patton...
One way to look at the decisiveness of the battle is to examine the consequences of a Japanese victory. The IJA did not have the ability to exploit a victory at Imphal. The offensive was supported over jungle trails and any advances would have lengthened the tenuous Japanese supply lines while...
It wasn't just fear of the Gestapo, there was hate for the terror flieger. Thousands of German civilians were killed by allied bombers. An allied flyer shot down over the Reich could expect to be abused or killed by the locals rather aided in escape.
Flyboy, I did not mean to imply that inflight refueling would have been easy, just that it was doable, had been done, and was planned to be done on a relatively large scale with technology that was available during the war.
As far as "experienced" RAF aircrews I did not have any...
I must respectfully disagree with Flyboy. In flight refueling was practical for large aircraft during the war. The hose and reel system was used pre-war to refuel Short Empire flying boats which was a large a/c by any standard. The first generation system required the fueling aircraft to...
I did not mean to imply that it is impossible to refuel single engine a/c in flight, just stating that it presents design issues. The US Army refueled DH-4s in flight during the 1920s so it definitely can be done.
It was practical in WWII. A British company called Flight Refueling Ltd. developed a reasonably practical system before the war and the RAF was planning to use the system for refueling Lancs in the PTO. The USAF used an improved version of the system in 1949 to fly B-50 around the world...
Vichy France and the UK did not play well together. Most importantly was Mers-el-Kebir where the RN shot up the French fleet, killing nearly 1,300 French sailors. There were also the invasion of Lebanon and Syria and the attempted invasion at Dakar. To Vichy and most of her military the UK...
There is some interesting data at 8th Air Force Combat Losses in World War II ETO Against the AXIS Powers on casualties by crew postion. this data seems to indicte that the top turret was the safest position in the ship. High POW numbers indicate (to me anyway) ability to survive serious damage...
No love for Mavis and Emily? These Kawanishi sisters were the IJN's primary PBs during the war. I feel it's fair to lump them together because the two types totaled less than 1000 made. They fought from the Aleutians to the Solomons. The IJN's capacity to fight would have been significantly...