Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific

Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific

Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific

Check Six!: A Thunderbolt Pilot's War Across the Pacific

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Overview

“Makes you proud to be an American . . . a wonderful, fast-paced read, and I highly recommend it for any World War II aviation enthusiast” (Military Review).

There were no mission limits for a pilot in the Pacific during World War II; unlike in Europe, you flew until it was time to go home. So it was for James “Jug” Curran, all the way from New Guinea to the Philippines with the 348th Fighter Group, the first P-47 Thunderbolt outfit in the Pacific.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Curran volunteered to try flying in the blue yonder and trained as an Army fighter pilot. He got his wish to fly the P-47 in the Pacific, going into combat in August 1943, in New Guinea, and later helping start the “Black Rams” fighter squadron. The heavy US Thunderbolts were at first curious to encounter the nimble, battle-hardened Japanese in aerial combat, but soon, the American pilots gained skill of their own and their planes proved superior. Bombers on both sides could fall to fighters, but the fighters themselves were eyeball to eyeball, best man win.

Check Six! is an aviation chronicle that brings the reader into flight, then into the fight, throughout the Pacific War and back. This work, from someone who was there, captures the combat experience of our aviators in the Pacific, aided by pertinent excerpts from the official histories of units that “Jug” Curran flew with.

“Jim Curran is not afraid to share his moments of fear and emotions during the air battles with his readers which gives the book an extra dimension.” —AviationBookReviews.com

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781612003009
Publisher: Casemate Publishers (Ignition)
Publication date: 01/10/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 352
Sales rank: 228,959
File size: 4 MB

About the Author

Terrence G. Popravak, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, and served in the US Air Force for nearly 24 years at Stateside bases and overseas, retiring in 2010. He is a volunteer historian with the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Fighter Wing and frequently writes on the unit’s history, in addition to writing several aviation/military history web logs.

Table of Contents

Dedication 7

Foreword 9

Preface 12

Acknowledgments 13

Introduction 17

Part 1 Getting to the War 19

1 The War Begins 21

2 Pilot Training 28

3 The Long Journey to the Pacific 41

Part 2 War in the Pacific 53

4 Into the Fight 55

5 R&R in Australia 90

6 Fighting "Westward 96

7 Wakde 120

8 With the Black Rams 144

9 Leyte 168

10 Into December 198

11 Tanauan 226

12 San Marcelino 249

Part 3 Pacific Aftermath 269

13 Getting Home 271

14 Home from the War 281

15 Flying Again 285

Epilogue 294

Appendix 1 USAAF Pilot's Issue Flying Gear 298

Appendix 2 Pidgin English Phrases used in SWPA 299

Appendix 3 Credit for Destruction of Enemy Aircraft, 25 October 1943 301

Appendix 4 348th Fighter Group Air Combat Intelligence Report, 2 February 1944 302

Appendix 5 341st Fighter Squadron Statistical Data for May 1944 304

Appendix 6 Notes from Charles Lindbergh Lecture on P-47 Operations 306

Appendix 7 460th Fighter Squadron Monthly "A" to "L" Report for November 1944 309

Appendix 8 Unit Narrative Combat Report, 10 December 1944 311

Appendix 9 Press Release by Fifth Air Force to All Correspondents, circa May 1945 313

Appendix 10 Awards and Decorations of fames C. Curran 314

Appendix 11 A Brief History of the 460th Fighter Squadron 317

Appendix 12 460th Fighter Squadron Combat Losses in World War II 323

Glossary 327

Bibliography 328

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