Thomas McKelvey Cleaver Orden de los libros

Packed with personal accounts of the action, this is a vivid narrative history of the often-overlooked USAAF campaign in North Africa and Sicily in World War II.In 1942, the Western Allies needed to take the offensive against the Axis to relieve pressure on the Soviet Union. With planning for a cross-Channel invasion beset by logistical and operational difficulties, in May 1942 President Roosevelt ordered his military leaders to prepare to support the British in the Mediterranean. This led to the first USAAF units arriving in the Middle East in July, firstly as reinforcements for the British and later as part of the Operation Torch landings in French Morocco and Algeria in October.In little over ten months from the summer of 1942, the USAAF in North Africa grew from nothing to a senior partner, providing aircraft and crews the other Allies were unable to match. The Axis forces that had controlled almost the entire southern shore of the Mediterranean had been swept from the African continent – thanks in no small part to the efforts of the USAAF.Using first-hand accounts from pilots and other aircrew, Tom Cleaver describes how the USAAF units that landed in Morocco were forced to learn their own lessons in combat with veteran Luftwaffe units, and how the experience gained in the skies over North Africa and Sicily was invaluable in developing the air forces that would dominate the skies over Europe in the latter years of the war.

A vivid narrative history, packed with first-hand accounts, of the US Eighth Air Force's VIII Fighter Command from its foundation in 1942 through to its victory in the skies over Nazi Germany.

Will resonate with readers of the The Forgotten 500 and Code Talker. The exploits, trials, disappointments, and victories of members of the American 57th Bomb Wing in WW II, including one young bombardier who would go on to write legendary WW II novel, Catch-22.

This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force's involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions Downtown, the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war. This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America's fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face of a formidable Soviet-inspired air defence system bristling with anti-aircraft guns and SAM missile sites. Beyond this, the US Air Force was intimately involved in secret air wars against Laos and Cambodia - one cannot speak of a war only in Vietnam regarding US Air Force operations

A vivid narrative history of the Solomons campaign during World War II, this account highlights a crucial turning point in the U.S. Navy's efforts against Japan in the Pacific. Following the Battle of Midway in June 1942, which halted Japanese expansion, the Battle of Guadalcanal and the subsequent campaign effectively crippled the Imperial Japanese Navy. From August 7, 1942, to February 24, 1944, when Japan withdrew its remaining units from Rabaul, the U.S. Navy faced its most challenging campaign, enduring significant personnel losses that led to years of withheld casualty figures. Unlike the Central Pacific Campaign, fought by the 'new Navy,' the Solomons campaign showcased the U.S. Navy at its lowest point, relying on ships that survived the Pearl Harbor attack and older pre-war vessels rushed to the Pacific. After the Battle of Santa Cruz in late October, only the USS Enterprise remained as the sole pre-war carrier in the South Pacific, highlighting the precariousness of American naval strength. The outcome of the campaign remained uncertain until the surge in American industrial production began to take effect. This account examines the campaign from land, sea, and air, providing a fresh perspective on the military offensive that set the stage for Allied success in the Pacific War.

The 'Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club' was a tongue-in-cheek nickname for the US Seventh Fleet stationed off Vietnam, and this book chronicles the US Naval air campaign during the Vietnam War from 1965 to 1975. It begins with the Gulf of Tonkin incident on August 2, 1964, involving the USS Maddox, which escalated America's involvement in the conflict. Supporting the Maddox were four F-8E Crusaders from the USS Ticonderoga, marking the start of the Navy's air war commitment. The narrative covers operations from the Maddox through to the fleet's withdrawal after South Vietnam's collapse in 1975. Task Force 77, part of the Seventh Fleet, operated with up to six carriers and 70-100 aircraft each, providing essential air support for ground troops and participating in major operations against North Vietnam, including Rolling Thunder and Linebacker I and II, all amid a hostile environment of flak, missiles, and MiGs. The story is enriched by dramatic first-hand accounts from participants, many gathered through interviews conducted by the author. The Vietnamese perspective is also included, utilizing official accounts of the air war. The author, who served with the Seventh Fleet at age 20, brings a personal connection to this dramatic history.

This narrative history of the Solomons campaign during World War II highlights a pivotal moment in the U.S. Navy's efforts against Japan in the Pacific. While the Battle of Midway in June 1942 halted Japanese expansion, it was the Battle of Guadalcanal and the subsequent Solomons Campaign that significantly weakened the Imperial Japanese Navy. From August 7, 1942, to February 24, 1944, the U.S. Navy faced its toughest campaign, experiencing such severe personnel losses that total casualty figures were withheld for years. Unlike the Central Pacific Campaign, which involved newer ships, the Solomons campaign relied on vessels that survived the Pearl Harbor attack and older units hastily sent to the Pacific. By late October, following the Battle of Santa Cruz, only the USS Enterprise remained as a pre-war carrier in the South Pacific, leaving the Navy vulnerable to a potential third major fleet action by Japan. Throughout much of the campaign, the outcome remained uncertain until American industrial production began to turn the tide. This account explores the Solomons campaign from land, sea, and air perspectives, providing a fresh look at the military offensive that established the foundation for Allied success in the broader Pacific War.

Now available in paperback, this is the gripping story of Task Force 77, the US Navy carrier commitment to the Korean War that was vital to the success of the UN forces battling the Chinese and North Koreans. Naval and air power were crucial to the United Nations' success in the Korean War, as it sought to negate the overwhelming Chinese advantage in manpower. In what became known as the “long hard slog,” naval aviators sought to slow and cut off communist forces and support troops on the ground. USS Leyte (CV-32) operated off Korea in the Sea of Japan for a record 93 continuous days to support the Marines in their epic retreat out of North Korea, and was crucial in the battles of the spring and summer of 1951 in which the UN forces again battled to the 38th Parallel. All of this was accomplished with a force that was in the midst of change, as jet aircraft altered the entire nature of naval aviation. This paperback edition of Holding the Line chronicles the carrier war in Korea from the first day of the war to the last, focusing on front-line combat, while also describing the technical development of aircraft and shipboard operations, and how these all affected the broader strategic situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Titled after the wartime nickname for the part of North Korea that was the epicentre of a bitter struggle for air superiority over the Korean Peninsula, MiG Alley offers an in-depth analysis of the US Air Force's war in Korea, packed with interesting and exciting personal stories based on first-person testimony from both American and Soviet sources.Following the end of the Korean War, the prevailing myth in the West was that of the absolute supremacy of US Air Force pilots and aircraft over their Soviet-supplied opponents. The claims of the 10:1 victory-loss ratio achieved by the US Air Force fighter pilots flying the North American F-86 Sabre against their communist adversaries, among other such fabrications, went unchallenged until the end of the Cold War, when Soviet records of the conflict were finally opened.Packed with first-hand accounts and covering the full range of US Air Force activities over Korea, MiG Alley brings the war vividly to life and the record is finally set straight on a number of popular fabrications. Thomas McKelvey Cleaver expertly threads together US and Russian sources to reveal the complete story of this bitter struggle in the Eastern skies.