In early 1944 the US Navy assembled an untrained and ill-prepared fighter squadron and shipped it for immediate action in the final stage of Operation Cartwheel. This is the story of the first Fighting Squadron 34.
The First Fighting Squadron VF-34
Alone, Above All
The Photo Recon pilot had no wingman, no flight, no formation. He flew alone in radio silence for hours at a time, navigating on dead reckoning all over mainland Europe; in his unarmed Spitfire he had only its altitude and speed, along with his wits and airmanship as protection.
Hunted.
"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on." - Ulysses S. Grant
Two Weeks in January, 1945
If you read to the end, a sense of fatigue wouldn't be unexpected. It will pale though when compared to the fatigue these men must have endured. I don't know how they did it.
Mrs. Yarra’s Boys
Two brothers, two Spitfires; Ft/Lt. John Yarra and his brother, P/O Robert Yarra from rural NSW and their No.453 Sqn. Spitfires.
A Balkans Bf 109 E-4/B
Ever since I first saw a picture of the "crazy paving" camouflaged 109's of JG 54 I've wanted to make one. After many a year of procrastination, here it is...
The RCAF’s No.404 “Buffalo” Squadron
Coastal Command's war against the elements as well as the enemy as experienced by the RCAF's No.404 "Buffalo" Squadron.
Rudolf “Rudi” Müller’s Bf 109 G-2/R6 of 6/Jg5, April 1943
An old model, a new set of pictures and a potentially controversial op-ed comprise this piece on Rudolf Müller's Bf109G-2/R6.
Lt. John “Ray” Johnson’s “Fighting Cocks” P-38L-1 Sep 1944 – Mar 1945
The 13th Air Force did not fight the most glamorous of wars, theirs' was a war of ground attack, relentlessly destroying Japanese ground forces and infrastructure. They fought, not from centralized bases closely tied together, but from island bases, spread hundreds of miles apart.
No. 25 Squadron, RNZAF Piva Airfield, Bougainville, March – May 1944
This update brings to life another of the older articles, from around 2005-2006 and tells the story of No.25 Squadron RNZAF in Bougainville in mid 1944...
