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One of the lesser known roles for the P-38 was recon service. The dad of a gal I kind of had a crush on growing up had been a P-38 recon pilot in WWII. He did some of the photo recon for the assault on Monte Cassino, as he demonstrated by showing me the pics. Also grabbed a good one of the Leaning Tower later in the war. One hell of a man: shot down twice behind German lines, wounded both times (once in the head), escaped land pursuit to return to our lines and fight again. Takes quite a guy to get two Purple Hearts flying an airplane that doesn't have any weapons. He's the kind of person that won that war.
It was a detachment of P-38s that tracked down and shot down the plane Adm. Yamamoto was in. It was used extensively in the Pacific Theater, more so than Europe, and was the plane Richard Bong, 40 kills, flew.
It was a detachment of P-38s that tracked down and shot down the plane Adm. Yamamoto was in. It was used extensively in the Pacific Theater, more so than Europe, and was the plane Richard Bong, 40 kills, flew.
At the rate Yamamoto was screwing up they should've left him alive.
The "forked-tailed devil" was coined as the nickname of the US P-38 by the GERMAN Luftwaffe, not the Japanese although most P-38's patrolled the Pacific theater during WW2.
At the rate Yamamoto was screwing up they should've left him alive.
At the time of his death in April of 1943 the Japanese were in gradual retreat and the war was lost to them.Yamamoto was opposed to war with America early on,and followed orders from superiors.The death of the master planner of the Pearl Harbor attack was a morale booster for us and a blow to Japan.Yamamoto was a top warrior,and his death very likely shortened the war and saved American lives.He had been given an impossible task to do,and fortunately for us,failed.
The "forked-tailed devil" was coined as the nickname of the US P-38 by the GERMAN Luftwaffe, not the Japanese although most P-38's patrolled the Pacific theater during WW2.
DING DING
We got a winner. She also came in Black with Radar.
She was the most feared of all American
War Birds, Mustang is a close second.
DING DING
We got a winner. She also came in Black with Radar.
She was the most feared of all American
War Birds, Mustang is a close second.
The Lightning was a fine plane, but I think you may be overstating the case.
The Lightning was the only fighter that had the range to escort heavy bombers deep into the continent during the early phases of the 8th AF's campaign. During this time the P38 offered the only resistance the Luftwaffe fighters ecountered as they feasted on the bomber formations, hence the germans disdain for the aircraft.
Later it was superceeded in this role the P51 and, to a lesser extent the P47.
IMHO the P38 was bested by several US aircraft during the war, including the P51, P47 in the USAAF and the F4U and F6F in the USN. The P38 was a prewar design that held up well and had several advantages due to its twin engine design (range, payload, speed), but by 1945 it was a second teir fighter.
At the time of his death in April of 1943 the Japanese were in gradual retreat and the war was lost to them.Yamamoto was opposed to war with America early on,and followed orders from superiors.The death of the master planner of the Pearl Harbor attack was a morale booster for us and a blow to Japan.Yamamoto was a top warrior,and his death very likely shortened the war and saved American lives.He had been given an impossible task to do,and fortunately for us,failed.
Yamamoto screwed up the Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns with his indecision and piecemeal counterattacks. He was a poor strategist and organizer who is overrated by Americans much in the same way the Brits overrate Rommel---it doesn't look so bad when you're whipped if you're whipped by a "genius".
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