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Description
This book details the operations of the USAAF's overlooked Fifteenth Fighter Command that protected the bombers during the campaign against the Romanian oil fields in World War II.
Formed in the fall of 1943, the Fifteenth Air Force was popularly known as the “The Forgotten Fifteenth,” as its achievements were overshadowed by more glamorous exploits of the Eighth Air Force in the air war over Germany. Nevertheless, the Fifteenth's contribution to Allied victory was crucial, and a vital part of that was the role played by the escorting fighter groups from the Fifteenth Fighter Command who protected the B-17s and B-24s from the Luftwaffe in the skies over Romania.
In this new history of the campaign, renowned aviation historian Tom Cleaver tells the story of the Fifteenth's air war through first-person accounts of the fighter pilots of the Fifteenth Fighter Command, including such famous units as the Red Tails – the Tuskegee Airmen – the 82nd Fighter Group and the 325th's “Checkertail Clan,” and with his ability to place wartime events in their greater context.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: “Piggyback in a P-38”
Chapter 2: The Forgotten Fifteenth
Chapter 3: The Checkertails
Chapter 4: The Ploesti Campaign
Chapter 5: The P-38's Blackest Day
Chapter 6: The Fourth Mission of “Crew 280”
Chapter 7: The Red Tails
Chapter 8: Where is the Luftwaffe?
Chapter 9: The Luftwaffe's Swansong
Chapter 10: Fifteenth's Finale
Product details
| Published | 12 Feb 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 320 |
| ISBN | 9781472865656 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Illustrations | 16-page plate section in black and white. |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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