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P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force
P-47 Thunderbolt Units of the Twelfth Air Force
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Description
The P-47 Thunderbolt, originally designed as a high-altitude interceptor, became the principal US fighter–bomber of World War II.
First adapted to the ground attack role by units of the Twelfth Air Force in early 1944, the strength and durability of the P-47 airframe, along with its massive size, earned it the nickname 'Juggernaut', which was quickly shortened to 'Jug' throughout the MTO and ETO.
By October 1943, with the creation of the Fifteenth Air Force, nearly half of the Twelfth's fighter groups would be retasked with strategic escort missions, leaving six groups to perform close air support and interdiction missions throughout the entire Mediterranean theatre. The groups inflicted incredible damage on the enemy's transport routes in particular, using rockets, bombs, napalm and machine-gun rounds to down bridges, blow up tunnels and strafe trains.
Myriad first-hand accounts and period photography reveal the spectacular success enjoyed by the Thunderbolt in the MTO in the final year of the war.
Table of Contents
Anti-shipping and Anzio
Operation Strangle
Diadem, Rome and Arno
Southern France
Rain, Mud and Mountains
Flying over the winter stalemate
The final push
Appendices
Product details
Published | Aug 20 2012 |
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Format | Ebook (Epub & Mobi) |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 96 |
ISBN | 9781780960371 |
Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
Illustrations | 80 b/w; 34 col |
Series | Combat Aircraft |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
About the contributors
Reviews
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The focus on this plane includes technical and military battle details alike, following its missions in the Twelfth Air Force and considering its tactical air involvements. Almost nothing has been written on the Twelfth Air Force fighter-bomber operations, making this focus a 'must.'
James A. Cox, The Midwest Book Review (August 2012)
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Author Jonathan Bernstein traces P-47 history as a strategic escort aircraft -- as well as a close air support and air interdiction platform. Bernstein chronicles significant contributions to Allied war efforts over Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) frontlines. The author leavens his narrative with vivid, first-hand combat accounts -- metaphorically dropping readers into Jug cockpits.
Rachel E. Veres, www.cybermodeler.com (November 2012)

Resources
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