Customer Reviews

Fortress Against The Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress In The Pacific

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Gene Salecker has written an action-filled account of B-17 operations in the Pacific. Unlike their more famous counterparts in Europe, this was a rag-tag war. More B-17s were lost in one-day missions in Europe than were operational any day in the entire Pacific Theatre. What makes this book particularly engaging is the support of first-hand accounts from diaries or interviews. Nearly every event is enlivened with recollections and personal anecdotes. Some elements of the story benefit from research into Japanese records as well. A weakness, however, is that many of the personal recollections are obviously exaggerated. Countless times crews return with overly enthusiastic accounts of enemy fighters shot down or shipping destroyed. High level bombing of ships at sea was a total failure. General Kenney ordered skip bombing and low level tactics in New Guinea, which improved results, while the Espiritu Santo crews continued dumping bombs in the ocean. Army Air Force B-17 crews claimed three carriers sunk at the Battle of Midway. Salecker clarifies such obvious errors but lets other recollections stand. (I wonder if the exaggerated reports from the Pacific reinforced 8th Air Force planning to send unescorted bombers over Europe.) The author offers scant information on Japanese units, their leaders, or their personal accounts. The contrast with European operations is stunning. From the early defeats in the Philippines and Java to the shoestring existence in Australia, maximum effort missions were lucky to involve six or ten aircraft. Crews lived in makeshift accommodations with swarms of insects, disease, poor food, and lack of spare parts. They battled furious tropical storms as much as the enemy and flew incredibly hazardous missions, often at night. Their planes were battle-worn and flew without fighter protection. Even when replacement aircraft dribbled in, the 21,000 mile journey through Africa and India from the US meant they arrived in need of overhaul. So few were the planes, the author uses tail numbers, 41-2616, to identify aircraft and an appendix lists the fate of each one. We get to know these crews and their bombers quite well and are saddened at losses, such as when Major Sewart is riddled with machine gun fire, or other familiar crews lost. These guys were military before Pearl Harbor was attacked and few survived. Salecker does a nice job of balancing the complex stories of the Solomon Islands and New Guinea campaigns. By mid-1943, B-17s were phased out in favor of the longer range B-24s and, eventually, B-29s. But the desperate, early days in the Pacific are recounted here. Congratulations to the author for giving this overlooked story, and these gallant, overlooked men, the attention they deserve.

I have been waiting for years for a book with this type of detail and accuracy. My father served with the 43rd BG in the South Pacific and this book put me with him during his combat missions in his B-17. This book is a MUST for any relative of someone who served with the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific.

My father served as a B-17 pilot with the renowned 435th "Kangaroo" Squadron of the 19th Bombardment Group. I have read every account available of B-17 operations in the Pacific. Gene Eric Salecker's "Fortress Against the Sun" is the most definitive and comprehensive account of the desperate early days of the air war against Imperial Japan since "They Fought With What They Had". Salecker makes extensive use of veteran interviews. His book is chock-full of new material, proving, once again, that the best histories of World War Two are still being written. I give it five stars without reservation.

Gene Salecker's Fortress Against The Sun: The B-17 Flying Fortress In The Pacific tells the war-time history of one of the most significant American aircraft to be flown in the Pacific Theater. Here also is the story of the men who flew it, fought the Japanese in it, serviced it, and lived their lives around it. Author Gene Salecker draws upon extensive primary sources for his engaging and informative narrative, including letters, diaries, postwar memoirs, government documents, and squadron histories. Fortress Against The Sun is a superbly researched, exceptionally well written and informatively presented addition to any personal, academic, or community library military history collection.

Gene Salecker has compiled perhaps the most comprehensive story of the B-17, and the men who fought in them, during the early years of WWII in the pacific theater. A long overlooked area of history, this book covers every aspect of the B-17 in the pacific, from Pearl Harbor and the Phillippines, to the later island hopping when the B-17 was replaced with the B-24. Included are storys and interviews with the men who flew the combat missions, as well as Japanese counterparts, detailed times and dates of events, and a complete serial list of all B-17's that served in the Pacific Theater. This book dominates all other books on the subject, and will probably never be topped. Great job Gene!!!!

My Father-In Law, Vernon D. Tomlinson, was the Radio Operator on the first B-17C, (40-2049) "Skipper", to arrive at Honolulu on the morning of December 7, 1941. We had many conversations about that experience before his death in 2006. Reading "Fortress Against the Sun" substaniated the information that he gave me to record for his family. "Fortress Against the Sun" also gave me a lot more information about the first WW-II Action of the B-17 Aircraft in the Pacific. Eric Salecker accomplished a very detailed book that gives a remarkable accounting. The use of the Vets brought realism to his work and makes the book a piece of captured history that should be read by those interested a timeline.

I have been looking forward to reading this book for quite some time. However, after I bought the book, I could tell right away that there were some problems with the layout. Often, the name of the chapter printed at the top of the page did not match up with the actual chapter. Also, the page numbers in the index did not match up. There were some misspelled words and an annoying word widow (page 253).

I was prepared to overlook these flaws when I read the book. However, half of the second to last chapter (Swan Song), the entire last chapter (Beyond the Pacific), and Appendix A (B-17 Combat Units in World War II) is COMPLETLY MISSING. The text actually ends in the middle of a sentence (page 381) and goes straight to Appendix B (page 382).

I applaud the author's effort and the book was very interesting, but the presentation by the publisher was very poor. There may be other complete editions of the book out there but be aware that you buy this book at your own risk. You may get an edition like mine that will be missing the ending.