The 348th Fighter Group was the most successful P-47 Thunderbolt unit in the Pacific. Medal of Honor recipient Colonel Neel Kearby took an aircraft that was generally despised in the southwest Pacific and made it into the terror of the skies over such for
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book on the 348th Fighter Group!,
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This review is from: Kearby's Thunderbolts: The 348th Fighter Group in World War II (Schiffer Military/Aviation History) (Hardcover)
Noted author John Stanaway does a marvelous job of relating the combat history of the 348th Fighter Group, the most successful P-47 Thunderbolt group in the 5th Air Force.
The 348th FG had to prove itself and its mount - Republic's awesome Thunderbolt - from the day it was assigned to General George Kenney's 5th Air Force. Kenney had needed aircraft, preferably more of Lockheed's P-38 Lightning, to defeat the Japanese. What he got was the P-47 Thunderbolt, an aircraft most 5th Air Force vets were openly contemptuous of. Fortunately, the P-47 had an ardent champion in 348th CO Colonel Neel Kearby. That the 348th did so well in the Southwest Pacific is a direct reflection on Kearby who had organized, trained and led the group through its first year of combat. Leading by example, Kearby ran up 20+ kills including a 6 kills-in-1-mission that netted him a Medal of Honor. When Kearby was kicked upstairs to 5th AF HQ, his successors - Bob Rowland and Bill Banks - continued Kearby's brand of aggressive leadership. The Group scored 326 kills, over half of all the kills credited to 5th AF P-47s, and won two DUCs. The Group had 20 P-47 aces including Rowland, Banks, Bill Dunham, Walt Benz, Sam Blair and Groge Davis, who would win a Medal of Honor flying F-86s over Korea. The Group also utilized its well-armed and armored mount in innumerable ground attack missions. In January 1945 the Group transitioned to the P-51 Mustang, adding additional kills to its combat record. The brief but exciting life of the 348th is well covered in Stanaway's book which features hundreds of photos of aircrew and aircraft along with 12 pages of color profiles of the Group's P-47 and P-51 aircraft. Although overshadowed by other, more famous 5th AF fighter groups like the 49th and 475th, the 348th established a combat record second to none and its story is ably told in this Schiffer book. Recommended! One tiny quibble: I would have liked a listing of the Group's aces in the book.
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