Customer Reviews

Sharks over China: The 23rd Fighter Group in World War II

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I always wanted to be a fighter pilot. When I was young I read "God Is My Co-Pilot" and imagined myself in China with the Flying Tigers (AVG). That book ends with the author (Robert L. Scott) still in China, and I always wondered what happened afterward.

Carl Molesworth's book does just that. Utilizing information gathered from diaries, interviews, and official war records, he presents a detailed and personal history of the 23rd Fighter Group, from it's creation after the dissolution of the famous AVG, to the end of World War II.

The book is very detailed, presenting a seeming blow-by-blow account of the air war in China as the 23rd Fighter Group fought it. There are stories of the various missions they flew, the hardships they endured, and the amazing feats they performed as one of the most undersupplied units of the war. At the same time the book is very personal, with many anecdotes and stories. There are quite a few photos of the pilots and their planes as well, a major plus.

The text is well written, flows smoothly, and keeps the reader's interest from start to finish. While reading it was very easy to imagine that I was in China with them, behind the stick of my very own P-40. This is a book that any lover of war or aviation stories will enjoy.

"Sharks Over China" is a great book for any historian or anyone who likes war stories. This book details the true account of the fight in China in WWII after the Flying Tigers disbanded. You hear about Europe and the Pacific quite often, but few TV shows or books bring up the fight in China. It is an interesting scenario as US and Chinese forces tried to put the vice on Japan as the Allies were taking back the Pacific. If any historian ever wondered what happened to the AVG and the fight in China, this book answers them. The US finally took control and expanded Chennault's tools. Unfortunately you find out that the campaign still didn't receive everything it needed to defeat the Japanese. I urge anyone to buy this book, you'll enjoy it. "God Is My Copilot" is good to read about thte AVG, and this book will pick up where Col. Robert L. Scott left off.

Judging by his other Amazon.com offerings, Carl Molesworth has spent a lot of time researching the Curtis P-40 and the men who flew it in Asia,the Pacific and the Mediterranean. SHARKS OVER CHINA is a solid account of the one the most celebrated -- and one of the most obscure -- fighter units of the U.S. Army Air Forces.

General Claire Chennault's American Volunteer Group, the "Flying Tigers," won great fame and recognition for its relatively short time in combat (December 1941 -- July 1942) against the Japanese Army's air units in southern China and Burma. But the AVG was disbanded early in July 1942, to be replaced by a green Army Air Forces outfit, the 23rd Fighter Group. (A handful of AVG pilots and other personnel stayed on for a few weeks to help acclimate the new guys.) Although the 23rd FG inherited the Flying Tiger legend (e.g., retaining the famous "shark mouth" decoration on their P-40s), the considerable exploits of the 23rd's AAF regulars never garnered the media attention accorded to the mercenary swashbucklers (or so the image was promoted) of the AVG. Operating in the World War II backwater that was China, the 23rd was overshadowed by AAF fighter groups operating in more accessible (and more highly publicized) theaters of war.

But the 23rd FG was the principal U.S. combat unit (of any of the services) in China from July 1942 on. Despite a constant shortage of gasoline and other supplies (everything had to be flown in from India) and the loss of some principal airfields to Japanese ground attacks in 1944-45, the 23rd FG and other units of Chennault's 14th Army Air Force aggressively carried the war to the Japanese in eastern China from 1942 until war's end. They not only tied up thousands of Japanese personnel and hundreds of aircraft that might have been used against Allied forces elsewhere, but the 23rd FG and the rest of the 14th AAF severely inhibited Japanese shipping and ground transport in a crucial area of the empire. The difficulties of the war the 23rd FG fought, and the great success that the group enjoyed under these trying conditions, are well-portrayed in SHARKS OVER CHINA.

Molesworth has produced a thorough chronicle of the 23rd's operations from July 1942 through August 1945. If you are looking for facts and figures on the 23rd's major missions, this is the place to find them. He also deftly incorporates personal accounts from contemporary combat reports and dozens of later interviews and letters with participants. There also are some informative appendices.

Two major quibbles: There isn't much here from the Japanese perspective, except in the most general sense. (There's a decent bibliography but almost all the sources are American.) And, to be frank, the litany of missions flown by the 23rd tends to grow stale after a time, at least as as reading experience. Although Molesworth takes pains to create short portraits of the 23rd's commanders and most successful pilots, the overall narrative grows a bit repetitive after a time. Interestingly, there also is little presence of Chennault in this book, though this accurately reflects his overall role as commander of the 14th AAF. The 23rd's squadrons usually operated from widely scattered bases, and the group and squadron COs were of far more influence and significance.

Those with an interest in WWII air operations, or the war in China, will find this book indispensable, however. It provides an appropriate continuation of the AVG story (best told by Daniel Ford in FLYING TIGERS) and complements Molesworth's WING TO WING, an account of the Chinese-American Composite Wing (manned by both Chinese and American aviators). It isn't the most scintillating or insightful military history I've read, but Molesworth covers his subject quite well.

It is about the Air Force in China primarily after the break up of the Chenault Flying Tigers. Much of it is personal reminices of the men who flew during those years to he end of the war. However there are gaps. For example the group that flew the P-38 are hardly considered at all, for maybe they weren't felt to be a part of the operation.It is a shame for they undoubtedly contributed a great deal.It is about a couple of squadrons in particular, probably because the author had contact with these men. A broader view would have been more helpful. An interesting view never the less and a story that is largely forgotten in the history of the war.

I love true war stories. This one doesn't flow real smooth though. Very "Diary" like and not a real mix of characters and activities. Much more direct or clinical but I did enjoy the stories.