Customer Reviews

Wreaking Havoc: A Year in an A-20 (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series)

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"Wreaking Havoc" by Joseph W. Rutter, Sub-titled, "a Year In An A-20". Texas A& M University Press, 2004.

For many of us who were young boys during World War II, or directly after, the most famous aircraft were the big bombers: the B17 "Flying Fortress", the B24 "Liberator" and the B29 "Superfortress". The relatively small A20 "Havoc" was hardly mentioned.

This book corrects that ommission. Joseph Rutter flew the A20 "Havoc" in some 64 combat missions in the A20 in the Pacific Theatre. The author lists all 64 missions on pages xv through xxi in the preface to the his book , which is quite a personal memoir of his war. The book actually starts with his father getting the author out of bed "...at 6 A.M. on Sunday, September 3, 1939 to listen to Great Britain's declaration of war on Germany..." Page 8. The author then tells of growing up, graduating high school, going to work for the FBI, and then leaving for flight school. He learned to fly both the B25 "Mitchell" and the A20 "Havoc", but it is apparent, in my humble opinion, that Mr. Rutter really loved the A20 the best.

The book presents many details about the A20, with pictures scattered appropriately throughout the book. On page 105, the photo shows a pilot, Maury Owen, seated in an A20 cockpit. It is a tight fit. A big person, (say, the actor John Wayne, for easy identification), could never fit in the standard A20 cockpit. Rutter gives many somewhat technical details about flying the A20, including setting the manifold pressure to prevent backfiring of the engines, how to lean the gas mixture to fly the maximum distance and the proper method of firing the guns to prevent jams, and all of this material makes you understand in small fashion what it was like to live and fly in the Pacific War. Since the author was able to develop many of the pictures he snapped , he was able to bring the photos home with him. Therefore, the book is nicely illustrated with contemporary photos , including, for example, the village church at Dagupan, Luzon, the Philippines. (Page 184).

If you want a complete story of what it was like, flying and fighting in the Pacific Theater in World War II, this book is an excellent choice.

Mr. Rutter has done an outstanding job of describing his experience in WWII. He takes you from his beginings in western Penn. thru training in Colorado and North Carolina, to combat missions in New Guinea and the PI. His writing technique lets you feel that he's with you and telling you about his experience flying A-20's. It's similar to (but not quite as good as) Guy Sajer's The Forgotten Soldier.

I've rated the book as a 4 out of 5 (it's really 4.5 out of 5) because I was hoping for a little more description on his combat experience. On the plus side, he does describe several missions outstandingly (his mission straffing Clark was done very well), but unfortunatly, I'd like to have had a little more description.

The author starts the book, as happens often in this first-person war recollections as he transitions from school to war; in this case as he goes from high school to an FBI office and then, on to training, and eventually war in the Pacific theater.
His time in the war shows a Japanese enemy, spent and worn out, but still dangerous.
His description of flying missions, is accurate, down to the power settings in his A-20. As a pilot, I appreciate his narrative, and as a WW-2 buff, his descriptions of camps, and trading booze for building supplies.
The introspection of the author, as he accumulates missions, until the flight doctor strongly suggests to him that he ground himself, is in stark contrasts with the feelings expressed by other pilots in the European theater. It is interesting and educational to note how, the different scenario affects the pilots differently. I recommend also reading Eyton-Jones "Day Bomber" for a view at flying a similar plane, the A20-C Boston in the ETO

Wreaking Havoc is an outstanding book well worth the money. The author was in the 312th Bomb Group from Hollandia, New Guinea and later he flew with the 389th Squadron, until the end of the Philippines Campaign and the Formosa Campaign. This year of battle left the author with many interesting comments and views of the war. He has included a number of excellent black and white photographs. As a pilot he does explain some technical things about the Douglas A-20 Havoc. He explains these things in a very easy to understand fashion for the non-pilots among us. He correlates his story with several clear and easy to read maps. After I turned fifty years old, maps became harder to read and these maps are clear and easy to read! He also speaks of his neighbor Bomb Group the 3rd Attack Group as they call it. He has excellent insight in military matters. The author says he has attended many reunions since 1948 and has drawn not only on his own recollections but also on the recollections of his fellow pilots and offical records. He does such an excellent job that I would like to see another volume come out in the future. This book is for the most part a people book. These are real people and he explains how they deal with war from day to day. While this does have some explanations of battles he was in, this is not the focus of the book. If you want to learn the history of the Army Air Corps battles in the Pacific War you should look to another book. This book is about men, their flying machines, and war. In this context it is a very well written book that was not only fun to read but also very informative. If I was given the opportunity to turn back time and buy this book again I would buy it without question!

This book only helped me understand a little more about the A-20 from a purely technical viewpoint. There was very little combat to speak of until one big mission over the Phillipines in 1944. I was expecting some more barge hunting, attacks on sea convoys and such.

I've already read enough books on the Pacific war from a variety of campaigns to know about life during the island hopping campaigns and such. So, this book came as quite a disappointment.

Not badly written, but not really a lot to sink one's teeth into.

Wreaking Havoc: A Year In An A-20 by Joseph W. Rutter (who served with the 312th Bomb Group in the Southwest Pacific and completed 63 missions over New Guinea and the Phillippines) is the personal story of an A-208 airplane, nicknamed "the Havoc" for the damage it inflicted, during 1944 in the Pacific theater. An in-depth recounting of the horrors of war and the singular experience of piloting airborne destruction for the sake of one's country, Wreaking Havoc is a riveting testimony and a highly recommended addition to World War II and Military Aviation studies reading lists and reference collections.

My Dad flew in A-20's in 1942 and 1943 in the SWPA. He loved them. Unfortunately he did not write about his experiences. John Rutter's excellent book describes candidly and in detail what my Dad saw. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Especially since my Father served in the 417th Group, 674th Squadron as a tail Gunner in A-20s.
Dad's Stories take on new life reading this book and it's easy to imagine him being on some of the same missions that Rutter describes.

A well written book from an A-20 pilot view. J.W.Rutter was replacement pilot send to 389th Sq, 312th BG, 5th AF in 1944 and sent home after 64 missions over New Guinea and Philipines in 1945 just before 312th BG was about to rearm to B-32 Heavy bombers. In the book you can find number of very good photos of camp, planes, crews and also from plane mounted rearfacing cameras. Also included are some detailed descriptions of A-20 piloting.

The author has given us the shallowest of memoirs on his experiences as an Army Air Force pilot in the SW Pacific flying A-20G Havocs during the period July 1944-April 1945. There are lots of details about the aircraft but no sense of the man, his inner life or the emotional and physical price he paid in combat.
Fifty-plus years on Rutter is as puzzled as he was in April 1945 when Doc Walsh, the group's doctor, grounded him and suggested that he request a transfer out of combat.
The author seems incapable of the self-analysis, the self-awareness, that bring such depth and timeliness to works such as E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed" or Paul Fussell's "The Boys' Crusade".