[PDF] Black Sheep Ace eBook

Author : Sammy Anson Pierce
Publisher : Fulton Books, Inc.
Page : 441 pages
File Size : 33,39 MB
Release : 2022-05-06
Category : History
ISBN : 163985021X

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Black Sheep Ace is the exciting life story of Sammy Alpheus Pierce, a country boy from rural North Carolina who enlisted in the Army as a private first class and was accepted to pilot training as a young, enlisted man. Upon graduation, he was promoted to the newly created rank of flying sergeant and assigned to fly fighter airplanes. During World War II, over 2,500 enlisted Army men graduated from pilot training and became flying sergeants. Sammy was one of only eighteen who shot down five or more enemy airplanes and achieved the status of ace. His memoirs recount his highs and lows during pilot training and his experiences in the 8th Fighter Squadron, one of three fighter squadrons in the 49th Fighter Group in the Pacific Theater. Sammy was forced to bail out of a P-40 Warhawk behind Japanese lines in October 1943. He was seriously injured and had to evade two thousand Japanese soldiers as well as native cannibals and headhunters to reach an Australian beachhead on the northeast coast of New Guinea. Following surgery in Sydney, Australia, Sammy returned to the United States for rehabilitation. When he returned to flying status, he became an instructor and test pilot in P-51 Mustangs, where he came closer to dying in an airplane incident than at any time in combat. Sammy was recalled to the 49th Fighter Group in October 1944 for a second tour and was again assigned to the 8th Fighter Squadron. He arrived when his squadron was converting to P-38 Lightnings in preparation for General Douglas MacArthur's return to the Philippines. Sammy recounts hell on earth at Tacloban Airfield on Leyte Island, the most difficult and dangerous days of the entire war for the pilots and personnel of the 49th Fighter Group. His memoirs take the reader through the Philippines campaign to Okinawa and, finally, the surrender of Japan.

Author : Bruce Gamble
Publisher : Presidio Press
Page : 562 pages
File Size : 16,59 MB
Release : 2007-12-18
Category : History
ISBN : 0307416941

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With their renowned squadron leader Greg “Pappy” Boyington, Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214 was one of the best-known and most colorful combat units of World War II. The popular television series Baa Baa Black Sheep added to their legend—while obscuring the truly remarkable combat record of the Black Sheep and Boyington. A retired naval flight officer and former historian for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Bruce Gamble provides a highly readable account that serves to both correct and extend the record of this premier fighting force.

Author : Bruce Gamble
Publisher : Presidio Press
Page : 533 pages
File Size : 35,82 MB
Release : 2003-03-04
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0891418016

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Black Sheep One is the first biography of legendary warrior and World War II hero Gregory Boyington. In 1936, Boyington became an aviation cadet and earned the “wings of gold” of a naval aviator. After only a short period on active duty, however, he was “encouraged” to resign from the Marine Corps due to his unconventional behavior. Remarkably, this inauspicious beginning was just the prologue to a heroic career as an American fighter pilot and innovative combat leader. With the onset of World War II, when skilled pilots were in demand, he became the commander of an ad hoc squadron of flying leathernecks. Led by Medal of Honor winner Boyington, the legendary Black Sheep set a blistering pace of aerial victories against the enemy. Though many have observed that when the shooting stops, combat heroes typically just fade away, nothing could be further from the truth for Boyington. Blessed with inveterate luck, the stubbornly independent Boyington lived a life that went beyond what even the most imaginative might expect. Exhaustively researched and richly detailed, here is the complete story of this American original.

Author : Robert W. McClurg
Publisher :
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,51 MB
Release : 2006
Category : Fighter pilots
ISBN : 9780788443039

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Whenever the fighter pilots of the Black Sheep Squadron headed out on a mission in their F4-U Corsairs, they always flew in pairs. The guy in the other plane was known as your "wingman." Incredibly, when Bob McClurg joined the Black Sheep Marine Fighter Squadron in the South Pacific theatre during WWII, he barely had any flying hours under his belt. The colorful squadron leader, Greg "Pappy" Boyington, literally took McClurg under his wing and made an Ace fighter pilot out of him. McClurg flew many missions as Boyington's wingman in the distinctive "bent-winged" aircraft. The Corsairs could really take a beating, but they often lacked critical equipment such as working compasses or radios. Outmaneuvered by the swift Japanese zeroes, they often limped back to the base. But the zeroes were fragile, and, as McClurg says, after a morning combat mission there were usually a lot fewer lunches served at the Japanese base than there had been breakfasts. Boyington's combat tactics, which are reprinted in this book, were largely responsible for the high success rate of the Black Sheep. Several books have been written about the Black Sheep, but this is the only one besides Boyington's autobiography, "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," and Frank Walton's "Once They Were Eagles." that has been written by one of the original squadron members. Thanks to a 1970s television series, the Black Sheep became a cultural icon, but the series did not give a completely accurate portrayal of the squadron, and McClurg sets the record straight. He emphasizes that these fighter pilots and their leader were not "misfits," as is commonly believed. Here is McClurg's story in his own words, with excerpts from his wartime journals accompanied by transcriptions of the actual combat reports from the National Archives, as well as several never before published photographs. A WWII aviation classic! M4303HB - $22.95

Author : Gregory Boyington
Publisher : Bantam
Page : 363 pages
File Size : 42,29 MB
Release : 2013-08-07
Category : History
ISBN : 0804150796

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Here, in his own words, is the true story of America's wildest flying hero, of his extraordinary heroism, and of his greatest battle of all—the fight to survive. The World War II air war in the Pacific needed tough men like Colonel Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep Squadron. The legendary Marine Corps officer and his bunch of misfits, outcasts, and daredevils gave new definition to “hell-raising”—on the ground and in the skies. Pappy himself was a living legend—he personally shot down twenty-eight Japanese planes, and won the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. He broke every rule in the book doing so, but when he fell into the hands of the vengeful Japanese his real ordeal began.

Author : Kari Stenman
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 159 pages
File Size : 38,53 MB
Release : 2013-06-20
Category : History
ISBN : 1472804562

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Although designed and built for the US Navy, the F2A fought in only one major US engagement, the battle of Midway, in which F2A pilots managed to shoot down a number of Japanese fighters. Soon replaced by the navy, the F2A was exported to Britain, where it was nicknamed the 'Buffalo' thanks to its stubby appearance. The British sent most of these fighters to the Far East where they were used in the defence of Singapore and Malaya. It was in the Winter War, however, that the F2A truly found a home. Calling the plane simply the Brewster, the Finnish flew it against the invading Russians. Overall 37 Finns achieved ace status flying the Brewster, and it was the Finnish fighter of choice until succeeded by the Bf 109 in 1943.

Author : Robert T. Reed
Publisher : Hellgate Press
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 19,82 MB
Release : 2006
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781555716479

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Lost Black Sheep tells two amazing stories. The first chronicles the wartime exploits of Marine Corps Ace Chris Magee, former member of the famous Black Sheep Squadron, his improbable postwar odyssey, and the surprising developments of his later years. The second describes the author's personal quest to find a man who seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth and the startling revelations that follow when he finds him.

Author : Carl Molesworth
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 97 pages
File Size : 11,96 MB
Release : 2013-01-20
Category : History
ISBN : 1472800850

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The first USAAF fighters to engage the Japanese in World War 2, a handful of P-40s rose to defend Pearl Harbor from attack on the morning of 7 December 1941. Warhawk units were also heavily involved in the ill-fated fight to stem invading Japanese forces in the Philippines and Java between December 1941 and April 1942 and again in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands between January 1943 and March 1944. This book examines The Warhawk's wartime exploits and all of its aces including 'aces-in-a-day' Mel Wheadon and Joe Lesika.