C-47/R4D Skytrain Units of the Pacific and CBI

Description

From Pearl Harbor to VJ-Day, the humble Douglas C-47/R4D carried out missions every bit as strategically important, and as dramatic for the aircrew involved, as those of the fighters and bombers in the vast Pacific/CBI theatres. The C-47's wartime operations paved the way for post-war military and civil air transport, proving that aircraft could safely conduct routine flights from the USA, Australia and India throughout the Pacific and South-east Asia. The flights also demonstrated how the USAAF was able to invest in, and carry out, a mission that it had barely prepared for in terms of doctrine pre-war. In addition to linking theatres, the C-47 found itself in the vanguard of combat operations on virtually a daily basis in New Guinea, Burma, the Philippines, the SWPA and China. The importance of these missions, and the dangers faced by crews tasked with carrying them out, is chronicled in numerous first-hand accounts from the aircrew involved in this unique volume on the Allies' favourite transport aircraft of World War 2.

David C Isby is an experienced author, having written or edited 20 books and over 350 articles in journals such as Jane's Intelligence Review and Air Force Monthly. His work on World War 2 military aviation includes Jane's At the Controls - The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress (London, 1999, Harper Collins) and editing three volumes of Luftwaffe accounts. He is an experienced pilot (and son of a USAAF C-47 navigator). Chris Davey has illustrated more than 20 titles for Osprey's Aircraft of the Aces, Combat Aircraft and Elite Units series since 1994. Based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, and one of the last traditional airbrush artists in the business, he has become the artist of choice for both USAAF fighters and RAF subject matter, proving his undoubted skill when dealing with large aircraft subjects such as the Halifax, Sunderland and C-47.

"David Isby has done a superlative job of piecing together what really is quite a complex history of those units that operated in the Pacific... This unique title is also ably illustrated by Chris Davey, who provides 11 pages of superb color profiles. There is material that will stir the building juices of any eager modeler. When you combine the superb prose, oustanding profiles and some of the best period photos around, this makes a book that you simply must have." --Scott Van Aken, modelingmadness.com "A specific, important title military collections will relish." --California Bookwatch (July 2007)