Central Pacific 1943-45

The little-known history of the Hawaii-based Seventh Air Force's war as it fought in all the major island campaigns from the Gilberts and Marshalls to the Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Rebuilt after being shattered at Pearl Harbor, the Hawaii-based Seventh Air Force was assigned responsibility for the new Central Pacific Area, which (bar Midway) was then very quiet. But when the Navy began its counteroffensive in late 1943, Seventh Air Force was sent into action as the USAAF's contribution to the Central Pacific. In this book, military historian Brian Lane Herder details Seventh Air Force's part in the Pacific War, actions long overshadowed by the Navy's carrier war. He explains how Seventh Air Force fought in all the major 1943–45 Central Pacific campaigns – the Gilberts, Marshalls, Marianas, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. As each island fell, and sometimes with the airfield still under Japanese fire, a detachment flew ashore to provide organic air defense and to start attacking the next targets. The Seventh provided a major part of the airpower at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and as the end of the war approached, its P-51s and P-47s then flew ultra-long-range B-29 escort missions. Researched almost entirely from primary sources, this book is spectacularly illustrated with many unpublished photos, original artwork, maps and 3D diagrams. It is a long-overdue account of Seventh Air Force's unjustly overlooked Pacific War campaign.