PTO Book Collection

CP_Admin · April 3, 2023

Dear Pilots,

Here are the books we have in our collection that pertain to the PTO. If you know of more that would be helpful to our cause please share or feel free to contact us.

The Combat Pilot Team

[List Goes Here]

wheelsup_cavu · May 19, 2023

If your plans include doing the Yamamoto mission (Operation Vengeance) at some point in the future these books should help.

Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II - Good (released in 2020)

Dead Reckoning: The Story of How Johnny Mitchell and His Fighter Pilots Took on Admiral Yamamoto and Avenged Pearl - OK (released in 2020)

Attack on Yamamoto - still reading (released in 1993)

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These threads of mine also have links to websites with data on the mission.

Wheels

Trooper117 · May 19, 2023

Must haves for Pacific War reading...

Shattered Sword, the untold story of the battle of Midway. (Johnathan Parshall and Anthony Tully).

Guadalcanal, the definitive account. (Richard B Frank).

Bloody Shambles book series (Grub Street) Christopher Shores and Brian Cull with Yasuho Izawa.

Samurai!, (Saburo Sakai).

The Kamikaze Hunters (Will Iredale) From a British perspective, Royall Navy accounts, a great true story.

Japanese Aircraft of WWII (Basil Collier)

Majakowski · May 19, 2023

"Eyes of the Fleet: The U.S. Navy's Seaplane Tenders and Patrol Aircraft in World War II" by David Bruhn

"Stay the Rising Sun" by Phil Keith

"Every Day A Nightmare" and "Doomed At The Start" both by William Bartsch

"Kokoda Air Strikes" by Anthony Cooper

"Pacific Payback" by Stephen Moore

"A Dawn Like Thunder" by Robert Mrazek

"Clash Of The Carriers" by Barrett Tillman

"Battle Of The Bismarck Sea" by Lex McAuley

Trooper117 · May 19, 2023

Just to add to my list above... 3 titles from the Janes aircraft series of books on WWII aircraft... these are very large books with epic illustrations from Rikyu Watanabe.

Includes the aircraft history, cockpit layouts, version history and technical details.

Gambit21 · May 20, 2023

Guadalcanal...Richard B. Frank.

Already mentioned...but this is THE PTO book...read it 3 times.

You'll want Guadalcanal immediately.

Fire in the Sky by Eric Bergerud

Pacific Air by David Sears

spreckair · May 20, 2023

One of my favorites is "Ragged, Rugged Warriors" by Martin Caidin. Recounts the dramatic Pacific/Asia air battles from 1937 to the Battle of Midway in 1942. It has some really great chapters on the air war in China before Pearl Harbor. This is a period of time when the Japanese forces ruled, and the allied forces were barely holding on. This would be a really interesting time period for a simulation to capture.

Black-Witch · May 20, 2023

Of all my Pacific books the most detailed and interesting is...

The First team. Pacific Naval Air combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway.

The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway eBook : Lundstrom, John B: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Hailed as one of the finest examples of aviation research, this comprehensive 1984 study presents a detailed and scrupulously accurate operational history of carrier-based air warfare.

From the earliest operations in the Pacific through the decisive Battle of Midway, it offers a narrative account of how ace fighter pilots like Jimmy Thach and Butch O'Hare and their skilled VF squadron mates--called the "first team"--amassed a remarkable combat record in the face of desperate odds.

Tapping both American and Japanese sources, historian John B. Lundstrom reconstructs every significant action and places these extraordinary fighters within the context of overall carrier operations. He writes from the viewpoint of the pilots themselves, after interviewing some fifty airmen from each side, to give readers intimate details of some of the most exciting aerial engagements of the war.

At the same time he assesses the role the fighter squadrons played in key actions and shows how innovations in fighter tactics and gunnery techniques were a primary reason for the reversal of American fortunes.

After more than twenty years in print, the book remains the definitive account and is being published in paperback for the first time to reach an even larger audience.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Black-Witch

Amiral Crapaud · May 20, 2023

Lundstrom's works are absolutely seminal works. I'll add that his biography of Frank J. Fletcher, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral is an excellent companion to the First Team, with a larger, command-related PoV.

Another series that is worth a look is everything authored by Michael Claringbould & Peter Ingman related to the Pacific. The newest, freshest dope there is about the topic, by far. These can all be found in here:

https://avonmorebooks.com.au/

Edited May 20, 2023 by Amiral Crapaud

javelina · May 21, 2023

On 5/20/2023 at 4:10 AM, Amiral Crapaud said:

Lundstrom's works are absolutely seminal works. I'll add that his biography of Frank J. Fletcher, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral is an excellent companion to the First Team, with a larger, command-related PoV.

Another series that is worth a look is everything authored by Michael Claringbould & Peter Ingman related to the Pacific. The newest, freshest dope there is about the topic, by far. These can all be found in here:

https://avonmorebooks.com.au/

thanks for the info, will definitely check them out!

FurphyForum · May 22, 2023

Although a bit old, they are an invaluable source of reference.

Bobo · May 22, 2023

Very interesting study of Sentai tail markings and unit devices.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Bobo

Bobo · May 22, 2023

And Lundstrom's second 'First Team' book on the Guadalcanal campaigns. Picks up the minute after the first book ends.
All of his work is second to none.