Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)In April, 1943, American code-breakers managed to learn that the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, would be making a personal visit to oversee front-line operations in the Solomons. After much careful consideration by the American commanders, most notably Admiral Nimitz, it was decided that the Americans would try to intercept Yamamoto's flight and shoot down his plane. The Americans were concerned that this mission might compromise their secret knowledge of the Japanese codes, but it was decided to proceed anyway.
Eighteen P-38 Lightning fighters lifted off from Guadalcanal early on that April morning. Led by John Mitchell, the flight flew for over 400 miles at heights no greater than 50 feet above the water. It was the longest fighter intercept mission of the war. A 'killer group" of four P-38s was assigned to attack the Betty bombers which were carrying Yamamoto and his staff. Among the hunter group were Tom Lanphier, Rex Barber, Besby Holmes, and Ray Hine.
Once the dogfight began, the sky became a crowded mass of planes fighting for their lives. In the end, Yamamoto's bomber, along with the other Betty bomber, were shot down and Yamamoto was killed, but this is where the controversy began. Each pilot in the hunter group claimed responsibility for shooting down Yamamoto. Who actually did it? In the end, it was accepted that Tom Lanphier shot down Yamamoto, but author Donald Davis does a remarkable job of piecing together each pilot's story and sheds enough doubt to question Lanphier's claims.
This is an excellent work of military history. Donald Davis does a fine job of describing Yamamoto's life as a young militatry attache in Washington during the 1920s as well as the meticulous planning for the Pearl Harbor attack and the failures of Midway and Guadalcanal. The reader gets a true sense of what Yamamoto was like; a reluctant admiral who knew that fighting a war against the United States would lead to ultimate defeat for Japan.
The story of the intercept flight, dogfight, and aftermath is some of the most exciting reading that I've read. The reader gets the sense of being in the cockpit of one of the P-38s on the fateful mission, and the aftermath, with its many individual claims and the subsequent near-disaster of the revealing that we had indeed broken the Japanese code, are presented with extreme realism and action. I highly recommend this great book. The action is fast-paced and the story reads like an action novel. Read this excellent work and learn how a million-to-one mission came together in the skies over the Pacific.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Lightning Strike: The Secret Mission to Kill Admiral Yamamoto and Avenge Pearl Harbor
0 comments:
Post a Comment