Air Warfare Part 1: United States

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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS
Volume 2
AIR
WARFARE
Part 1: United States
Ray Merriam
Editor
WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS 2
BENNINGTON, VERMONT
2013
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2 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
First Edition published in 2013 by the Merriam Press
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Copyright © 2013 by Ray Merriam
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 3
Original Curtiss XP-40 prototype with belly radiator scoop.
Curtiss XP-40, 38-10, original form with radiator beneath
fuselage.
Curtiss XP-40 Tomahawk
as modified with chin radiator, modified exhaust
stacks and revised undercarriage.
Curtiss XP-40 in final
configuration.
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4 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Curtiss XP-40, 38-10, final form with radiator beneath nose.
Curtiss XP-40 Tomahawk prototype, October 1938.
Early Curtiss P-40 showing production
pattern landing gear and radiator
scoop.
Curtiss P-40N Warhawk during alignment of guns.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 5
P-40, 35th Pursuit
Squadron, 8th Pursuit
Group, Selfridge Field,
Michigan, early 1941.
Curtiss P-40,
55th Pursuit
Squadron,
20th Pursuit
Group.
Curtiss P-40,
79th Pursuit
Squadron,
20th Pursuit
Group.
Curtiss P-40,
Squadron
Leader’s
aircraft, 33rd
Pursuit
Squadron.
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6 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Early production Curtiss P-40 with
pre-war USAAF insignia and wing
guns.
Curtiss P-40, 35th Pursuit
Squadron, 8th Pursuit
Group, lacks wing guns.
Squadron insignia (black
cougar) has been painted
out.
A P-40C (two wing guns) of
the 65th Pursuit Squadron,
57th Pursuit Group, which flew
the Curtiss fighters for U.S.
East Coast defense in early
1942.
Curtiss P-40C, 77th
Pursuit Squadron.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 7
Curtiss P-40F with dorsal fin.
First in Africa. Brand-new Curtiss P-40F
Warhawks of the 65th Squadron, 57th
Fighter Group, in Egypt in late 1942. Each
machine has desert pink (sand) upper surfaces
with its aircraft number split by the fuselage
national insignia. The first aircraft is number
“47,” the third is number “43.”
Second fighter unit to reach Africa was the 79th Fighter
Group, late in 1942. The unit’s P-40Fs had olive drab
shadow shading over sand and this aircraft, serial number
41-14216, also has a toned-down fuselage star, along
with the “X” prefix to the aircraft number, which identified
the group and the 86th Fighter Squadron respectively.
The Ninth Air Force’s third and last fighter
group to enter action—again with the P-40F
Warhawk—was the 324th. Here aircraft of
the 314th Fighter Squadron (serial number
41-14282 in the foreground) “beat up” a
Tunisian airfield in mid-1943.
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8 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Fully operational P-40F on a North African landing ground, 1943.
This sand and olive aircraft of the 85th Fighter Squadron, 79th
Fighter Group, carries the squadron’s “Flying Skull” insignia on the
nose
First USAAF ace in North Africa (and indeed against the Germans
and Italians on any front) was Lt. Lyman D. Middleditch of the 57th
Fighter Group. He gained the fifth of his six victories on 27
October 1942 over El Alamein, when he claimed three Bf 109s
shot down in one combat.
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk.
P-40, 33rd Pursuit Squadron,
8th Pursuit Group, Mitchel
Field, New York.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 9
P-40, 36th Pursuit Squadron, 8th Pursuit Group, flown by the
squadron CO as indicated by the two fuselage bands.
P-40
production
line.
Curtiss P-40C of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron being loaded aboard the USS
Wasp for transportation to Iceland in July 1941. This marked the initial deployment of U.S. fighters to Europe and was part of America’s attempt to
gain a measure of control over the vital sea lanes across the Atlantic.
Whereas the P-40C seen loaded aboard the USS Wasp bears
the style of national markings adopted in 1941, which added a
white star with red center and blue background on each side of
the fuselage, other aircraft of the 33rd Pursuit Squadron—as
illustrated by the one seen here on take-off from the carrier—
retained the full prewar standard of markings without national
insignia on the fuselage. In its place the aircraft illustrated
carried its squadron insignia.
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10 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
A P-40 (no wing guns) of
the 21st Pursuit Squadron,
35th Pursuit Group, in the
U.S., 1941, with squadron
command stripes around the
rear fuselage.
A P-40 with a shark mouth nose decoration is concealed by
bamboo trees at a base in India.
This early P-40 airframe was used as a
test bed by Pratt & Whitney for the R1830 radial engine, being known simply as a Hawk 81A.
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 11
Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk, 55th
Pursuit Squadron, 20th Pursuit
Group.
P-40Fs of the 65th Squadron, 57th Fighter
Group, take off from a desert airfield as the
machine in the foreground prepares to start up.
Note the “shadowed” fuselage numbers, serial
number (41-13969) in yellow on the rudder,
and bomb or auxiliary fuel tank shackle under
the center section.
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, 4114378, “Dammit,” 33rd Fighter
Group, Operation Torch, 1942.
Curtiss P-40L Warhawk, 42-10644,
33rd Fighter Group, Licata airfield, Sicily,
17 July 1943. Two North American A36A Invaders are beginning their take off
run in the background.
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12 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk, 72,
66th Fighter Squadron, 57th
Fighter Group, serviced by RAAF
personnel at Landing Ground
175 during the advance on
southern Tunisia, early 1943.
P-40, 16th Fighter Squadron, China,
October 1942.
P-40, unit unknown, possibly a training unit, USAAF.
Richard L. West, 35th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group, alongside a P-40.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 13
P-40, 54th Pursuit Group, summer 1942.
P-40.
Beginning to crate a P-40 at the factory for shipment overseas.
P-40s.
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14 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Pilots run to their P-40s during an air raid, Fourteenth Air Force, China, 9
May 1944.
Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk.
Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk, 8th Pursuit Group, Langley
Field.
Early production Curtiss P-40B
Tomahawk, 20th Pursuit Group.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 15
Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk.
Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk, USAAC.
Curtiss P-40D Tomahawk.
Curtiss P-40D Tomahawk.
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16 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Curtiss P-40D Tomahawk.
Curtiss P-40D Tomahawk.
Curtiss P-40D Tomahawk, USAAF.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 17
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, “145,” probably of a
stateside training unit.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, in RAF camouflage but with
USAAF markings.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk.
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18 • WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, “46.”
Night firing test of Curtiss P-40E Warhawk wing guns.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, pilot Maj. John Chennault, son of Gen. Claire Chennault, “Aleutian
Tigers” squadron, Unimak Island, Aleutian Islands.
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WORLD WAR II IN FOCUS VOLUME 2 – AIR WARFARE PART 1: UNITED STATES • 19
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk, pilot Maj. John Chennault, son of Gen. Claire
Chennault.
A Curtiss P-40 ready for take-off from
Umnak Island. Lieutenant Colonel John
S. Chennault, son of Gen. Claire
Chennault, was commander of a P-40
squadron in Alaska. The markings on
the planes were similar to that of his
father’s Flying Tigers in China, which
was of a tiger shark. The Alaskan
markings were of a regular tiger.
Lieutenant Colonel Chennault alongside the P-40 in which he shot down a Japanese Zero over
Kiska.
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk.
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