As the first unit to fly the Merlin-engined P-51B in combat, the 354th Fighter Group adopted the nickname "Pioneer Mustang Group." Until D-Day, it escorted 8th AF heavy bombers to targets on the European Continent. The group then moved to France and supported Patton's Third Army from Normandy to Bavaria, and also participated in the Battle of the Bulge. Its pilots scored over 600 confirmed air victories, and forty-three of them became aces. This book is an almost day-to-day account of their aerial combat experiences and the "gypsy" lifestyle they and their support personnel led as they moved from one airfield to another across Western Europe.

Featuring photographs throughout, as well as special colour artwork, this volume is a concise history of this fighter group and their success. 'I think the success of the 354th as the leading group in the European theatre for aerial victories is due to several things. First was the initial training of the squadrons before deployment to England. Colonel Ken Martin nurtured the group from its infancy, and all the excellence that later showed through could be placed at his doorstep. Despite his youth, he knew how to foster teamwork and demand perfection in flying. There was nothing more important than getting the group off on the right foot. Second, our pilots were taught to fly mutual support, and practised it faithfully. There were no "hot" pilots in the 354th, only "excellent" pilots. Third, men like Glenn Eagleston gave advice and warnings about combat tactics and guarding one's tail. This prepared our pilots for lurking dangers, something the other groups may not have done.' Brigadier General James Howard, Commanding Officer of the 354th Fighter Group

Here for the first time is the story of the 356th Fighter Group which flew in the European Theater of Operations during the Second World War. This 9th Air Force unit spent over two years in England, occupying the airfield at Martlesham Heath, in the county of Suffolk. Originally entering combat flying P-47 Thunderbolts, and later switching to P-51 Mustangs, the 356th dispatched its aircraft on 407 missions across the Channel. Between the time of the first, on October 15, 1943, and the final mission on May 7, 1945, the 356th was credited with destroying 277 enemy planes. As the principle of bomber escort was strictly adhered to by the 356th's leaders, pilots of the group often had to pass up opportunities to engage enemy fighters and increase their scores. While this fact helped earn the 356th a reputation as being a "hard luck" outfit, due to their low victory to loss ratio, the gratitude and praise from the bomber crews more than offset this misnomer.

The USAAC's Tuskegee Experiment, designed to prove that African-Americans were not capable of flying combat aircraft, ironically resulted in the creation of one of the USAAF's elite units. Crewed by highly-educated and exceptionally motivated men, the 99th Fighter Squadron, led by Col Benjamin O. Davis (later joined by the 100th, 301st, and 302nd FS to form the 332nd Fighter Group), first flew ground attack missions in P-40s in North Africa and participated in the destruction and surrender of Pantelleria, off Sicily. Later, after the unit was equipped with P-51 Mustangs, the 'Redtails' began flying escort missions deep into Germany. The unit scoreboard boasted 111 aerial kills (including several Me 262 jets), 150 strafing victories, 950 vehicles and railway rolling stock destroyed, and the sinking of a German destroyer by war's end. The group were both feared and respected by the Germans, who called them the "Schwartze Voglemenschen" (Black Birdmen), and revered by others as the "Black Red-tail Angels", partly because of their distinct red-tailed aircraft, and partly because they never lost a bomber under escort to enemy attack (a feat which was unmatched by any other USAAF fighter group in World War II). The pilots of the 332nd FG attribute their success to the discipline instilled by Col Davis, who is reputed to have told them, 'If you lose a bomber, don't bother to come back.' This book will reveal the true story of the unit who rose above discrimination to achieve elite status.

Bud Anderson is a flyers flyer. The Californians enduring love of flying began in the 1920s with the planes that flew over his fathers farm. In January 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. Later after he received his wings and flew P-39s, he was chosen as one of the original flight leaders of the new 357th Fighter Group. Equipped with the new and deadly P-51 Mustang, the group shot down five enemy aircraft for each one it lost while escorting bombers to targets deep inside Germany. But the price was high. Half of its pilots were killed or imprisoned, including some of Buds closest friends. In February 1944, Bud Anderson, entered the uncertain, exhilarating, and deadly world of aerial combat. He flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in less than a year. In battles sometimes involving hundreds of airplanes, he ranked among the groups leading aces with 16 aerial victories. He flew 116 missions in his old crow without ever being hit by enemy aircraft or turning back for any reason, despite one life or death confrontation after another. His friend Chuck Yeager, who flew with Anderson in the 357th, says, In an airplane, the guy was a mongoosethe best fighter pilot I ever saw. Buds years as a test pilot were at least as risky. In one bizarre experiment, he repeatedly linked up in midair with a B-29 bomber, wingtip to wingtip. In other tests, he flew a jet fighter that was launched and retrieved from a giant B-36 bomber. As in combat, he lost many friends flying tests such as these. Bud commanded a squadron of F-86 jet fighters in postwar Korea, and a wing of F-105s on Okinawa during the mid-1960s. In 1970 at age 48, he flew combat strikes as a wing commander against communist supply lines. To Fly and Fight is about flying, plain and simple: the joys and dangers and the very special skills it demands. Touching, thoughtful, and dead honest, it is the story of a boy who grew up living his dream.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Corps was led by a cadre of officers who believed implicitly that military aviation, particularly fast heavy bombers at high altitude, would be able to destroy strategic enemy targets during daylight with minimal losses. However, by 1942 the Flying Fortress was proving vulnerable to Luftwaffe fighters. This title charts the United States Army Air Force's struggle to develop a Long-Range Escort which would enable them to achieve the Combined Bomber Objectives and gain mastery of the skies over the Third Reich. The commitment of the USAAF to the Mediterranean and European theatres saw an increasingly desperate need to find a fighter escort, which reached crisis point in 1943 as losses suffered in the Tidal Wave offensive and Schweinfurt-Regensburg-Munster raids emphasised the mounting strength of the Luftwaffe. The USAAF leaders increasingly accepted the probability of bomber losses, and the deployment of the P-51B Mustang solved the problem of Germany's layered defence strategy, as Luftwaffe fighters had been avoiding the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightening escort fighters by concentrating their attacks beyond the range of the Thunderbolt and Lightning. The P-51B duly emerged as the 'The Bastard Stepchild' that the USAAF Material Division did not want, becoming the key Long-Range Escort fighter, alongside the P-38 and P-47, that defeated the Luftwaffe prior to D-Day. As well as the P-51B's history, this title explores the technical improvements made to each of these fighters, as well as the operational leadership and technical development of the Luftwaffe they fought against.