Author: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver Publisher: Osprey Publishing Price: £30 On Sale: Out now
VIII Fighter Command of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was formed in the US in February 1942 and began to move to the UK in May. There, they were to take up a role inaround the RAF’s Eagle Squadrons, transferred to the USAAF and formed into the 4th Fighter Group, and of a small number of pilots with experience in the Far East. However, their equipment was still lacking. Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and Lockheed P-38 Lightnings (the unsung heroes of the air war over Europe) faced a long struggle against technical issues to develop the reliability and range capability to be effective escorts, and the later introduction of the North American P-51 Mustang went through a similar arc.
