Customer Reviews

U.S. Navy Fighter Squadrons in World War II

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is hard reading. It will bring no new fans to the Navy aces of WW II and theirs squadrons. THis is like a dictionary, nothing more. THare's no sense of sequence or even a remote resemblance to a history.

This book was clearly designed as a dictionary. But even taking that into consideration, it was a disappointment, if one remembers how great books Tillmann has already written. Of course htere is plenty of data. But, due to its format, a good site in the INTERNET would have done it !!!

In my researching all the pilots who served in Fighter Squadron Fifty-One throughout its 68-year history as VF-3/3B/5/5A/51, Navy records adequately document ship/air group/squadron action reports. Lacking is the identification of the pilots who performed the actions in the victory. Barrett Tillman's book is a godsend in identifying the people - commanding officers, leading pilots, aces and their exploits. Dispite its being a reference, it is a fascinating read, cover to cover.

I hope TIllman[s next books be better than this one, in the sytle of "wILDCATS aCES OF ww II ". THis one here was a great dissappointment.

A SUPERB piece that fills a major hole in reference material on WWII Naval Aviation. This is not light reading. Mr. Tillman has compiled basic information on all Navy fighting squadrons from World War II. Content includes cruise data, ships flown from, aircraft and aces. People expecting his "normal" style of writing will probably be underwhelmed. Tillman is to be congratulated for putting out a book that the Navy Historical Office should've done decades ago. Here's hoping he does the same for the other carrier squadrons.

Great researching by Tillman didn't guarantee a great book, just a bunch of data put together. The appendix in the end are the best part. Reading it back-to-cover is impossible.

Tillman, the master of Naval aviation history, made a brave attempt to make a clear and historically correct picture about NAVY fighter squadrons in WW II and their aces but, he didn't ! THe book is "cold", in a dictionary-like style. His job was made hard, because there were duplication of squadron numbers through all the war, squadrons disabled, two squadrons using the same number with totally different teams... (unlike the USAAF). It's not to read from back-to-back.