Dead reckoning navigation in a piston-engined aircraft, in a combat situation, with limited fuel...that is enough to make a man sitting in a comfortable chair under a dry roof pucker his sphincter.
Probably the most important air/sea battle in modern combat. Certainly a turning point in the Pacific in WW2. All down here for the Japs after Midway though it was a brutal tough slug island hopping afterwards. Probably go down in history as the apex of the “Carrier” navy battle as aircraft carriers are becoming outdated due to missile technology. And I’m pretty sure most of the flying in those days was VFR (or deadheading), amazing what they pulled off without the advanced electronics of today. Enjoyed the post.
Yep no GPS. And the carriers couldn’t broadcast a homing signal. All they got is compasses and dead reckoning. And balls of steel.
The greatest generation. A thank you to each and every one, heros all.
Our history seems unbelievable sometimes. How far we’ve fallen since then. If those sailors and soldiers and aviators could see the future 2020, they would have never believed it. It seems to me that their sacrifice has been for nothing. As of now, all of the wars, all of the sacrifices and deaths since the nation’s inception were all for nothing. Although it wasn’t the Redcoats, or the Nazis or Imperial Japan that won, the damned Communists have won after all.
Huge red oak on my property, well over a hundred years old died last summer. Heartbreaking that it died on my watch. Just like the country.
Fascinating!
Outstanding historical narrative, thanks!
The sacrifice made by the torpedo bomber squadron was staggering.
Just finished an outstanding trilogy of the history of the Pacific war by Ian Toll. Very detailed with a lot of stuff not read before.