"Revenge of the Red Raiders" - by author Lawrence J. Hickey

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Revenge of the Red Raiders
The Illustrated History of the 22nd Bombardment Group During World War II

Hardcover (624 pages), brand new

Reviews

"When Lawrence Hickey published his first book, Warpath Across The Pacific, it set a new standard for aviation group histories. Regarded as the best group history every published, Hickey has topped himself, with the long awaited release of this volume about the 22nd Bombardment Group (BG)…Revenge of the Red Raiders is nothing short of encyclopedia of information about everything related to the 22nd BG…[T]his book raises the bar for aviation history, by presenting an unprecedented level of information and photographs about one BG of the Pacific war. Author Hickey has outdone himself, by creating another book that any aviation enthusiast will want in their library.”  – www.pacificwrecks.com

"US publishers really do ‘go for it’ when it comes to major works that have all the stops pulled out; UK publishers are far too timid most of the time! A blockbuster of a book, sub-titled The Illustrated History of the 22nd BG, it is part of the Eagles over the Pacific series. With B-26s and later B-24s, the 22nd migrated with the Pacific War from Darwin to the Philippines to Okinawa. The level of detail in this book is breathtaking.” –FlyPast Magazine

"We recently had one book cross our review desk that deserves the title ‘ultimate’ and that is Rampage of the Roarin’ 20’s…The text is well-written and extraordinarily complete and chronicles the group as it moved from one forward airstrip to the other.” – Air Classics Magazine

Short Description

 
Revenge of the Red Raiders takes the reader on an unforgettable journey with America's young airmen across the war zones of the Southwest Pacific Theater during World War II. This comprehensively researched and definitive account of one of America's premier Army Air Force bombardment units follows the 22nd Bomb Group from its prewar stateside formation and training, through its deployment to Northern Australia during the earliest days of WWII, to the end of the conflict on the island of Okinawa. The 22nd Bomb Group was the first air group to receive the new B-26 Marauder medium bomber when it began rolling off the Martin production line in early 1941. The struggle of testing the highly advanced aircraft, produced without a prototype, and training up the crews to the standards of the newest generation of medium bomber is fully covered in this text. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 22nd was the first American bombardment unit to deploy to the Pacific combat theater with a full complement of aircraft. The Group pioneered the Pacific island-hopping transit route to Australia, and two of its planes conducted an attack on the Japanese carrier Akagi during the decisive Battle of Midway.

In April of 1942, once ensconced in northern Australia, the men of the 22nd were immediately thrown into battle without fighter protection to stem the Japanese tidal wave that was threatening to overwhelm the crumbling Allied position in the Southwest Pacific, and they conducted some of the earliest bombing raids on the Japanese airfield at Lae and the bastion of Rabaul from primitive airfields in New Guinea. These early American air operations are some of the most exciting of the Pacific war and are fully covered with text and photos from the American and Japanese sides. Although initially equipped with the B-26 Marauder, the 22nd later partially converted to the B-25 Mitchell before becoming a B-24 Liberator Heavy Bombardment unit during the spring of 1944 and continuing the fight across the Southwest Pacific to the very doorstep of Japan. The Group became the only Army Air Force unit to sink an enemy cruiser during the war.

Revenge of the Red Raiders consists of 624 pages and is illustrated by more than 1000 photos, four magnificent color paintings by top aviation artist Jack Fellows, 48 full-color aircraft profiles, 3 aircraft cut-away drawings and 16 detailed maps that pinpoint all bases, every mission flown and the site of each aircraft lost. Nearly every aircraft flown by the unit is depicted in the book's extensive photo collection. This chronological text is enhanced by appendices of leaders, casualties, the history of every combat aircraft flown and an encyclopedic history of the unit's aircraft markings and insignias. A final appendix details the histories of both the aircraft and crews of the 48 B-26, B-25 and B-24 aircraft illustrated in the color profile section. Assembled from wartime records of the U.S., Japan and Australia and supplemented by the personal experiences of hundreds of the unit's veterans, this book stands as a landmark in aviation history. A particularly unique feature is the careful matching of information from both American and Japanese sources, providing for the first time an accurate account of virtually all of the combat encounters both in the air and against shipping at sea.

Other books in this series:

• "Warpath Across the Pacific"
• "Ken’s Men Against the Empire"
• "Rampage of the Roarin’ 20’s"

About the Author

Larry has been fascinated by aviation since his boyhood in Wichita, KS. After graduating with a degree in History, he spent 1966-67 living in Saigon in the household of a top-ranking Vietnamese royal family while working as a researcher for the Air Force’s Project CHECO, a branch of the Operations Analysis, 7th Air Force. After completing several highly acclaimed studies on air operations in SE Asia, he returned to the U.S. to pursue graduate studies at Georgetown. He soon accepted a job with the Defense Intelligence Agency where he became the first analyst for the South Vietnam Political Desk.

During most of his career with DIA, he also was a member of the Vietnam Special Studies Group, an inter-agency task force under Dr. Henry Kissinger that developed the exit strategy for ending the Vietnam War. Under direct orders from the President, he returned to Vietnam in 1970 to conduct research in the Mekong Delta for a major cease-fire planning study. As Political Analyst for North Vietnam, in January 1972, Larry was credited with providing the first warning of the forthcoming Communist spring offensive, and thereafter reported on it on a daily bases to the highest levels of the US Government, including as an advisor to the National Security Council Staff.

At the end of 1972, Larry left government service to become a private entrepreneur, pursuing interests in manufacturing, real estate, writing and publishing. A full time author and publisher with a focus on WWII aviation, he lives in Boulder, CO with his wife Sue. His first book, Warpath Across the Pacific, tells the story of the 345th Bomb Group in the SW Pacific, and is considered the gold standard for aviation unit histories. Larry followed this success with books on other units, including his most recent, Rampage of the Roarin' 20's. He is currently working on histories for the 3rd, 38th and 43rd Bomb Groups, and is overseeing a multi-volume series covering the first 16 months of the air war in Europe, 1939-40.

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