The Flying Guns, by Clarence E. Dickson

The Flying Guns: A Cockpit Record of a Naval Pilot from Pearl Harbor Through Midway, by Clarence E. Dickinson in collaboration with Boyden Sparkes. Phoito research by Thomas F. Mahar Jr.
Zenger Publishing Co, Inc. 1942
196 pages 17 pgs of b& w photos, no index

Description
This thrilling narrative is about the experiences of a Navy pilot who literally flew right into World War II in the Pacific at its very beginning.

Lieutenant Dickinson was with a squadron of planes which was on its way to Pear Harbor on the morning of December 7, 1941. As they approached the island of Oahu, they got caught up in a swarm of attacking Japanese planes. The author, flying a Dauntless dive bomber, was shot down, parachuted to safety, and after amazing difficulties, managed to reach Pearl Harbor while the Japanese attack was still going on.

His description of the fighting and the conditions at Pearl on that fateful day provide one of the few first-person narratives of the "day that will live in infamy."

But Pearl Harbor was only the first of the battles in which the author took part. A few days later, he became the first American to sink a Japanese submarine. Then, flying off the aircraft carrier Enterprise (the Big 'E'), he took part in some of the first American offensive moves in the war, namely the attacks on the Marshall Islands, Marcus Island and Wake Island, under the command of Admiral Halsey.

All of this action is described in great detail, with the authenticity one gets from a narrative by a person who actually participated in the strikes.

Then in June 1942, the author, much decorated by now, took part in one of the most important and decisive battles in history-the Battle of Midway. He not only took part , but actually helped sink the Japanese carrier Kaga by planting his bombs on her deck. Again, the author provides one of the few first-person accounts of this historic battle.

Because of the author's on-the-scene description of these critical military battles, this book is important. It provides an unparalleled picture of the war in the Pacific. But beyond this, there is no more exciting personal narrative of World War II in the annals of naval aviation literature.

Table of Contents
The chapters are not given separate titles.


______
This blog updated on Mondays and Fridays