Media: BOOK - paperback, 252 pages
Author: M. Claringbould & P. Ingman
Year: 2017
ISBN: 9780994588944
Other: b&w & colour photos, maps, appendixes, index
Publisher: Avonmore Books

This volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific from December 1941 until March 1942, during which air operations by both sides became a daily occurrence.  As Imperial Japanese Navy flying boats and land-based bombers penetrated over vast distances, a few under-strength squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force put up a spirited fight.

However it was the supreme power of aircraft carriers that had the biggest impact.  Four Japanese fleet carriers facilitated the capture of Rabaul over a devastating four-day period in January 1942. The following month, the USS Lexington’s fighter squadron VF-3 scored one of the most one-sided victories of the entire Pacific War.

By March 1942 the Japanese had landed on mainland New Guinea, and the scene was set for a race to control Port Moresby. This is the full story of both sides of an air war that could have been won by either incumbent, but for timing, crucial decisions and luck.

The two authors are uniquely qualified to tell this story. Raised in Port Moresby, Michael Claringbould is a globally-acknowledged expert on the New Guinea air war and Japanese aviation in particular. Peter Ingman is an acclaimed military history author specialising in the early Pacific War period.

Contents:
About the Authors
Introduction
Maps
1. Japanese Plans for the South Pacific
2. Allied Defences in the South Pacific
3. RAAF Pokes the Giant, December 1941
4. Fourth Fleet Turns South, January 1942
5. Colonel Scanlan's Dilemma
6. Carrier Attack Day 1, 20 January 1942
7. Carrier Attack Day 2, 21 January 1942
8. Carrier Attack Day 3, 22 January 1942
9. Rabaul on the Eve of Invasion
10. Invasion, 23 January 1942
11. Consolidation of Rabaul, later January to early February 1942
12. Gasmata, 23 January 1942
13. South Pacific Build-up, mid-February 1942
14. Black Day for No. 4 Ku, 20 February 1942
15. USAAC Enters the Fray, late February to early March 1942
16. Landings at Lae and alamaua, to 9 March 1942
17. Bougainille and the Solomons, to March 1942
18. Lark Force Postscript
Conclusion
Appendix 1. Aircraft Losses and Fatalities
Appendix 2. Aircraft Profiles, Three Way View
Appendix 3. Japaneses Aircraft Maekings, Side View
Appendix 4. Survuiving Aircraft
Sources and Acknowledgements
Index