I have picked up a couple of books over the last several months that deal with the early air war over Darwin. The first is Carrier Attack – Darwin 1942 – The Complete Guide to Australia’s Own Pearl Harbor, written by Dr. Tom Lewis and Peter Ingman (Avonmore Books, 2013), which is a detailed account of the massive attack against Darwin on February 19, 1942. The book covers all facets of the attack, going to great lengths in describing not only the actions but the various aircraft and ships that took part. The second book is another effort by Lewis, titled Eagles over Darwin: American Airmen Defending Northern Australia in 1942 (Avonmore, 2021) that focuses on the American effort to prevent more raids on Darwin, with a focus on the 49th Fighter Group. Of course reading books such as these often make me ponder :wonder if I can create some scenarios?" Well, yes! From Carrier Attack I was able to glean two small actions that involve the 33rd Pursuit Squadron (Provisional). After writing them I remembered there was a Darwin scenario out there somewhere, and that is in the Skirmish Campaigns Road to Rabaul scenario book. However, the scenario provided there does not follow the deeply researched and highly detailed account found in Carrier Attack, particularly when it comes to the actions of Robert Oestreicher, B Flight leader. Road to Rabaul rates Oestreicher as a veteran (+2) aircrew, which by his lack of flying time and actions on February 19th is a stretch. You'll have to buy the book or download the scenario to see why my rating for Oestreicher is poor.
No comments:
Post a Comment