B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (Combat Aircraft) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Sent into combat once more - this time in 1950 over North Korea - Boeing's B-29 labored valiantly in support of the UN cause. Its crews, many of them retreads like their aircraft, pitted their lumbering craft against new and very deadly opponents, namely the swept-wing MiG-15. Forced to switch to night-time attacks because of losses due to the MiGs, the B-29s kept up their attacks till war's end. Their story is told by Robert Dorr in this Osprey 'Combat Aircraft' volume from 2003.
Superforts were committed to action early on in the conflict and logged their last missions a month before the cease-fire agreement was signed. By war's end, five bomb groups - the 19th, 22nd, 92nd, 98th and 307th - had seen action, dropping some 167,000 tons of bombs. Thirty-four B-29s had been lost to all causes.
Dorr does a nice job of relating the B-29 experience in Korea, charting how unprepared America was to fight that far-away conflict and how B-29 crews/units went about forging an effective weapon. The early daylight missions were successful but, by October 1951, unsupportable due to the MiG-15 threat. After that date, black-bellied B-29s logging night missions were the order of the day. Superforts also logged other missions (photo-recce, weather recce, ASR, etc.) and Dorr covers those activities as well. Many first-person reminiscences are included, a definite plus in my book.
Dozens of b&w photos and 16 pages of color profiles - including three pages of nose art close-ups - are included. The B-29 crews were wildly inventive in their markings and some of the nose artwork has to be seen to be believed.
All in all, B-29 SUPERFORTRESS UNITS OF THE KOREAN WAR is an excellent summary of the air war fought by that majestic bomber and its intrepid crews. Recommended.

Click Here to see more reviews about: B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (Combat Aircraft)

This book is the story of a majestic bomber of the propeller era flying perilous combat missions against a sleek, nimble warplane of the jet age, the Soviet MiG-15. A very heavy bomber and a sky giant during World War 2, at that time the B-29 was the most advanced combat aircraft in the world. By the time North Korea attacked its southern neighbour in 1950, the B-29 had been reclassified a medium bomber. Many of its crew members had fought their war and settled down to raise families and begin careers only to be recalled to fight another war on a distant Asian peninsula.

Click here for more information about B-29 Superfortress Units of the Korean War (Combat Aircraft)