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

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.

Hardcover, 624 pages, over 1000 photos, 32-page color section