The War in the Air: A Tale of Tragedy and Triumph

The War in the Air

B-17 Bomber

The B­17 bomber during WW2 was so massively used in air raid campaigns such as the Doolittle raids and Bombings in Europe that Boeing increased staff from “2000 workers to 45000”. Boeing was making one B­17 every 90 minutes.

The B­17 Bomber is also one of the reasons that the allies won the war. it dropped more bombs on germany than all of the other planes combined. It is referred to as the "flying fortress". The plane could fly higher than any other at the time and even though it was a bomber It could still properly defend itself.

B-29 Bomber

During WW2 many military projects were formed by the US government in fact the B­29 Bomber began solely as a result of WW2. Boeing after having made the B­17 needed to an upgraded version a larger one. The B­29 project started in 1942 became the 2nd most expensive military project during WW2 for US government only “2nd to atomic bomb.”

U.S.S.R. Yakovlev Yak Series

Originally named after the designer Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev, the planes designer, the Yak Series was heavily manufactured by the Soviet Union. The most common of them being the Yak­1 a light weight high altitude plane, with over 37,000 being built. As time went by however the Soviets began to upgrade this plane introducing 3 new models.

Planes designer Alexander Sergeyevich Yakovlev

Proving to be a sustainable flyer the Soviet began to make multiple newer verions of the Yak­1 (as seen Yak­7 top right, Yak­3 top left, and Yak­ 9 to the right). A combined total of over 25,000 these planes were instrumental to winning the Air battle against Germany. At many battles these planes were instrumental to defeating the Luftwaffe.

Luftwaffe Hitler had a very strong and advanced army at the time, however a jewel in his “The Wehrmacht” or his army was his Luftwaffe, or air force. Translated Luftwaffe in German really only means Air weapon but it was effective enough to hold back Allied army to a surprisingly in aerial battles such as D­Day. Despite these accomplishments Luftwaffe became crippled from lack of war materials near the end of the war and Allied forces were much too strong for Hitler's flying machines. The most Popular of his planes was his Me 109 having over 35,000 of them built for his army becoming the most built plane in the Luftwaffe.

Royal Air Force (R.A.F.)

The Royal Air Force was arguably the greatest Air Force of WW2 after 1939. The RAF by the end of the war had over 1 million men and 27,000 planes. They truly were a diverse group of soldiers often having members of squad come from all over the world, such as many British commonwealths including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Rhodesia and South Africa. However pilots also consisted of over troops from fellow European armies such as Dutch, the French, Czech, and even volunteer Americans. The RAF wasn’t only used for fighting in fact many missions were given to RAF squadrons that involved no Military Warfare but rather used to deliver medical supplies to the frontlines.

Supermarine Spitfire Just as Hitler had his preferred plane so did the RAF. They favored the fighter plane Supermarine Spitfire for its great flyability and combating skills. Having just like the Me 109 the Spitfire was the most produced plane in the Royal Air Force.

Battle of Philippine Sea

This battle isn’t well known but it was in fact a key strategic victory for the U.S.A.It was a battle held between June 13, 1944 to August 10, 1944, most of which was Japenese troops attacking U.S. Naval fleets. The U.S. however held off all ariel invasions not merely with more planes but also anti­air gunners on ships. This blow from seas to skies allowed for the U.S. to continue its campaign to defeat Japan. Over 380 Japanese planes were shot down leaving the Japanese aircraft carriers virtually useless. This battle included as well an important American plane the Grumman F6F Hellcat that proved to be a worthy contender for Japan.

Aichi D3A 'Val'

This Japanese plane was a huge power during the beginning of the pacific war. This plane was a dive bomber and was good at targeting ships in the Pacific .The majority of planes used during the pearl harbor attack on the morning of december 7th 1941. this aircraft was often called the Aichi D3A 'Val'

Kamikaze Warfare Perhaps the most infamous form of aerial warfare Kamikaze is a form of suicide aerial attacks committed by Japanese to hurt the Allies. Kamikaze attacks were actually not used until 1944, meaning “divine wind” it was made to believe an honor to have be in a Kamikaze unit. A tactic primality used to attack ships the effectiveness was seen by allie ships. Over 3500 Kamikaze attacks were committed killing over 5000 sailors and sinking 37 Navy ships.

The idea of dieing for honor is a very old one however in Japan it was an idea well practiced. Having been a large belief in samurai tradition it was viewed as shameful to surrender so instead of giving up or dying in battle the Japanese often deliberately committed suicide. In fact in 1945 before bombing of nagasaki and hiroshima the Japanese high command were planning on building thousands of Nakajima Ki­115s planes designed only for Kamikaze missions.

P-51 Mustang

Perhaps the most important fighter for the allies the Mustang is argued to be single handedly the best fighter plane of WW2. Having amazing performance at high medium altitudes as well as being able to keep up with the immense speed of Hitlers Luftwaffe the P­51 Mustang was the favored choice of Americans to have dog fights.

Having fought in virtually every American Pacific battle during WW2 and playing a major role in Europe this plane is nothing short but a piece of American history.

Work Cited BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Chen, Peter C. "World War II Database." WW2DB RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.ir Force, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Miller, Russell. The Soviet Air Force at War. Alexandria, VA: Time­Life, 1983. Print

"RAF ­ June 6." RAF ­ June 6. Royal A

Stack, Martin H. "Boeing Company." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed.

Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 493­494. U.S. History in Context. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.

The Luftwaffe. Alexandria, VA: Time­Life, 1982. Print.

Time­Life Books: Battle of the Bulge. Alexandria, VA: Time­Life, 1979. Print.

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