Hammel, Eric. Aces at War: The American Aces Speak, volume IV. Pacifica, CA: Pacifica Press, 1997.

ISBN 0-935553-24-X
263 pages

Glossary and Guide to Abbreviations; photos; Bibliography; Index.

The latest volume in Hammel's series covers World War II, Korea, and one mission each in Vietnam and Israel. With a total of 38 stories in the book, these weigh in at under seven pages each on average and tend to be quick, action-packed, in-the-cockpit accounts with little in the way of setting, characterization, or carefully developed plot-- just on-the-fly seat-of-the-pants in-your-face air combat in which the reader can usually rely on at least one unlucky aircraft falling from the sky in flames.

Twelve vignettes are set in the Pacific. Lieutenant John Bolyard bags a pair of Zeros as they're taking off from an airfield in Amoy, China. Major John Loisel escorts bombers from the Philippines against a Japanese naval convoy just off the coast of French Indochina, downs an intercepting Ki-84 Frank and engages in a series of dogfights before turning home and landing with his fuel gauge on empty. Major Jim Tapp, on his first combat mission, shoots down four Japanese aircraft over Tokyo.

Other Pacific action includes Charlie Bond in China, George Hollowell over Guadalcanal, Larry O'Neill at New Guinea, Tom Blackburn over Rabaul, Connie Hargreaves in the Marianas, Jojo McGraw off Samar, Ed Roddy in the Philippines, and Don McPherson and Jim Pearce over Japan.

Seventeen stories occur in the air war against Germany. Holly Hills, flying for the Royal Canadian Air Force before transferring to the U.S. Navy, gains the first P-51 Mustang victory for his squadron by shooting down an FW-190 over Dieppe during the Canadian raid. Captain Darrell Welch splashes four Ju-52 transports -- three confirmed -- off the coast of Tunisia in one day in April 1943 but barely survives when a pair of Me-109s latch onto his tail. Lieutenant Harley Brown nearly turns his P-51 into a kamikaze while unbuckled, unmasked, and smoking a cigarette at 200 feet. On 11 September 1944 Lieutenant Frank Gerard, with twelve other escorts trying to stop an interception by dozens of enemy fighters against a formation of B-17s, downs four planes in twelve minutes. And, incredibly, Lieutenant Deacon Priest lands his P-51 in a wheat field behind German lines to rescue his downed squadron commander.

Readers are also treated to tales of air combat against Germany by Jack Price, Bob Curtis, Mort Magoffin, Dwaine Franklin, Clarence Jasper, Bud Fortier, Jim Carter, Niven Cranfill, Tink Cole, Herman Ernst, and Ivan Hasek.

Eric Hammel introduces each vignette with the pilot's background and previous experience, then concludes each story with a brief summary of the remainder of his wartime experiences and post-war career. Nothing indicates the origin of the bulk of these firsthand accounts -- perhaps interviews conducted by Hammel? -- but a number of them are excerpted from books such as Blackburn's The Jolly Rogers and Goebel's Mustang Ace.

Good reading for dogfight fans.

Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Pacifica Press.

Thanks to Pacifica for providing this review copy.