This volume describes the operations and the problems of the R.A.A.F. in the War against Japan from April 1943 until the end of the war - the period in which the Allies possessed air superiority in the Pacific. At the beginning of this phase the R.A.A.F. was providing a major part of the air forces of the South-West Pacific Area. Later it began to play a less important role, so much so that discontent developed among aircrew and some of their leaders believed the force was not being assigned worthwhile duties.
The book tells not only of the widespread and varied operations of the Australian squadrons in the S.W.P.A. and Australian individuals in Burma but of the difficult problem of allocating command responsibilities within a force part of which was assigned to General MacArthur and part controlled by the Minister for Air through his Chief of the Air Staff.
The story of Japanese reactions to Allied air operations has been told with the help of enemy records which put familiar events in a new light.

About the author:


George Odgers is a newspaperman who was born and educated in Perth Western Australia. After graduating in arts at the University of Western Australia he studied at the University of Melbourne where he obtained the degree of M.A. with honours in history, and the Diploma of Journalism.
He served in the A.I.F. in New Guinea and Bougainville, and in 1945 was transferred to the R.A.A.F. War History Section. In 1950 and 1951 he served as a public relations officer with the R.A.A.F. in Japan and Korea, and wrote Across the Parallel, a book on the air war in Korea, published in 1952. In 1965 he was appointed Director of Public Relations R.A.A.F., and that year his illustrated history of the R.A.A.F. was published.