Jungle dive-bombers at war / Peter C. Smith.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 173-176) and index.

The secret and mainly unwritten history of the part the dive bomber played in the defeat of Japan and in the post-war shape of the region. The special accuracy inherent in dive-bombing lent itself to jungle fighting were targets were usually well hidden and small and needed precision to hit while avoiding friendly casualties. All around the Pacific rim in the 1940's the dive-bomber made its mark. A fresh and largely unrelated series of actions are told in detail in this volume. From the British and Indian Vengeance squadrons that saved Kohima and Imphal; the "secret" USAAF A-36A dive bombers which supported the behind the lines battles Burma and China; the New Zealand Dauntless dive bomber squadron on Bougainville; the Australian Vengeance units that battled in New Guinea, the US Navy Helldiver dive bombers that took the war to the Philippines, and finally the work of the French Navy Helldiver dive bombers post-war at Dien Bien Phu battle against the communists, all these previously little-known combat aircraft and actions are recorded in full and often for the first time in any depth.