Woodbine Red Leader: A P-51 Mustang Ace in the Mediterranean Theater

George Loving

dic 2007 · Distribuido por Ballantine Books

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A COMBAT ACE’S ACCOUNT OF PILOTING THE GREATEST SINGLE-SEAT FIGHTER IN WORLD WAR II

World War II marked the end of an era; fighter pilots still flew by the seat of their pants, and George Loving recaptures the exhilarating world of aerial combat in all its stark terror and fiery glory. His first fighter was the famed Spitfire, hero of the Battle of Britain. By 1943, however, it was obsolescent and did not match up well against the first-line German Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. Yet Loving survived 101 combat missions flying the Spitfire. In the spring of 1944, Loving’s 31st Fighter Group started flying P-51 Mustangs and was transferred to the new Fifteenth Air Force to escort heavy-bomber formations on long-range strategic strikes across southern Europe, including southeastern Germany. In the flak-filled skies over Ploesti, Vienna, Bucharest, Munich, and Stuttgart, where a number of the war’s fiercest air battles took place, Lieutenant Loving flew head-to-head against some of the Luftwaffe’s top fighter aces.

By the time George Loving completed his 151st, and final, combat mission on August 21, 1944, he had risen from a lowly second lieutenant and untested wingman to captain, group leader, and Mustang ace. Loving’s gripping account captures the savage action he experienced in all its intensity.

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A career air force officer with 37 years’ service, Lt. General George G. Loving Jr. served as a fighter pilot in World War II and qualified as a fighter ace. During the Korean War, he commanded a fighter-bomber squadron and fought in five major campaigns. In subsequent years, Loving served as a test pilot; Air Command and Staff College instructor; adviser to the Republic of China’s air force; and staff officer in Headquarters, Tactical Air Command, and on the Air Staff in Washington. Following his promotion to brigadier general in 1970, he served as commandant, Air Command and Staff College. This was followed by advancement to major general in 1973 and assignment as the air force’s director of plans. In 1975, representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he joined the United States delegation in Vienna as the senior United States military representative at the NATO–Warsaw Pact arms limitation negotiations. Later that same year, as a lieutenant general, he assumed command of the Sixth Allied Tactical Air Force (NATO) with headquarters in Izmir, Turkey. His final active duty assignments were as commander, United States Forces, Japan, and commander, Fifth Air Force, with headquarters at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. A command pilot, his decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, and Distinguish Flying Cross, as well as a number of other U.S. and foreign decorations.