Fist from the Sky: The Biography of Captain Takashige Egusa Ijn

By Peter C. Smith

Book Overview

From the outset of Japanese involvement in World War II Lieutenant-Commander Egusa led a force of around eighty aircraft against targets in Pearl Harbour, calmly circling his special flame red Aichi dive bomber before selecting his target. Assaults on the deadly 5-inch coastal gun batteries of Wake Island followed and flying from the dive-bomber carrier Soryu he and his force provided air support for the invasion of Ambon before concentrating on the massed US shipping in the crowded harbour of Darwin.

Egusa's victories become legendary, his leadership inspirational, and his accuracy a byword in the fleet. Fully placed in historical context and backed by a wealth of detail from archives and family records, Fist from the Sky brings the full story of Egusa's illustrious dive-bombing career to life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0859791173
• ISBN13: 9780859791175
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: Crecy Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages

Customer Reviews

First-Rate Biography

I am an enthusiast for stories about the naval-air conflicts of World War II. The subject of this biography, Egusa Takashige, was perhaps the foremost dive-bomber pilot of his generation, and led the dive-bomber squadrons of the Japanese aircraft carrier Soryu to many exploits of great aerial skill and daring, including Pearl Harbor, Ceylon, and Midway. I enjoyed the story-telling.