Fist From the Sky

Peter C. Smith

• Publisher: Stackpole Books
• Year: 2006
• Topic: History
• eBook ISBN:
  9781461750987
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

Fascinating look from the Japanese side at Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway

Fully authorized account including contemporary interviews with those that flew with Lt. Cdr. Egusa
Lieutenant Commander Takashige Egusa was one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's most skillful and influential dive-bomber pilots. He led an attack force against Pearl Harbor, calmly circling his special flame-red Aichi dive bomber before selecting his target. Assaults on the deadly gun batteries of Wake Island followed, as well as air support for the invasion of Ambon. Badly burned at Midway, Egusa returned to duty, only to be killed on his final mission. As one Japanese officer said, "He was the 'God of Dive-Bombing.'" Fully placed in historical context and backed by a wealth of detail from archives, family records, photographs, and memories of contemporaries, the full story of Egusa's bravery, leadership qualities, and illustrious career comes to life.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Glossary
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Egusa’s Childhood
• Chapter Two: Early Naval Life
• Chapter Three: To Distant Lands
• Chapter Four: The Blossoming of Japanese Naval Aviation
• Chapter Five: The War in China
• Chapter Six: Courtship and Marriage
• Chapter Seven: Prelude to the Pacific War
• Chapter Eight: The Desperate Gamble: Pearl Harbor
• Chapter Nine: Through the Southern Oceans
• Chapter Ten: Carnage in the Indian Ocean
• Chapter Eleven: The Biter Bit with Midway
• Chapter Twelve: The Last Sortie
• Epilogue
• Footnotes
• Bibliography