SUMMER 2006 - Volume 53, Number 2 Radar Bombing during Rolling Thunder— Part II: Combat Lancer and Commando Club W. Howard Plunkett 4 Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen: Black Meteorologists in World War II Gerald A. White, Jr. 20 Polish Special Duties Flight No. 1586 and the Warsaw Uprising Michael A. Peszke 32 Slanguage: Revisited Brian S. Gunderson 38 Review Essay by Ronald H. Cole 42 Book Reviews 46 Naval Leadership in Korea: The First Six Months. By Thomas R. Buell. Reviewed by Curtis H. O’Sullivan. 46 A World at Total War: Global Conflict and the Politics of Destruction, 1937-1945 By Roger Chickering, Stig Forster, & Bernd Greiner, Eds . Reviewed by Gerald Abbott. 46 Logbook of Signal Corps No. 1: The U.S. Army’s First Airplane. By Meghan Cunningham, Ed.. Reviewed by Paul C. Fritz. 47 The Window at St. Catherine’s. By John F. Dobbertin, Jr. Reviewed by Scott A. Willey. 47 Sorties into Hell: The Hidden War on Chichi Jima. By Chester Hearn. Reviewed by Stu Tobias 47 Hit & Run: Daring Air Attacks in World War II By Robert Jackson Reviewed by Bill Nardo. 48 Reconsidering a Century of Flight. By Roger D. Launius & Janet Daly Bednarek. Reviewed by John R. Braddon. 48 Woodbine Red Leader: A P–51 Mustang Ace in the Mediterranean Theater. By George Loving. Reviewed by Scott A. Willey. 50 Howard Hughes: Aviator. By George J. Marrett. Reviewed by Paul C. Fritz. 50 From the Pilot Factory, 1942. By William P. Mitchell. Reviewed by R. Ray Ortensie. 51 The Enola Gay and the Smithsonian Institution By Charles T. O’Reilly & William A. Rooney. Reviewed by Robert B. Kane. 51 The Gift of Valor: A War Story By Michael M. Phillips. & The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier’s Account of the War in Iraq. By John Crawford. Reviewed by Henry Zeybel 52 The Royal Air Force: An Encyclopedia of the Inter-War Years. Volume I. By Ian M. Philpott. Reviewed by Phillip S. Meilinger. 53 Letters of the Wright Brothers: Letters of Wilbur, Orville and Katherine Wright.... By Brian Riddle & Colin Sinnott, Ed. Reviewed by Dennis Berger. 54 The Flying Tiger: The True Story of General Claire Chennault and the US 14th Air Force.... By Jack Samson. Reviewed by Curtis H. O’Sullivan. 54 Lost in Tibet: The Untold Story of Five American Airmen, a Downed Plane, and the Will to Survive By Richard Starks & Miriam Murcutt. Reviewed by Murdock M. Moore. 55 Books Received & Coming Up 56 Foundation Matters 58 Letters, News, Notices, Reunions & the History Mystery 62 COVER: F–105s of the 34th TFS, 388th TFW refuel over Southeast Asia, December, 1968. The Air Force Historical Foundation The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation Summer 2006 Volume 53 Number 2 Publisher Alfred F. Hurley Editor Jacob Neufeld Technical Editor Robert F. Dorr Air Force Historical Foundation Book Review Editor 1535 Command Drive – Suite A122 Scott A. Willey Andrews AFB, MD 20762-7002 Layout and Typesetting Richard I. Wolf (301) 981-2139 Fax (301) 981-3574 Advertising E-mail: [email protected] Charles Thomas “Tom” Bradley On the Web at http://afhistoricalfoundation.com Circulation Richard I. Wolf Officers Board of Trustees President Col. Kenneth J. Alnwick, USAF (Ret.) Lt. Gen. Michael A. Nelson, USAF (Ret.) Mr. F. Clifton Berry, Jr. Vice-President Maj. Gen. Ralph S. Clem, USAF (Ret.) Air Power History (ISSN 1044-016X) Gen. John A. Shaud, USAF (Ret.) Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, USAF (Ret.) is produced in March, June, September, Secretary-Treasurer Lt. Gen. Russell C. Davis, USAF (Ret.) and December by the Air Force Historical Maj. Gen. John S. Patton, USAF (Ret.) Gen. Michael J. Dugan, USAF (Ret.) Foundation. Executive Director Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF(Ret.) Col. George K. Williams, USAF (Ret.) Maj. Gen. John P. Henebry, USAF (Ret.) Prospective contributors should consult the Col. George A. Henry, Jr., USAF (Ret.) 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Helen E. O’Day, USAF (Ret.) Postmaster: Please send change of The Honorable Verne Orr address to the Circulation Office. 2 AIR POWER History / SUMMER 2006 From the Editor Leading off this issue, Howard Plunkett completes his account of the Rolling Thunder cam- paign begun in the Spring 2006 issue. Set in the period from 1965 to 1968, Part II: Combat Lancer and Commando Club, tells how U.S. Air Force airmen employed ground and airborne radar to attack North Vietnamese targets at night and in bad weather. It begins on page 4. “The Tuskegee (Weather) Airmen,” by Gerald White, introduces a little-known subject to our readers, namely the operations and training of Black airmen as meteorologists during World War II. For the fascinating details of this story turn to page 20. In the third article, “Polish Special Duties Flight 1586,” Michael A. Peszke, recounts the hero- ic efforts of the Polish Air Force airmen, flying from the United Kingdom, who undertook risky missions to relieve their countrymen’s fight for Warsaw in 1944. See page 32. Thanks to Brig. Gen. Brian Gunderson, we “revisit” once more the quaint slang language spo- ken between British and American airmen during World War II. The general continued collect- ing terms for his “Slanguage” until he died in 2004. See page 38. Yet another piece is Ron Cole’s outstanding review essay of two official Air Force histories of the Gulf War. Dr. Cole, a member of the Joint History Office, assesses Richard Davis’s On Target and Perry Jamieson’s Lucrative Targets. See page 42. The seventeen books reviewed in this issue (beginning on page 46) eclipse the record set in Air Power History only in March. Readers who aspire to review new offerings are directed to page 56, where they’ll find a new list of books received; Col. Scott Willey is anxious to hear from you. The departments include letters to the editor, upcoming events, news, notices, reunions, and Bob Dorr’s “History Mystery” solution. Also, be sure to read Lt. Gen. Michael Nelson’s “President’s Report,” on the results of the April membership meeting. See page 58. Finally, meet our new publisher, Brig. Gen. Alfred F. Hurley, and the new Executive Director, Col. Thomas Bradley. Please keep up the feedback to the journal with your opinions of the contents of Air Power History and to the Air Force Historical Foundation on what you believe we can do to better pre- serve the heritage of the USAF. Air Power History and the Air Force Historical Foundation disclaim responsibility for statements, either of fact or of opinion, made by contributors. The submission of an article, book review, or other communication with the intention that it be published in this journal shall be construed as prima facie evidence that the contributor willingly transfers the copyright to Air Power History and the Air Force Historical Foundation, which will, however, freely grant authors the right to reprint their own works, if published in the authors’ own works.