Kangaroo Squadron, Bruce Gamble
Kangaroo Squadron, Bruce Gamble
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Kangaroo Squadron
American Courage in the Darkest Days of World War II

Author: Bruce Gamble

Narrator: Mark Boyett

Unabridged: 14 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Published: 11/20/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

In early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single U.S. Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy.

Based in Australia with inadequate supplies and no ground support, the squadron's pilots and combat crew endured tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved remarkably resilient and successful, conducting long-range bombing raids, carrying out armed reconnaissance missions, and rescuing General MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines.

Before now, the story of their courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds has largely been untold. Using eyewitness accounts from diaries, letters, interviews, and memoirs, as well as Japanese sources, historian Bruce Gamble brings to vivid life this dramatic true account.

But the Kangaroo Squadron's story doesn't end in World War II. One of the squadron's B-17 bombers, which crash-landed on its first mission, was recovered from New Guinea after almost seventy years in a jungle swamp. The intertwined stories of the Kangaroo Squadron and the "Swamp Ghost" are filled with thrilling accounts of aerial combat, an epic survival story, and the powerful mystique of an invaluable war relic.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Marshall on August 03, 2023

Another great aviation history by Bruce Gamble. Meticulously researched and well written, Gamble is the premier aviation historian of the Southwest Pacific theater in WW II.......more

Goodreads review by John on March 23, 2024

Of the six B-17s slated to drop bombs on their first target in WW2, only one did it and with little effect. Plagued with malfunctioning engines, few spare parts, navigation and weather dilemmas, the squadron persisted with its mission to counter the overall Japanese goal to invade Australia. Althoug......more

Goodreads review by James on January 15, 2019

Put aside the corny and a bit “American Exceptionalism” sub-title - “American Courage in the Darkest Days of World War Two” - and the corny cover font - a bit too close to comic sans for my liking, this was a good read. It does have the right place and time squadron it it, flying into the Pearl Harb......more

Goodreads review by Kari on August 22, 2020

Fantastic. Focuses on about ten to eleven months from December 1941 to September/October of ‘42 and a little known (now) squadron of bomber pilots stationed in Australia to do recon and bomb the Japanese in the southeast pacific. It balances the militaristic and the civilian really well so you know......more

Goodreads review by Mark on December 21, 2019

This is an excellent book which tells the story of a little know part of the beginning of WWII in the pacific. The detail is amazing. I am sure a lot of research went into this book. I recommend this book to people who want to learn more about the Army Air Force. I look forward to reading more books......more


Quotes

"In the darkest days of World War II in the Pacific, a squadron of forgotten heroes gave their all, becoming the first to strike back against the Japanese. Kangaroo Squadron is an inspiring, beautifully crafted tale of ordinary Americans exhibiting extraordinary heroism and grit when it mattered most."--Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Longest Winter and The First Wave

"Bruce Gamble has beautifully captured the dark early days of World War II--and the brave American airmen willing to take the fight to the enemy. With a novelists's gift for storytelling, Gamble takes readers into cockpits over Japanese bases, drops them waist-deep in malarial swamps, and lets them unwind in dusty outback bars. Kangaroo Squadron is a soaring story and a triumph of the American spirit."--James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Rampage and Target Tokyo

"With his exquisite eye for detail and spellbinding talent as a stroyteller, Bruce Gamble takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the perilous early months of World War II in the Southwest Pacific."--Colonel Walter Boyne, author and former director of the National Air and Space Museum

"Fast-paced and packed with vivid descriptions and valuable information, Kangaroo Squadron shines a bright light on the valiant American fliers who took on the Japanese in the first engagements in the Pacific. Bruce Gamble brings these heroes out of the shadows and makes them come alive. A must-read for anyone interested in World War II."--John Darnton, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Almost a Family

"Bruce Gamble demonstrates again why he is one of the best aviation historians in the business. In Kangaroo Squadron he has crafted a fascinating account of men and machines, painting a compelling picture of what it was like to fight as an American aviator during the very darkest days of the Pacific War. Outstanding!"--Jonathan Parshall, co-author of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

"Bruce Gamble's excellent history of the U.S. Army's B-17 bombers in the Pacific, officially the Southern Bomber Command but colloquially known as the Kangaroo Squadron, is a triumph. The characters are vivid and the narrative gripping; the story of the downed B-17 later known as the 'Swamp Ghost' is especially riveting. Throughout, Gamble's mastery of aircraft characteristics is impeccable, and his fast-paced storytelling is irresistible."--Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea: A Global History

"Flying Boeing B-17s, the Kangaroo Squadron's aircrews and maintenance men fought not only Imperial Japan but weather, geography, and a perennial shortage of everything--except courage and dedication. Their example remains an inspiration to Americans three generations later, thanks to Bruce Gamble's in-depth research and deft writing."--Barrett Tillman, author of On Wave and Wing: The 100-Year Quest to Perfect the Aircraft Carrier

"Gamble has a solid grasp of big-picture strategy and of the alternating tedium and terror of war, especially as bomber crews experienced it, never knowing when anti-aircraft fire would take them down or the fuel would run out before they could return to base."—Kirkus Reviews

"Gamble delivers an inspiring and impeccably researched tale...Both the air war expert and the general reader will enjoy and learn something from this well-crafted work."—Publishers Weekly