With names like Zemke, Schilling, Gabreski, Mahurin and Johnson, the
56th Fighter Group was, and still is, one of the legendary fighter units
of World War II. BEWARE THE THUNDERBOLT ( the apt official motto of the
56th) is the story of the 56th Fighter Group in a chronological
narrative of their combat missions. Composed of heroic pilots that
aggressively took the air war into the enemy heartland in 1943, the
"Wolfpack's" P-47 Thunderbolt contrails crossed high in the upper
stratosphere as they escorted heavy bomber missions, or fell upon the
enemy on the ground as their pilots destroyed over 1000 Luftwaffe
aircraft. The story is also coupled with their post-war history of
innovative Mustang missions to Alaska, and the first trans-Atlantic jet
fighter missions in the P-80 Shooting Star. The foreword is by Hub
Zemke, former commander of the 56th Fighter Group. David McLaren is also
the author of Lockheed F-94 Starfire (with Marty Isham), available from
Schiffer Publishing.