In early 1942 a USAAC Lt Col William Dolan was ordered to travel across the US to a destination, & instructed to ask no questions until things were explained to him.
In similar ilk to the later Dambusters story, Dolan was to select crews & create a special squadron without initially telling the men what their work would entail.
They would become the 'Sea Search Attack Group' flying aircraft fitted with the latest in radar technology. Following intense training, their early missions would be flying individual night-time patrols, hunting the German U-boats that was attacking shipping off the US East coast, with much success.
The following year 10 crews were then sent to the Pacific to seek out & attack Japanese ships & submarines who would soon no longer have the protection of the night.
Over 26 months of the war the unit, eventually nicknamed the 'SNOOPERS', would be constantly in action. The strain on the crews, the aircraft & the ground crews, was immense. Losses also were inevitable.
They would carry out LAB (Low altitude bombing) on shipping which usually allowed for their first bombing run to go unnoticed, but they would then have to face a wall of fire on a second pass if required, as well as be on the lookout for enemy night fighters.
Thankfully crews were eventually rotated, but supplies could never keep up as they war moved closer to Japan & its eventual surrender.
A report states that over the course of a 14 month period, the 'Snoopers' sank over 500,000 tonnes of enemy shipping! Just incredible!
The author has done some remarkable research into both the squadron, the technology & the men involved. This unit & its 'Wright Project' name was deemed 'highly classified', so don't be surprised, if like me, you hadn't heard about it previously.
Some of the narrative is almost a squadron diary formed from operation reports, but this feels necessary to tell the story. One that I'm sure will draw a lot of interest.
My thanks to Casemate Publishers for my review copy.
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