Built Like a Tank

摘要

As the Allies were landing in Normandy to begin the liberation of Europe, the 318th Fighter Group deployed its P-47 Thunderbolts to Ford Island, Hawaii. There they were loaded on to the carrier USS Natoma Bay for the long haul to Saipan in the Marianas Islands. The 318th could trace its legacy all the way back to 1917, and it had been stationed on Hawaiian bases, with P-40 Warhawks and P-39 Airacobras since May 1942. Now, the 318th was going to war. The US Marines had set the date of June 15 for the landings on Saipan to begin and the Natoma Bay, carrying the 'T-Bolts' arrived off the coast the following day. The Marines advanced steadily, but the enemy briefly recaptured the airfield intended for the 318th and it was not until the 22nd that the P-47s launched for the new base.