Dramatic first-hand accounts by the pilots, radar observers, and
gunners who saw combat aboard the first dedicated US night fighter in World War
II fill this unique volume, the first in Squadron/Signal's new Combat Chronicles
series. Combat Chronicles books bring you action-packed, eye-witness war
stories, interviews, and first-hand reminiscences from the front lines. In this
premier volume we hear from the crews who rode the Black Widow into battle all
over the world. The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 and the Battle
of Britain in 1940 left no room for doubt that the United States
needed quickly to come up with a specialized night fighter to confront the
totally new face of air combat. Northrop was able to come up with designs for a
new, specially designated night fighter and a contract for what was to become
the P-61 Black Widow was signed on 11th January 1941. After the first production
aircraft rolled off the assembly line in October 1943, the P-61 went on to
operate in the European, Pacific, China-Burma-India, and Mediterranean Theatres
of the war. Experience World War II as it was seen by the men in the cockpit of
this history-making radar-equipped night interceptor.
