W.GLOVER'S HOME PAGE
Paific War









by:Bill Glover

U.S.Navy "Bombing 8" Squadron
& "Bombing 11" Squadron


CV-8 USS Hornet

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"Hello Im Bill Glover"


"Bill Glover"

"WELCOME to my Military Homepage"

I served four years in the Navy, two years and one month

in the Pacific,assigned to the ""Bombing 8"" Squadron aboard the USS Hornet

and later with the "Bombing 11" Squadron.

After the war I served five years in the reserve.

Then I was recalled and was assigned

to the "Korean Military Advisory Group",and

after my tour in Korea, I was assigned to the

"U.S.Strike Command" during the Cuban Missile Crisis

*******




SB2C Helldiver



"SBD Divebomber"



"Two Years 1 month in the south Pacific"

My tour in the Navy was spent in the Pacific,assigned to the "Bombing 8" Squadron, consisting of F4F Wildcat fighters, TBF Avenger torpedo bombers and SBD Divebombers, and Later, SB2C Helldiver dive bombers.
At Wars en I was in Hawaii Training new Pilots and crewmen for Bombing 11 Squadron, Divebombers.




"TBF Torpedo Bomber"




F4F Wildcat Fighter



"Attack on Pearl Harbor 1941"
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We all remember Pearl Harbor,Dec.7 1941, at 7 am the Japanese imperial Navy launched a sneak air attack on our Naval and Air Bases in Hawaii and virtually destroyed our entire Pacific Fleet and Air Defense. We were fortunate that the Carriers, USS Hornet, USS Saratoga, USS Lexington and the USS Enterprise,were at sea and were not caught in the destruction.




CV- 8 USS Hornet



There were many land and air encounters with the japanese in the following months, But the one that is foremost in my mind happened in April 1942, Army Col James Doolittle took off from the flight deck of the carrier USS Hornet in B25 Bombers and bombed Tokyo,Japan the first air attack by the USA against the Japanese Homeland.
Below is the USS Hornet carrier,Its flight deck loaded with B25 Bombers ready for the attack on Japan.




"CV-8 USS Hornet"
"Ready for attack on Japan
"




"USS Hornet"
"B-25 Bombers taking off to bomb Tokyo"




PBY Catalina



The PBY Catalina,pictured above played a major roll in the war. they flew reconnaissance flights continuously to spot enemy ship movements etc. they were responsible for the sighting of large armadas of Japanese ships and gave the USA the ability to plan thier attack and to win the battles



The first major sea battle as I recall Started on May 4 1942. "The Battle of the Coral Sea", the battle was fought in the air and the losses were heavy on both sides.the USA lost the carrier USS Lexington, the Japanese also lost one carrier and other ships.The battle raged for five days.Many Men, ships,and planes were lost to the sea.



"The Battle of the Coral Sea"




CV-2 USS Lexington




F6F Fighter replaced F4F in 1943



"The turning point of the war in the Pacific"

The next major Air battle was "the battle of Midway" it took place on June 3,1942. the battle raged for four days with heavy loses. the "Torpedo Squadrons" attacked with 41 planes,only six returned. the "Divebomber Squadron 8" attacked and sank four Japanese carriers along with thier planes and men.The USA lost the carrier Yorktown. USA loses in men and planes were heavy,but winning the Battle of Midway was the turning point of the war. The Japanese navy never recovered from the loses at Midway. The USA ruled the sea and the air. But the battles to drive the Japanese from the Islands of the Pacific and back to thier homeland was just beginning.



The Battle of Midway




CV-6 USS Enterprise




CV-5 USS Yorktown

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A tribute to the
American Flag



The battles to win the Pacific



Battle of the Eastern Solomons



During the following months battles were raging in the pacific, in September 1942 the USS Wasp Aircraft Carrier was torpedoed by a japanese submarine and sank off the coast of San Cristobal Island,on the east end of the Solomon Islands, with the loss of 193 killid and 366 wounded. Later in October,1942 the Navy engaged in the battle of the Santa Cruz Islands,about 400 miles east of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. This was a strategic battle for the USA, even though the Japanese Navy only had damage to several ships, the US Navy lost the carrier USS Hornet, but in the battle the Japanese was unable to dislodge the American forces off Guadalcanal.



War yr."1943"




"Superfortress B-29"



"The Ground Wars"

Meanwwile the ground forces of the American Marines and Army as well as Naval Personell and the Seabees were fighting to reclaim the Islands from the Japanese forces.

In the eighteen to twenty months that followed,while land and sea battles were won and lost, the USA was building ships and planes and training fighting men.

The last major air battle was the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
The new USS Hornet Carrier attacked Saipan and destroyed land based planes.

The Japanese Carriers attacked our Carrier force from the Sea and came in four massive waves,But our superier trained fighters attacked and what is commonly known as,"The Marianas Turkey Shoot, The USA destroyed 400 japanese planes and sank a Japanese carrier and other ships. The air battles were over and the USA was engaged in land battles to drive the Japanese from the Islands

The land battles went on for 15 more months until the bombing by the Army Airforce B29 Flyingfortress (like the one pictured above) of Hiroshima Aug 6, and Nagasaki Aug 9,1945. The Japanese surrendered on Aug 14.1945

World War || ended on Sept.2,1945 when the Japanese signed the unconditional surrender on board the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.


Japanese Surrender
"USS Missouri"
Tokyo Bay




G reat Narrative of WW2, "Day by Day Account"



"World War Aircraft Pictures"

WW2 Aircraft

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Bill Glover



wglover@ccgnv.net

FLorida
United States

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