357th Fighter Group

James Roeder
Squadron/Signal Publications, ©2000
ISBN 0-89747-380-9
64 pages
$9.95

Reviewed by Michael Benolkin

The latest title from Squadron/Signal Publications covers the 357th Fighter Group, a unit that saw just 15 months of combat, yet become the third leading ETO fighter group in air-to-air kills. The 357 was first organized on paper in December 1942, gathered up men and equipment, trained the lot to become a combat unit, and then deployed to the ETO in December 1943, assigned to the Nineth Air Force. The 357 FG was home to a number of familiar names, including Chuck Yeager and 'Bud' Anderson. The 357 FG only flew the P-51 Mustang thoughout its operational life.

The book has 63 pages of history, accompanied by numerous nice black & white photographs, color profiles of notable aircraft, and scrap drawings of significant P-51 details. There are two color photographs featured on the rear cover of the book as well.

This book is a must-have for the military aviation historian, the Mustang buff, and the modeler alike. My sincere thanks to Squadron/Signal Publications for this review sample!