The Flying Guns: Cockpit Record of a Naval Pilot from Pearl Harbor Through Midway

viii, 196 pages, 8 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, map (on lining papers) ; 22 cm ISBN 9780892010905, 0892010908 OCLC 5496345 Reprint of the 1942 ed. published by Scribner, New York ; red and black cloth, a few bumps on front cover ; in color pictorial dustjacket with painting by Dick Richardson ; Dickinson attended the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, graduating with the Class of 1934. During World War II he served as a dive bomber pilot with the famed Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) aboard the American aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6). In the opening minutes of the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 Dec 1941, his scout plane was shot down with the loss of his tail gunner, but he parachuted to safety; this would be the first of two such experiences. He later fought in the Battle of Midway Island, the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands, the Battle of Cape Esperance, and the Marshall Islands, to name but a few. At the Battle of Midway in 1942, Dickinson and four dive bombers from his squadron attacked the Japanese Aircraft Carrier Kaga scoring the third of four hits with 250 kg bombs disabling the large carrier. After the attack, he appears to have run out of fuel and had to conduct a water landing, managed to survive along with his gunner, was rescued and returned to service. In 1946, he was given command of the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13), nicknamed "Big Ben" (after Benjamin Franklin) until it was decommissioned in 1947. Dickinson ended his military career about 1953 with the rank of Rear Admiral (Upper Half), which equals two stars. Dickinson would later graduate from Dartmouth College with a Master's Degree, and teach at Hartnell College from 1963 until his retirement there in 1976. ; FINE/FINE.…