"This book richly details life in a fighter squadron. Readers will learn new details and gain a better understanding of the daily experience outside of the intense combat environment. It is well worth reading this contribution to World War II oral history." —The Journal of America's Military Past

On December 6, 1941, despite his objections, James Lynch was discharged from the Army for being over age in grade. After the terrible events at Pearl Harbor, James Lynch was recalled to duty. Within a month he was part of the Air Corps, involved in a secret project to send air support to help General Montgomery and the Eighth Army. He joined the nucleus of officers in charge of the 64th Fighter Squadron, 57th Fighter Group. For the next 33 months, he fought across the top of Africa and then up through Italy.

The 57th Fighter Group arrived in Egypt just in time for the battle at El Alamein. How the United States was able to get the pink-winged P-40s to the battlefield baffled the Germans for many years. The Black Scorpions chased the Afrika Corps across the top of Africa, culminating in the Palm Sunday massacre where the Squadron helped shoot down 74 planes in a single engagement. For the Italian campaign, the Black Scorpions switched from P-40s to P-47s, changing from fighters to bombers and disrupting the German and Italian lines up the Italian Peninsula.

Through all the battles, including a battle with an erupting Mount Vesuvius, James Lynch kept an unauthorized diary. He also collected daily intelligence reports, newspaper stories, souvenirs, pictures, and letters from home. After the war he reminisced with fellow soldiers about their experiences, and eventually felt it was time to write the story of the Black Scorpions—this book is the result.

• Front Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I The African Campaign: Massachusetts to Tunisia
  • 1 Boston
  • 2 At sea on Pasteur
  • 3 Palestine
  • Interlude: Colonel Barnum’s Report
  • 4 Haifa, Palestine
  • 5 Edku, Egypt
  • 6 Landing Ground 174, Egypt, September 16–October 26
  • 7 Landing Ground 174, Egypt, October 27–November 3
  • 8 Landing Ground 172 and 75, Egypt
  • 9 Gambut and Martuba, Libya
  • 10 Belandau, Libya
  • 11 Harajet, Libya
  • 12 Bir Durfan, Libya
  • 13 Zuwara, Libya
  • 14 Ben Gardane, Tunisia
  • Interlude: Battle of the Mareth Line
  • 15 East Medinine, Tunisia
  • 16 Soltone, Tunisia
  • 17 Has Bub, Tunisia
  • 18 Skhira, Tunisia
  • 19 El Djem, Tunisia
  • 20 Palm Sunday Massacre
  • 21 El Hania, Tunisia
  • Interlude: Cease-fire in Africa
  • 22 Causeway Field, Tunisia
• Part II The Italian Campaign: Malta to the Po Valley
  • 23 Malta
  • 24 Scordia, Sicily
  • 25 Salerno, Italy
  • 26 Messina, Sicily
  • 27 Rocco Bernardo, Italy
  • 28 Gioia Tauro, Italy
  • 29 Foggia, Italy
  • 30 Amendola, Italy, October 25–December 31
  • 31 Amendola, Italy, January 1–February 27, 1944
  • 32 Cercola, Italy
  • 33 Vesuvius
  • 34 Naples, Italy
  • 35 Corsica, France
  • 36 Alto Landing Ground, Corsica, March 28–April 20
  • Interlude: Major Art Exon
  • 37 Alto Landing Ground, Corsica, April 21–29
  • 38 Capri, Italy
  • 39 Alto Landing Ground, Corsica, May 8–June 19
  • 40 Two-year anniversary, Corsica
  • 41 Grosseto, Italy, September 9–October 22
  • 42 Home on leave
  • 43 Grosseto, Italy, January 27–April 26, 1945
  • 44 Villafranca, Italy, April 27–May 1
  • 45 Villafranca, Italy, May 2–5
  • 46 Grosseto, Italy, May 6–26
  • 47 Final days
• Appendices
  • Black Scorpions Commanding Officers
  • Miscellaneous Statistics, October 14, 1942 to December 31, 1943
  • George Dorval’s survival