Bold Venture: The American Bombing of Japanese-Occupied Hong Kong, 1942–1945

Bold Venture tells an important and riveting untold wartime story of the American airmen who flew combat missions over Hong Kong during the Second World War. Steven K. Bailey sheds light on a key narrative about a larger American campaign against Japanese forces throughout occupied China. Bailey begins with the discovery of an unexploded one-thousand-pound bomb in Hong Kong in 2014, which unfolds a rich history of American heavy bombers in World War II. As Bailey fills in the missing gaps of these heavy bombers' role in World War II, he reveals the story behind the American air raids and the airmen who were eventually shot down over Hong Kong. Bold Venture's exploration of World War II and its aftermath in Hong Kong goes into detail about the British civilians and soldiers who were released from prison and repatriated, and a U.S. military investigative team's recovery of the remains of the crew of Bold Venture, the B-25 that went down in Hong Kong in March 1945. Today unexploded aircraft bombs are unearthed with frightening regularity by construction crews in Hong Kong. Residents are eager to know where these bombs originated, who dropped them, when they dropped them, and what--or who--the targets were. Bailey's account helps answer some of these questions and also provides a unique historical perspective for Americans seeking to understand our contemporary military context and the complexities of foreign military involvement.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations 1. Eyes over Hong Kong 2. Chennault 3. Fried Eggs or Scrambled? 4. Tai-tai! Planes Are Coming! 5. Paddy Mud 6. Night Raid on North Point 7. Somewhere in Southern China 8. Dud Bombs and Dead Fish 9. It Was a Honey 10. Colbert’s Walk Out 11. Sweepy-Time Gal 12. Gulls, Pigeons, and Jays 13. The Death of Chan Lim-pak 14. Convoy Hi-87 15. Devils Incarnate 16. Gangway Special 17. Playing with Fire 18. Bold Venture Acknowledgments Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Steven K. Bailey is an associate professor of English at Central Michigan University, where he teaches nonfiction writing courses and specializes in writing program administration. He has published articles on wartime Hong Kong in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch and is the author of Strolling in Macau: A Visitor’s Guide to Macau, Taipa, and Coloane and Exploring Hong Kong: A Visitor’s Guide to Hong Kong, Kowloon, and the New Territories.  

Review :
"Bold Venture undoubtedly emerges as a catchy book focusing on a topic that has not been fully explored. . . . For anyone interested in this kind of dramatic aviation history with a human face . . . it's worth investing a few dollars and a few hours to read about what happened in the sky above Hong Kong from 1942 through 1945."-Stone & Stone: Second World War Books "Bold Ventures is a worthwhile read for historians and military aviation enthusiasts."-Robert Marshall, Air University Press "Bailey’s book provides sobering insight into the sometimes-overlooked air war in China. It is a dynamic and quite readable account and will be an excellent addition to the bookshelf of aviation enthusiast and historian alike."-Frank Willingham, Air Power History “This book about an important and overlooked aspect of USAAF operations in China during World War II takes us inside prison camps where POWs cheered and feared the American bombers appearing over Hong Kong through long, dark years. It shines in accounts of the travails and heroism of USAAF airmen.”-Bill Yenne, author of When Tigers Ruled the Sky “The accumulation of details conveys the story of Hong Kong in World War II within a quickly moving narrative. I found myself caught up in closely observed nuances of human interaction in the most extreme of circumstances. The horror of this theater of combat demands attention, as does the sacrifice of its participants.”-John Peterson, instructor in the Program of Writing and Rhetoric at Stanford University “A brisk and readable account of China-based American pilots and their years-long campaign against the city-island of Hong Kong, with due attention to the Japanese pilots who tried to stop them.”-Daniel Ford, author of Flying Tigers: Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941–1942