Air forces & warfare
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General & world historyBuffaloes Over Singapore
by Brian. Cull
The Brewster B-339 Buffalo received much criticism during its brief service with the RAF, some justified, som not. A few of the pilots who eventually flew it in combat were happy with their mounts, others hated it as an operational fighter. Rightly considered below par for service in the UK, the vast majority of the 170 aircraft acquired by the RAF Purchasing Commission from the United States were diverted for use in the Far East, where it was believed they would be superior to any Japanese aircraft encountered should hostilities break out there. This assessment was to prove tragically very incorret. When war did erupt, the Japanese Army Air Force - with its highly manoeuvreable Ki-27 and Ki-43 fighters - and the Japanese Navy Air Force equipped with the mighty A6M Zero, proved vastly superior in just about all aspects, and many of the Japanese fighter pilots were veterans of the war against China.;By contrast, the majority of the young British, New Zealand and Australian pilots who flew the Buffalo on operations in Malaya and at Singapore were little more than trainees and many flew into battle with only the basic training of their trade. Nonetheless, these fledgling fighter pilots achieved much greater success than could have been anticipated, although many paid with their lives. This is their story, complete with appendices and previously unpublished source material and photographs.
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General & world historyDust Clouds in the Middle East
The Air War for East Africa, Iraq, Syria, Iran and Madagascar, 1940-42
by Christopher Shores
Originally appearing as a series of magazine articles, the valuable research into air operations, over the old-style Middle East of World War II, here appears in book form.;It deals with a variety of engagements between Britain and her Commonwealth forces and the Germans, Italians and Vichy French across many borders and differing terrains. It covers from the Italian threat and Ababa, the air battles over Lebanon, the breaking of Vichy air strength and culminates in the occupation of Madagascar in 1942.
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Biography: generalPark
The Biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park
by Vincent Orange
"If ever any one man won the Battle of Britain, he did. I don't believe it is realized how much that one man, with his leadership, his calm judgement and his skill, did to save not only this country, but the world". So wrote Marshal of the RAF Lord Tedder in 1947.;As commander of No. 11 Group, Fighter Command and responsible for the air defence of London and South-East England, Keith Park took charge of the day-to-day direction of the battle. In spotlighting his thoughts and actions during the crisis, the author reveals a man whose unfailing energy, courage and cool resourcefulness won not only supreme praise from Churchill but the lasting respect and admiration of all who served under him.;However, few officers in any of the services packed more action into their lives, and this book covers the whole of his career - youth in New Zealand, success as an ace fighter pilot in World War I, postings to South America and Egypt, Battle of Britain, Command of the RAF in Malta 1942/43, and finally Allied Air Commander-in-Chief of South East Asia under Mountbatten in 1945.;His contribution to victory and peace was immense and this biography aims to shed light on the Big Wing controversy of 1940 and give insight into the war in Burma, 1945, and how the huge problems remaining after the war's sudden end were dealt with.;Drawn largely from unpublished sources and interviews with people who knew Park, and illustrated with maps and photographs, this is an authoritative biography of one of the world's greatest unsung heroes. ____________
