The Royal Navy's attack on Taranto in 1940 heralded a new age of warfare. It was the decisive moment in a struggle for dominance of the Mediterranean that had gone on for months, as the British and Italian navies both looked to secure maritime supply routes for their colonies. With the enormous demands of a global war beginning to tell, the British capital ships were simply too thinly spread for a large fleet action against Taranto, where the bulk of the Italian fleet lay menacingly. How was the Royal Navy to eliminate the threat of the Regia Marina? This is the story of one of World War II's ... View More...
An authoritative account of the final Allied victory over Malta. Ex-Library book in good condition with usual library markings and coverings. View More...
Featuring first-hand accounts from veteran pilots, rare archival photographs and expert analysis, this volume brings to life the vicious dogfights that took place between the Bf 109 and the Yak as they vied for mastery of the frozen skies of the Eastern Front. Step into the cockpit of the Luftwaffe's Bf 109 and the Red Air Force's Yaks 1-7, two fighters which were involved in some of the largest, fiercest aerial battles in history. The Iconic Messerschmitt fighter and its combat hardened pilots administered a fearful drubbing to the Yaks in the beginning of the war. Some of the highest scorin... View More...
The great blitzkrieg campaign of May/June 1940 saw German forces pour through Holland and Belgium to confront the French and British. The assault was audacious; it relied on speed, feinting and manoeuvre as much as superior force, and in the end these qualities were to prove decisive to German success. Featuring vivid illustrations, illuminative bird's eye views and maps, this book charts the unfolding of an unprecedented 'lightning war', which saw the first ever airborne assault at a strategic level, and the largest clash of armour to date. Never in the history of warfare had the clash betwee... View More...
This is an illustrated guide shown in over 100 images. It is a compelling history of the Supermarine Spitfire, from the first single-seat prototype of 1936 through to post-war planes that equip fighter units around the world. It includes complete technical specifications detailing the Spitfire's armament, power plant, dimensions, weight and performance. It features over 100 photographs of the Supermarine Spitfire in action, as well as a cutaway diagram showing the interior construction of this classic fighter aircraft. The legendary Supermarine Spitfire was designed solely as an air protection... View More...
This title featuring photographs from the Imperial War Museum. It is a guide to over 100 of the fighters that have helped shape history, including the Fokker Dr. I Triplane, the Hawker Hurricane, the Messerschmitt Bf109, the North American P/F-51 Mustang and the Supermarine Spitfire. It features detailed specification boxes for every aircraft listed, with information about country of origin, first flight, power, armament, size, weights and performance. It includes a history of fighter aircraft, from anecdotes about the first flying aces to fighter armament and equipment during World War II. Si... View More...
The untold story of A-10 units in Operation Enduring Freedom reaches its conclusion with this second of two volumes focusing on the type's combat missions in Afghanistan. Featuring numerous first-hand accounts and photography from those who experienced the conflict, along with imagery from official military archives, this book offers a unique and detailed insight into the record of the A-10 in one of the 21st Century's most significant conflicts. Initially, the A-10 Thunderbolt was not a favourite of the USAF, which, prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, was hoping to shunt this Cold ... View More...
This book tells the story of Germany's strategic air offensive against Britain, and how it came to be neutralized. The first Zeppelin attack on London came in May 1915 - and with it came the birth of a new arena of warfare, the 'home front'. German airships attempted to raid London on 26 separate occasions between May 1915 and October 1917, but only reached the capital and bombed successfully on nine occasions. From May 1917 onwards, this theatre of war entered a new phase as German Gotha bombers set out to attack London in the first bomber raid. London's defences were again overhauled to face... View More...
'I couldn't see the tank. I couldn't see it...someone was screaming over the radio. "Scream all you want, I still can't see it," I said to my pilot. The next explosion was so close it lifted my chest armour off my body in the shock wave. The noise brought me back to my awful reality. I looked out of the sight to see the shattered cockpit glass. The next one would be it and we knew it.' Lieutenant Commander James Newton survived and was awarded the Distingushed Flying Cross for his bravery. In a career that has seen him in action in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone Northern Ireland and... View More...
Few events have ever shaken a country in the way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the United States. The Japanese forces then continued to overwhelm the Allies, attacking Malaya with its fortress of Singapore, and taking resource-rich islands in the Pacific in their own blitzkrieg offensive. Allied losses in these early months after America's entry into the war were great, and among the most devastating were those suffered during the Java Sea Campaign, where a small group of Americans, British, Dutch, and Australians were isolated in the Far East - directly in the path of the ... View More...
This book profiles a wide variety of British, French, German, Austro-Hungarian and American aircraft, ranging from frontline stalwarts like the RE 8 and AR 1 to the swift Salmson 2A2 and the compact, fighter-like Halberstadt CL II. Oft-overshadowed by the fighters that either protected or threatened them, two-seater reconnaissance aircraft performed the oldest and most strategically vital aerial task of World War 1 - a task that required them to return with the intelligence they gathered at all costs. Bomber sorties were equally important and dangerous, and the very nature of both types of mi... View More...
In 1940 Britain was an island under siege. The march of the Nazi war machine had been unrelenting: France and Belgium had quickly fallen and now the British Empire and the Commonwealth stood alone to counter the grave threat. However, their fate would not be decided by armies of millions but by a small band of fighter pilots. It was on their shoulders that Britain's best chance of survival rested. Above the villages and cities, playing fields and market towns, the skies of southern England were the scene of countless dogfights as the fledgling Fighter Command duelled daily against the might of... View More...
Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, was the top ace of the First World War, with eighty confirmed victories. He is also one of the most famous fighter pilots of all time. A Prussian nobleman, he started the war as an officer in a Uhlan cavalry unit, serving on both the Eastern and Western fronts. In May 1915 he joined the flying service, initially as an observer then as a pilot, flying two-seaters. In August 1916, ace fighter pilot Oswald Boelcke recruited von Richthofen into a fighter squadron he was forming. He would later take command of Jasta 11, and then of Jagdgeschwader 1, the famous 'Flyi... View More...
As the Pacific War approached a crescendo, the clashes between swarming US Navy carrier aircraft, and the gigantic Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) Yamato-class battleships became symbolic of the fortunes of the two nations. They also served as a metaphor for the profound changes in naval technology and doctrine that the war had brought about. The two opposing forces were the most powerful of their kind - the Japanese Yamato and Musashi were the biggest most heavily armored and armed battleships ever built, while US carrier aviation had evolved into a well-oiled, war-winning machine. With detailed... View More...
This is an illustrated guide shown in over 100 images. It is a fascinating history of the Avro Lancaster, from the first trials of the prototype at Boscombe Down in 1941 through to the famous Dambusters raids of 1943. It includes complete technical specifications detailing the Lancaster's dimensions, weights, power, fuel and oil, performance and armament. It features over 100 photographs of the Avro Lancaster in action, as well as a cutaway diagram showing the interior construction of this classic bomber aircraft. The Avro Lancaster was a truly outstanding combat aircraft of World War II. Lanc... View More...
This is the story of the elite Japanese Army Air force (JAAF) aces that flew the Kawasaki Ki-61 Hien (Swallow), and the Ki-100 Goshikisen in the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. The former, codenamed 'Tony' by the allies, was a technically excellent aircraft, possessing power, stability and a good rate of climb - differing radically from the usual Japanese philosophy of building light, ultra-manoeuvrable fighters. Its pilots soon realised, however, that the type was plagued by a number of dangerous mechanical issues. Then as the war moved relentlessly closer to Japan's doorstep, a desperate, ex... View More...
Hard cover with dust wrapper in good condition, large octavo, 326pp, some b&w and colour plates. Ex-School Library with the usual library markings. Only light shelf wear. The RAAF and the Flying Squadrons provides a concise history of all the flying squadrons that have made up the Australian Flying Corps and the Royal Australian Air Force, from the feats of the airforce on its first overseas mission in the Suez in 1916 up to the present day. Comprehensive in its coverage, it includes little known squadrons that were in existence for only a short time during World War II when the RAAF beca... View More...
Ton-up Lancs is a welcome reassessment of a study which first appeared under the 'Claims to Fame' series. Since that publication years ago, information and photographs continued to be sent to and researched and collected by the author, so much so that a complete revision was necessary, with a new 100-sortie aircraft added to the list, and with many more photographs of the aircraft and men who flew in these very special Avro Lancs. Each aircraft's history is recorded, supported by stories from aircrew that flew them, along with what happened to them once - or if - they survived. The most famous... View More...
The mysterious events of April 21, 1918, the day the legendary Red Baron met his end, have kept the world captivated for decades. There have been many theories, articles and books concerning exactly what took place but all previous accounts have been over-shadowed by this ground-breaking book. Here is the definitive answer to one of history's most compelling mysteries. Taking you straight to the site of Richthofen's final crash, leading aviation historian Norman Franks and pilot Alan Bennett dissect the evidence and expose what only eyewitnesses could see, complimented by a host of forensic an... View More...
Perhaps the most seaworthy flying boat ever built, the elegant, tri-motor Dornier Do 24 served with both the Allied and Axis forces in very different parts of the globe during World War II, garnering an excellent reputation along the way This study uses archival records, first-hand accounts and revealing photographs to illuminate the combat career of this remarkable aircraft for the first time in English. The German-built Do 24 was the Netherlands Navy's principal aerial asset during the Japanese invasion of the East Indies. While the survivors of that ordeal served in the Australian Air forc... View More...
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