Fifteen years since it was originally published, Grub Street is proud to present the re-issue of Poles in Defence of Britain. To the Polish volunteers who were to fly and fight so brilliantly and tenaciously throughout the Battle of Britain, the United Kingdom was known as Last Hope Island. Many lost their lives, such as Antoni Ostowicz, many achieved glory and became aces such as Glowacki, Skalski and Witorzenc. The RAF came to depend on these men, with over 100 Polish pilots supporting almost thirty fighter squadrons, most especially 302, 303 and 307 (night fighter). The result of years of research, Robert Gretzyngiers book includes detailed combat descriptions, personal accounts from combat reports, memoirs, and diaries from the Polish, British and German perspective. There is in-depth biographical data of all Polish pilots, giving full RAF and PAF careers and much tabular material in appendix form. This book is a tremendous account of their contribution in those hectic days before the RAF began to take the offensive across the Channel.

The United States needs airpower, but does it need an air force? In Grounded, Robert M. Farley persuasively argues that America should end the independence of the United States Air Force (USAF) and divide its assets and missions between the United States Army and the United States Navy. In the wake of World War I, advocates of the Air Force argued that an organizationally independent air force would render other military branches obsolete. These boosters promised clean, easy wars: airpower would destroy cities beyond the reach of the armies and would sink navies before they could reach the coast. However, as Farley demonstrates, independent air forces failed to deliver on these promises in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the first Gulf War, the Kosovo conflict, and the War on Terror. They have also had perverse effects on foreign and security policy, as politicians have been tempted by the vision of devastating airpower to initiate otherwise ill-considered conflicts. The existence of the USAF also produces turf wars with the Navy and the Army, leading to redundant expenditures, nonsensical restrictions on equipment use, and bad tactical decisions. Farley does not challenge the idea that aircraft represent a critical component of America's defenses; nor does he dispute that -- especially now, with the introduction of unmanned aerial vehicles -- airpower is necessary to modern warfare. Rather, he demonstrates that the efficient and wise use of airpower does not require the USAF as presently constituted. An intriguing scholarly polemic, Grounded employs a wide variety of primary and secondary source materials to build its case that the United States should now correct its 1947 mistake of having created an independent air force.

It was during the Battle of Britain in 1940 that the Spitfire became an enduring legend and a symbol of the British fighting spirit, partnering with the Hawker Hurricane to defeat the might of Hitler's Luftwaffe and prevent invasion. Highly illustrated with the pick of historic photographs, Spitfire The History of a Legend covers all the significant Marks developed during the Spitfire's operational service, explaining how the aircraft evolved to meet the challenges presented by the war's changing requirements and by the threat of new generations of Luftwaffe fighters.

On 24 March 1999, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) launched Operation Allied Force against Serbia. Lasting 78 days, this was an unusual conflict fought at several levels. The campaign was fought at the negotiation tables, in the media, and via cyber warfare. In the air, NATO sought to destroy or at least minimise the capability of the Serbian forces, while on the ground the Serbian forces fought the Kosovo-Albanian insurgency. It had an unusual outcome, too: without NATO losing a single soldier in direct action, they still forced the Serbian authorities and armed forces to withdraw from Kosovo, which in 2008 then proclaimed its independence. In turn, the war inflicted serious human and material losses upon the Serbian's and the air force was particularly devastated by air strikes on its facilities. Nevertheless, many within NATO subsequently concluded that the skies over Serbia were as dangerous on the last night of this conflict as they were on its first. Largely based on cooperation with the joint commission of the Serbian Air Force and the U.S. Air Force in Europe (USAFE), Operation Allied Force provides a detailed account of NATO's aerial campaign, including reconstructions of operations by 'stealth' aircraft such as the F-117A and B-2A. Operation Allied Force also offers a detailed reconstruction of the planning and conduct of combat operations by the Serbian Air Force, with special emphasis on the attempts of its sole MiG-29 squadron to challenge enemy strike packages. The volume is illustrated by a rich collection of exclusive photography collected from both sides, and along with custom-drawn artworks provides a set of entirely new and unique insights into what was the last war fought in Europe during the 20th century.

During the Second World War, the Soviet Union's Petlyakov Pe-2 Peshka dive-bomber was unique in that it was as fast as most fighter aircraft. This was in a period when it was considered by the RAF that it was impossible for monoplane aircraft to conduct vertical bombing with any degree of success. During the war the Pe-2 was the principal dive- and light-bomber of Russia's air power across the vast Eastern Front and it continued in service until the early 1950s with the air forces of the Warsaw Pact countries and Yugoslavia. Conceived by a team of top aircraft designers whom Stalin had incarcerated in a prison camp on trumped-up political charges, the Pe-2 had originally been designed as a high-altitude twin-engine fighter plane, but, due to the outstanding success of the German Stukas in the Blitzkrieg, its role was quickly changed to that of a fast dive-bomber. The Pe-2 arrived in service around the time of the German attack on its hitherto ally. Although only a handful had reached front line units by the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Pe-2 soon became the main dive-bomber in both the Soviet VVS and Naval service. Mass production, by factories hastily moved back beyond the front, meant that numbers increased rapidly, and more than 11,000 of the type, including many variants, were built up to 1945. The Peshka became the mainstay of the Soviet counter-offensive that ultimately resulted in the fall of Berlin. Pe-2s also led the way in the brief but annihilating Manchurian campaign against Japan in the closing days of the war in 1945. Using official sources, including the official Pe-2 handbook, and numerous colour and black-and-white photographs made available to the author from both official and private sources and collections, this book is the definitive record of the Pe-2 - the dive-bomber supreme!

This is the first of a two volume set exploring the inception, planning and preparation of the offensive to liberate Europe, Operation Overlord, culminating in its launch on D-Day.

South African Mirages and Cuban MiG-21s dogfighting over Cuito Cuanavale, the largest tank battle on African soil since El Alamein; Puma troopships shot out of the skies by Strela missiles and RPG-7 rockets; Alouette III gunships hovering menacingly above Koevoet tracker-combat teams as they close in for the kill; Hercules and Transall transports disgorging their loads of Parabats over Cassinga; suicidal helicopter hot-extractions of Recce operators deep in enemy territory; and a lone Alouette pilot who disobeyed orders and under intense ground fire evacuated a critically wounded soldier ... such is the story of the South African Air Force, the SAAF, over the 23-year period 1966-1989, the period of conflict that became known as the 'Border War'. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, the SAAF was effectively South Africa's first line of defence against Soviet expansionism in southern Africa. That the Soviets, through their surrogates - the Cuban military, Angola's FAPLA and Namibia's SWAPO - sought a communist regime in South Africa is indisputable, as too was the SAAF's skill, quality, determination and capability to defeat the best Soviet air defences of the time. This account covers all the major operations that the SAAF was involved in, from Operation Blouwildebees, the opening salvo of the conflict at Omgulumbashe, South West Africa in 1966 to the final curtain, Operation Merlyn, the so-called April Fool's Day 'war' of 1989 when the SAAF and Koevoet, almost alone, frustrated SWAPO's last throw of the dice with its illegal invasion of South West Africa. In this account, highlighting such operations as Reindeer, Bootlace/Uric, Sceptic, Protea, Daisy, Askari, Moduler, Hooper and Packer, among many, as well as the ongoing methodological operations like Lunar, Maanskyn, Donkermaan and Butterfly, Baxter examines and brings to life the squadrons and aviators that fought in both counter-insurgency and conventional warfare roles. Besides an extensive selection of rare photographs, the book features a comprehensive section on camouflage and markings and 11 pages of colour aircraft profiles and insignia by noted SAAF authority William Marshall, making this title especially useful for modelers.

For five years during the Second World War, the Allies launched a trial and error bombing campaign against Germany's historical city landscape. Peaking in the war's final three months, it was the first air attack of its kind. Civilian dwellings were struck by-in today's terms-"weapons of mass destruction," with a total of 600,000 casualties, including 70,000 children. In The Fire, historian Jorg Friedrich explores this crucial chapter in military and world history. Combining meticulous research with striking illustrations, Friedrich presents a vivid account of the saturation bombing, rendering in acute detail the annihilation of cities such as Dresden, the jewel of Germany's rich art and architectural heritage. He incorporates the personal stories and firsthand testimony of German civilians into his narrative, creating a macabre portrait of unimaginable suffering, horror, and grief, and he draws on official military documents to unravel the reasoning behind the strikes. Evolving military technologies made the extermination of whole cities possible, but owing, perhaps, to the Allied victory and what W. G. Sebald noted as "a pre-conscious self-censorship, a way of obscuring a world that could no longer be presented in comprehensible terms," the wisdom of this strategy has never been questioned. The Fire is a rare account of the air raids as they were experienced by the civilians who were their targets.

The series of sharp clashes between Ecuador and Peru of 1981 left the dispute between the two countries unresolved as there was still no definitive delimitation of the border. During the following years, both parties had to deal with a series of internal and external issues and, ultimately, these affected the planning and operational capabilities of their respective armed forces. While Peru underwent a severe economic crisis including hyperinflation caused by poor management of its economy, and a leftist insurgency, Ecuador underwent a transition from a centrally-controlled economy to a free market: in turn, it was one of countries in Latin America least affected by the precipitous fall in regional economic indices of the 1990s. These factors had an immediate impact upon the armed forces of both countries: they proved decisive for the development of their defensive and offensive planning, and would exercise direct influence upon the decisions taken by field commanders of both countries during the final, third war between Ecuador and Peru in 1995. Drawing upon extensive research in the official archives from both the Fuerza Aerea del Ecuador and Fuerza Aerea del Peru (FAP), with documentation from multiple private sources in both countries, Air Wars Between Ecuador and Peru, Volume 3 completes the history of the aerial operations launched by the forces of both nations in the brief - but also the most violent - engagement between these two countries. By accessing details from both parties to the conflict, this volume avoids biased and one-sided coverage of the conflict, while providing detail of the military build-up, capabilities and intentions of both of the air forces involved, their training, planning, and the conduct of combat operations. Illustrated by more than 100 exclusive photographs, half a dozen maps and 15 authentic colour profiles, Air Wars Between Ecuador and Peru, Volume 3 provides the first authoritative account of the air warfare between Ecuador and Peru in early 1995.

The German 'Blitz' that followed the Battle of Britain killed tens of thousands and laid waste to large areas of many British cities. And although the destruction of 1940-1 was never repeated on the same scale, fears that Hitler possessed a secret weapon of mass destruction never entirely died, and were partially realized in the VI and V2 raids of 1944-5. The British and American response to the 'Blitz', especially from 1943 onwards, was massive and incomparably more devastating - with apocalyptic consequences for German cities such as Hamburg, Dresden, and Berlin, to name but the most prominent. In this ground-breaking new book, German historian Dietmar Suss investigates the effects of the bombing on both Britain and Nazi Germany, showing how these two very different societies sought to withstand the onslaught and keep up morale amidst the material devastation and psychological trauma that was visited upon them. And, as he reflects in the conclusion, this is not a story that is safely confined to the past: the debate over the rights and the wrongs of the mass bombing of British and German cities during World War II remains a highly emotional subject even today.

The war in the Far East between 1941 and 1945 is occasionally referred to as the 'Forgotten War' and this description extends to the way the campaign's air war has been analysed. However, the role of air power in Burma was vitally important to the campaign, in particular the attainment of air superiority in order to facilitate supply and close support operations. The foundation of these operations was dependent on the Allies achieving and maintaining air superiority and latterly air supremacy over the Japanese. The British lost air superiority during the initial Japanese attacks as their early warning system, aircraft, aircrew and tactics did not match their adversary's capabilities. This book will analyse how the Allies lost air superiority during the initial exchanges, and then how technical and material difficulties were overcome before air superiority was won in 1944, and air supremacy was gained in 1945. Furthermore, the book will demonstrate how Japanese industry, their war in the Pacific, and their use of air power in Burma ultimately affected the air war's eventual outcome. The book will examine current historiography to question and corroborate existing views, as well as to reveal new information not previously published.

Why did the British, then the leading nation in science and technology, fall far behind in the race to develop the aeroplane before the First World War? Despite their initial advantage, they were overtaken by the Wright brothers in America, by the French and the Germans. Peter Reese, in this highly readable and highly illustrated account, delves into the fascinating early history of aviation as he describes what happened and why. He recalls the brilliant theoretical work of Sir George Cayley, the inventions of other pioneers of the nineteenth century and the daring exploits of the next generation of airmen, among them Samuel Cody, A.V. Roe, Bertram Dickson, Charles Rolls and Tommy Sopwith. His narrative is illustrated with a wonderful selection of over 120 archive drawings and photographs which record the men and the primitive flying machines of a century ago.

In this inspiring account of the Tuskegee Airmen-the country's first African American military pilots-historian J. Todd Moye captures the challenges and triumphs of these brave aviators in their own words, drawing on more than 800 interviews recorded for the National Park Service's Tuskegee Airmen Oral History Project. Denied the right to fully participate in the U.S. war effort alongside whites at the beginning of World War II, African Americans-spurred on by black newspapers and civil rights organizations such as the NAACP-compelled the prestigious Army Air Corps to open its training programs to black pilots, despite the objections of its top generals. Thousands of young men came from every part of the country to Tuskegee, Alabama, in the heart of the segregated South, to enter the program, which expanded in 1943 to train multi-engine bomber pilots in addition to fighter pilots. By the end of the war, Tuskegee Airfield had become a small city populated by black mechanics, parachute packers, doctors, and nurses. Together, they helped prove that racial segregation of the fighting forces was so inefficient as to be counterproductive to the nation's defense. Freedom Flyers brings to life the legacy of a determined, visionary cadre of African American airmen who proved their capabilities and patriotism beyond question, transformed the armed forces-formerly the nation's most racially polarized institution-and jump-started the modern struggle for racial equality. "The personal nature of the examples Moye cites make it a far deeper and richer narrative than typical WWII fare.... The author's friendly style should open the title up to even casual readers." -Booklist "An excellent history of the first African-American military pilots.... Moye's lively prose and the intimate details of the personal narratives yield an accessible scholarly history that also succeeds as vivid social history." -Publishers Weekly

In early 1942, while most of the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy. Based in Australia with poor supplies and no ground support, the pilots and crew faced tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved remarkably resilient and successful, conducting long-range bombing raids, armed reconnaissance missions, and rescuing General MacArthur and his staff from the Philippines. Before now, the story of their courage and determination in the face of overwhelming odds has largely been untold. Using eyewitness accounts based on personal diaries, letters, new interviews, and memoirs as well as Japanese sources, historian Bruce Gamble brings to vivid life this dramatic true story. But the Kangaroo Squadron's story doesn't end in World War II. One of the B-17s, crash landed on its first mission, has recently been recovered from jungle swamps. The intertwined stories of the Kangaroo Squadron and the "Swamp Ghost" are filled with thrilling accounts of aerial combat, an epic jungle survival story, and the powerful mystique of an abandoned bomber that compelled men to possess it at any cost.

'DESERVES TO JOIN REACH FOR THE SKY AND THE LAST ENEMY AS ONE OF THE GREAT RAF BOOKS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR' - ANDREW ROBERTS As I write, I can clearly recall the stinging heat of aburning Blenheim, smells, tastes, expressions, sounds of voices and, most ofall, fear gripping deep in me. Flying Officer Alastair Panton was just twenty-three when his squadron deployed across the Channel in the defence of France. They were desparate days. Pushed back to the beaches as the German blitzkrieg rolled through the Low Countries and into France, by June 4th 1940 the evacuation ofthe Allies from Dunkirk was complete. A little over two weeks later France surrendered. Flying vital, dangerous, low-level missions throughout the campaign in support of the troops on the ground, Panton's beloved but unarmed Bristol Blenheim was easy meat for the marauding Messerschmitts. At the height of fighting he was losing two of his small squadron's crews to the enemy every day. Discovered in a box by his grandchildren after his death in 2002, Alastair Panton's Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer is a lostclassic. One of the most moving, vivid and powerful accounts of war inthe air ever written. And an unforgettable testament to the courage, stoicism, camaraderie and humanity of Britain's greatest generation. 'ONE CAN'T HELP FEELING AWE AND REVERENCE. THERE ARE ENOUGH ADVENTURES HERE FOR A LIFETIME' LOUIS DE BERNIERES 'SIMPLY WONDERFUL. ONE OF THE BEST ACCOUNTS OF WWII I HAVE EVER READ' JOHN NICHOL

Although Adrian Warburton (known to all as Warby) became one of the most highly decorated pilots of World War II, he began his military career as a below-average misfit with 22 Squadron of Coastal Command and was sent to Malta to avoid trouble in the UK. Known at first as a loner, when given his command, the spectacular results he achieved enabled his unconventional behavior to be over-looked. Fearless in the air, the maverick ace shot down nine enemy aircraft and won fame in Malta for his invaluable photo reconnaissance work at Taranto, Sicily and North Africa. On April 12th, 1944 Warburton departed in an aircraft on an unusual mission over Europe. Both plane and pilot disappeared without trace, giving rise to a host of rumors that his disappearance was intentional. For almost 60 years the mystery remained unsolved, until a painstaking international search unearthed the truth. Based on interviews with nearly 150 of Warby's colleagues, and updated by historian Chris Goss with recently unearthed information, Warburton's War paints a picture of a fascinating man, who with 350 operational missions from Malta alone became a living legend and an enigma among the aces of WWII.