Brian Cull's definitive `Fighters over Malta: Gladiators and Hurricanes 1940-1942' is a highly detailed account of the gallant band of RAF and Commonwealth pilots who flew Gladiators and Hurricanes in defence of Malta between June 1940 and April 1942, when help in the guise of Spitfires finally arrived. Most of the Hurricanes which held this tiny outpost of the British Empire in the heart of Axis-dominated territory had been flown from the decks of aircraft carriers or from bases in North Africa, while a handful of fighter pilots arrived by Sunderland flying boats or other aircraft in transit from the UK via Gibraltar. Many of these pilots were inexperienced and quickly paid the supreme price, particularly when the Messerschmitt pilots of the elite 7/JG26 arrived in Sicily in early 1941, and later in the year when more from JG53 made their presence felt. A number of important personal diaries and journals have come to light, and these have been widely quoted to provide the atmospheric background, the thoughts and the hopes of some of the Hurricane pilots who defended Malta. Not all of the diarists survived, but their impressions provide a fitting tribute to their courage, aspirations and fears. Much of the early period of the air defence of Malta is enhanced by the personal experiences of Flt Lt (then Sgt Plt) James Pickering AFC, who flew Hurricanes with 261 Squadron.

Plt Off Oliver Ormrod, better known as 'Sonny' to his RAF compatriots due to his youthful appearance, was just four days past his twentieth birthday when he was killed in action after his Hurricane was shot down. During his brief fighting career at Malta in February to April 1942, he was credited with only two enemy aircraft destroyed, although he shared in the destruction of three others. Ormrod also claimed three 'probables' and at least six damaged. A total of a dozen successes at a time when the Hurricane was completely outclassed by Bf 109Fs of JG53, his bravery and valour were recognised by the award of a DFC. Although extracts from Ormrod's diary have appeared in various publications over the years, the editors/authors now offer the complete story of his brief period of combat in the skies over Malta. He was one of many young lives lost in the effort to safeguard Malta and he was there when only Hurricanes were available to combat the Luftwaffe's onslaught. This is his story...

This volume carries on where FIRST OF THE FEW finished, in the same style and format. 10 July-the official first day of the Battle of Britain-witnessed increased aerial activity over the Channel and along the eastern and southern seaboards of the British coastline. The main assaults by ever-increasing formations of Luftwaffe bombers, escorted by Bf109s and Bf110s, were initially aimed at British merchant shipping convoys plying their trade of coal and other materials from the north of England to the southern ports. These attacks by the Germans often met with increasing success although RAF Spitfires and Hurricanes endeavoured to repel the Heinkels, Dorniers and Ju88s, frequently with ill-afforded loss in pilots and aircraft. Within a month the Channel was effectively closed to British shipping. Only a change in the Luftwaffe's tactics in mid-August, when the main attack changed to the attempted destruction of the RAF's southern airfields, allowed small convoys to resume sneaking through without too greater hindrance.

Following the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, at which the Americans refused to back Britain's plan to invade the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean, to be followed by an invasion of the Greek mainland, a weakened British attempt was made with disastrous results. The Americans wished to concentrate all their forces in capturing Sicily and then invading southern Italy. In this first comprehensive account of aerial operations over the Eastern Mediterranean/Aegean, the first chapter covers the disastrous Hurricane attack on Crete (Operation Thesis), an attempt to divert Axis attention from Sicily; subsequent chapters deal with British landings on the islands of Kos and Leros when Spitfires vainly attempted to hold the Luftwaffe at bay. Meanwhile, Beaufighters flying from North Africa and Cyprus roamed over the Aegean attacking shipping and aerial transports with success but at a heavy cost, until the Germans withdrew from the Aegean and the Greek mainland. In addition, specially modified Spitfires are detailed to combat pressurised high-altitude Ju 87 spy planes used by the Luftwaffe based on Crete, and the Fleet Air Arm with its Seafires, Wildcats and Hellcats over the Aegean. Also, the book includes many first-hand accounts from both British and German aircrew extracted from official reports and memoirs.