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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...
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.
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.
By the end of 1941, following its participation in the Battle of
Britain, 249 was posted to Malta. Having been informed that its
pilots would be required to fly from the deck of an aircraft
carrier, intensive practice flights took place with two Hurricanes
fitted with long-range tanks, making shortened take-off runs from
an airfield runway. And that was that. The following month, having
been ferried to Gibraltar, the aircraft were off-loaded on to the
'Ark Royal' and all 20 safely reached Malta. This was the beginning
of 249's Mediterranean adventure in the defence of Malta. Spitfires
would follow early in 1942 and by the time it moved to a new
theatre of operations, 249 had claimed 245 air victories in the
skies over Malta, producing many ace pilots such as 'Screwball'
Beurling, Laddie Lucas, Johnny Plagis, John Lynch, to name but a
few.
806 Squadron was formed in early 1940 and was equipped with Skuas
and Rocs, both outdated as fighters and dive-bombers, the latter
hampered by a gunner's turret and most unsuited for modern warfare;
however, 806 was fortunate to have at its head the volatile but
skillful and aggressive Lt-Cdr Charles Evans, a 30-year-old
born-leader with ten years' experience flying with both the RAF and
Royal Navy. With the aid of his equally experienced senior
observer, Lt Desmond Vincent-Jones, the young fledgling pilots,
mainly straight from training school, were soon receiving expert
instruction. Having survived early ops over Norway and Dunkirk, 806
was selected to fly the new fleet-fighter, the underrated Fulmar,
with which it went to war in the Mediterranean aboard the aircraft
carrier HMS Illustrious and won its spurs. The young pilots, led by
the CO, wreaked havoc amongst the Italian navy's spotter seaplanes
and bombers. This is their story.
The Bristol Blenheim entered Bomber Command service in 1937 and
became one of the Command's most important aircraft. On its
inception, the Blenheim was fast and sleek, and at the outbreak of
war, achieved a number of early firsts. It was the first British
aircraft to enter German airspace and attacked warships near
Wilhelmshaven. The war, however, showed the Blenheim was outdated
and extremely vulnerable to flak and fast Luftwaffe fighters such
as the Bf 109 and Bf 110. It suffered horrific losses during the
Battle of France: 144 Squadron lost almost its entire bombers in
one mission. The fighting in France revealed the Blenheim Mk IV to
be under armoured, under armed and slow. Before being replaced by
the Wooden Wonder, the mighty Mosquito, the Blenheim soldiered on
with almost suicidal consequences for its crews. Blenheims Over
Greece and Crete: RAF and Greek Blenheims in Action 1940-1941
covers the operations, often tragic, of the Blenheims during the
fighting over Greece and Albania. By the end of the fighting and
withdrawal to Crete, all three squadrons had effectively been wiped
out, with great sacrifice by the crews involved. One of the airmen
involved was No. 30 Squadron's Sgt Lofty Lord whose grandson Simon
has amassed much information and photographs, many previously
unpublished, from survivors and/or their families. The same three
squadrons, with many new crews to replace those lost in Greece,
later fought together in Sumatra and Java (the Dutch East Indies)
in an endeavour to repel the Japanese invasion. Written by one of
the world's leading authorities on Second World War military
aviation, this is a gripping account of the heroics of the small
band of British and Greek airmen who flew the Blenheims against
ever-increasing odds, particularly once the Luftwaffe were
determined to decimate them.
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