FLIGHTPATH | 25Personal Effects
service of the US Navy’s air-
borne radar was, as the time,
understandably top secret.
Furthermore, the Navy and Ma-
rine Corps’ night fighter crews
often were operated as ‘penny
packets’, sometimes even dis-
persed among units with other
more high-profile tasks. As a
result, little reliable informa-
tion was made public or is to be
found in most sources.
Alan Carey’s book amply re-
dresses this imbalance, in this
handsome, large format, well-
presented book of over 200 pag-
es. He goes into comprehensive,
well-illustrated detail on the de-
velopment of the radar, aircraft,
and the resultant training and
development of tactics, before
delineating the early, faltering
steps of Pacific night fighter op-
eration and the maturing of the
task into the early Korean War.
The text is a well-sourced but
also well written account with
plenty of direct experience, and
the book is also illustrated com-
prehensively. Some early opera-
tional images are of originally
poor quality, but more than bal-
anced by their historical interest
and Alan’s dedicated work in
finding previously secret high-
quality factory images of the air-
craft and their radar fitouts, all
well presented. It’s a pleasure to
see a new work that essentially
brings a previously obscured
area to prominence, while also
providing comprehensive au-
thoritative detail to the reader.
(Reviewer James Kightly.)
Alan C. Carey, US$49.99,
plus P&P, Schiffer Publish-
ing Ltd., http://www.schiffer-
books.com
They Gave Me
A Seafire
The late ‘Mike’ Crosley, who
died in 2010, joined the Fleet
Air Arm (FAA) at the height of
the Battle of Britain because
the ‘wait list’ for the RAF was
too long. Joining a service
struggling with its own identity,
a lack of modern aircraft and
members of the leadership
team who vehemently ques-
tioned the very existence of the
aviation branch, he makes it
through intensive - albeit occa-
sionally archaic and amusing -
training before flying opera-
tionally. He survived the
sinking of HMS Eagle, the
North African landings, Arctic
convoys and much more be-
fore taking command of a
Seafire squadron prior to join-
ing the British Pacific
Fleet. Crosley is frank about
the service’s failings, particu-
larly the mis-use of the Seafire
and fighter force in general, but
highlights the fine men who
made it work. The FAA, by
1945, was a very effective fight-
ing force perfectly placed to
take advantage of the massive
advances in naval aviation,
many developed by the service
itself, that were to come in the
post-war years. Crosley was
there for all of it. This book is a
typically well put together and
illustrated hardback from this
publisher and has been subtly
updated. If you have not already
read this superb book, this is the
perfect opportunity to right a
wrong. If you’ve read it, intro-
duce a friend! It is one of the
most honest, candid and truly
delightful memoirs of the
era. This new edition, with a
postscript lovingly written by
Crosley’s wife, is the perfect me-
morial to one of the FAA’s greats.(Reviewer: Andy Wright)
‘Mike’ Crosley, 15.99 GBP
plus p&p, http://www.pen-and-
sword.co.ukAustralia’s Few
and the Battle
of Britain
The sheer presence of this
beautiful hardback demands at-
tention. The hardcovers repli-
cate the dust cover artwork and
prove there is more to life than
dark cloth and gold-embossed
text. They are a taster as, once
the book is opened, the crisp,
clean pages, the superb layout
and the professional notes and
index are the pinnacle of book
design. Such effort was required
because the content is sublime.
Yes, it’s another book on the Bat-
tle of Britain but, rather than
another angle on this most fa-
mous of aerial campaigns, this
one is very personal and re-in-
troduces eight relatively un-
known Australian flyers to the
world. Only Hughes, Glyde and
Sheen were familiar names.
Even so, for Glyde, this is the
first time his story has been told
in detail. Indeed, the same
could be said for the others too- Millington, Crossman, Hol-
land, Kennedy and Walch. Most,
if not all, simply became one of
‘The Few’ in photos or on
plaques and headstones in semi-
forgotten fields in England.
These young men have a voice
again (notably Des Sheen was
the only one to survive the war).
Their lives are laid bare via an
impressive collection of letters
and diary entries. There is, of
course, a lot of combat but these
sequences do not outweigh the
pre-war lives, training and per-
sonal lives and loves in England.
The final chapters emotionally
detail the families’ struggles to
live without their beloved boys.
Everything is so well done and,
importantly, eight men can live
on in the hearts and minds of all
who read this book. They de-
serve it. Postscript. First pub-
lished in Australia, a UK edition
is now due in 2015. (Reviewer:
Andy Wright)
Kristen Alexander, $49.99
plus p&p, http://www.newsouth-
books.com.auGHOSTS 2015
- A Time
Remembered &
The Great War
Internationally renowned aviation
photographer and a favourite con-
tributor to Flightpath, Phillip
Makanna, has produced two stun-
ning calendars to adorn the walls
of our studies and offices in 2015.
GHOSTS’ W.W.II types in ‘A Time
Remembered’ are a faithful rep-
resentation of some of the best
types the warbird movement has