FLIGHTPATH|21Personal Efects
Greeks in Foreign
Cockpits–VolumeB
Followingremarkablysoonafter
the release of the first volume
(see Flightpath Vol.28, No.3),
this much larger book details the
livesofsevenfighterpilotsof
Greek heritage flying with the
wartimeRAF,RCAFandUSAAF.
The biographies range from
twenty pages for two of the
men, who aren’t as widely
known, to 150 for John Plagis,
thewell-knownace.Ofcourse,
thedetailprovideddepends
verymuchonwhathasbeenre-
corded, either by historians or
the pilots themselves, and what
hasbeensavedbyfamilies,mu-
seums, collectors etc. Despite
thewealthofinformationavail-
able, it was probably easier for
the authors to assemble Plagis’
wonderfullylongchapter(a
bookinitself)thanitwasfor
the much shorter entries. The
remainingfourbiographiesav-
erageseventyA4pageseach,so
fewstoneswereleftunturned.
Theimagesused–photos,pro-
files,digitalart,reproducedpaint-
ings–easilynumberintheseveral
hundred(somenotpublishedbe-
fore)andallreproducewellonthe
semi-gloss paper stock (especially
thecolourworks).Whatisperhaps
mostevidentistheimprovement
ofeveryaspectofthisvolumeover
itspredecessor.Thefirstbookis
superb,butthisonebuildsonthat.
The authors have clearly refined
their work.
The one sticking point, of
course,istheGreektext.Once
again, however, the captions for
allimagesandartworkarein-
credibly extensive and bi-lin-
gual.Doesthatmakeitworth
your while? It is streets ahead of
some of what English language
readers accept, so, yes it is. (re-
viewer:AndyWright)
Demetrius Vassilopoulos et
al, around €48.00 plus p&p
(look for discount offers),
http://www.greeks-in-foreign-
cockpits.com/shop19 Minutes to Live
LewJennings’sbookchronicles
histourasayoungwarrantof-
ficerflyingAH-1GCobrasinVi-
etnam with the US Army’s 101st
Airborne Division. It details his
enlistment, training, and the
highs and lows of his year-long
deployment to Vietnam where
heflewthemajorityofhismis-
sionsashighcoverforOH-6
Loachscoutsaspartofanair
cavalry ‘pink team’.
Thebulkofthecombatvi-
gnettes come from the Battle for
Hill937intheAShauValley,bet-
ter known as ‘Hamburger Hill’.
Jennings’ssquadronflewthe
bulkofthescoutandattackmis-
sionsinsupportoftheUSand
ARVNunitsonthegrounddur-
ingthatoperation.Whilehedeft-
lytellsthebulkofthestories,the
author includes extended ac-
countsfromotherCobra,Loach,
andHueypilotsregardingevents
thatJenningshimselfwaseither
notadirectwitnessto,ortoillu-
minate another viewpoint of an
actionJenningshasgivenhis
own account of. The result is a
book that benefits from first-
hand accounts from cover to cov-
er with almost no liberty taken
when it comes to filling in gaps.
At 365 pages, ’19 Minutes’ is
thick,butit’saneasyread.For
those who have experienced
Armybasictrainingorhavea
solidunderstandingofthehows
andwhysoftheVietnamWar,
Jennings’schaptersonbothcan
be skimmed, or even skipped.
Overall, this book stands tall
among the numerous memoirs
of helicopter operations in Viet-
nam. (reviewer: Joe Copalman)
Lew Jennings, US$19.95 plus
p&p, http://www.19minutestolive.comVietnam War Army
Helicopter Nose Art
This is the third book by the author
on the subject of US Army rotor-
craft art during the Vietnam War.
In this volume, there are more than
300colourphotographs,manypre-
viouslyunseen,sourcedfromvet-
erans’ collections.
Different helicopters are fea-
tured, according to role, from the
Attack Helicopter through to the
Utility Helicopter. It also includes
imagesfromtheauthor’sownar-
chives when he served with the
114th Assault Helicopter Compa-
ny. The aircraft became charac-
ters and somewhat humanised
because of the American tradition
of customising their assigned air-
craft with eye-catching markings.
Each photo is captioned with
information explaining every-
thingabouttheimage,alotof
whichwasgleanedfromthe
crews themselves. There are also
shortpersonalaccountsfromthe
crewsandthesemakeforinter-
esting reading and plenty of good
humour.Ifoundmyselflaughing
onseveraloccasionsbecauseof
the images the descriptions con-
juredupinmymind’seye!
Thenoseartisincrediblydi-
verse and there were a multitude
of reasons that inspired the artists
to produce some amazing works.
These are revealed throughout
thebooktogoodeffect.Itwasn’t
justtheAmericancrewswho
paintedtheaircraft.Therewere
also plenty of local artisans who
werepaidfortheirtalentsand
produced some incredible art.
Considering the age of the
photographs, they are of excel-
lent quality, and the historian
and avid modeller are both well
catered for. If attention to detail
isyourthingthenthisbookisa
musthaveforyourreferenceli-
brary. (reviewer: Sven Atkin)
John Brennan, £22.95 plus
p&p, Fonthill Media, http://www.
fonthill.mediaPhantom in the
Cold War
The classic British F-4 Phantom,
developed from its American
brethren, was introduced into
RAFservicefrom1968.Itwas
initially employed almost exclu-
sivelyinthestrikeand reconnais-
sancerole,butwouldlaterbe-
comethemainstayofBritishair
defenceintothelate1980sand
filled the critical role of monitor-
ing and policing the inner Ger-
manborder,alikelyflashpoint,
separating East from West.
As a crewmember at RAF Wil-
denrathwith92SquadroninWest
Germany, the author explores the
glorydaysofPhantomoperations
in Europe. Gledhill does a master-
fuljobwithhistechnicaldescrip-
tion of the British Phantom’s inner
workings, the deployment of the
(at the time) only Pulse-Doppler
radar-equipped fighter in theatre,
andtheweaponssystemthat
brought it all together.
The heady days of Cold War ops
aredescribedindetail,fromthe
ground crew operations manning
and supporting the new dispersed
hardened aircraft shelters to the
exercises testing the endurance of
air and groundcrews alike clad in
heavy rubber NBC (nuclear, bio-
logical, chemical) protective suits.
Thebooktracesanumberof
intercepts of both real and harm-
less targets. Honest comparisons
between the Phantom and other
Western machines are especially
good,asistheanalysisofformer
enemy types following unifica-
tion. The author also reflects on
the1992cessationofoperations
at what was one of Europe’s busi-
est bases.
This is a fabulous account of
very real Cold War operations at
what was the peak of tension into
andtowardstheendofthe1980s.
(reviewer: Takis Diakoumis)
DavidGledhill,£25.00plus
p&p, Pen & Sword, http://www.
pen-and-sword.co.uk