78 View more reviews online: http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com http://www.airfi xmodelworld.com 79ON THE SHELF
BOOKSSUN-BLEACHED AND SANDY WINGS
North Africa Campaign 10th June
1940 to 13th May 1943
By: Branly/Caruana/Evans/Jekl
ISBN: 978-0-9957773-2-3
Price: £9.95 Format: A4
Web: http://www.valiant-wings.co.ukInterest in the North African theatre
has blossomed in recent years
and continues to do so...due partly
to more reference books being
published. This softback from Valiant
Wings is a worthy addition, and it
relies on this series’ usual mix of
history text, period imagery, colour
artwork and actual modelling. Here,
the history is imparted via an easy-
to-absorb timeline, explaining the
different Allied/Axis operations
(Compass, Sonnenblume, Brevity,
battles of El Alamein et al). The
only slight criticism of this section
is that some (but by no means all)
photos are used at too small a size,
making it hard to ascertain certain
details. However, maps add useful
context and certain images are
peachy indeed, such as the view
of an Fw 190A-4 of SKG 10, on p.21.
There’s a handy colour reference
chart detailing individual paint huesand their brand equivalents (six
companies’ ranges are listed), before
the modelling kicks in. The latter
involves builds of Eduard’s 1/144
Ju 52, Special Hobby’s new 1/72
Kittyhawk Ia, the 1/32 Hurricane IId
by Fly, Hasegawa’s 1/72 He 111H-6, RS
Models’ 1/72 Dewoitine D.520 and
finally, the Eduard 1/48 Bf 110C/E. The
builds are punctuated by splendid
Richard Caruana colour profiles, to
give modellers that extra helping of
inspiration. Superb value. CCAircraft Salvage in the Battle of
Britain and the Blitz
By: Andy Saunders
ISBN: 978-1-78303-040-8
Price: £14.99
Format: 246 x 190mm
Web: http://www.pen-and-sword-co.ukThis Images of War compilation
examines the aftermath of
battles, plus a healthy dose of
mechanical failings to produce
a telling compilation of wrecks,
shrapnel, rubble and detritus that
results when an aircraft gets into
an argument with the ground
(regardless of how it got there).
While salvage operations may
have necessitated the removal of
bodies, this macabre element is
balanced neatly by the humour
in other photos, especially from
those tasked with guarding a
wrecked aircraft. Both sides of
these battles are shown, with RAF,
Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe
machines covered, and there is
a wealth of information in the
captions. Unsurprisingly, all the
photos are black and white, but
they are of the highest quality...
quite surprising given when theywere taken and the pressures
to extract equipment before
subsequent attacks. For modellers,
this probably isn’t the reference
for pristine and/or weathered
aircraft — there isn’t a single
airframe that doesn’t suffer from
bent/broken/missing sections, but
diorama builders will be in heaven.
Whether it’s the immediate scene,
locals nosing around a downed
aircraft, transfer onto recovery
vehicles or the eventual storage
at a scrap yard, there’s inspiration
aplenty...the sight of a Heinkel He
III fuselage parked in front of a pub
is a prime example. SFCRASHES AND ACCIDENTS
128 pages82 pages'LIGHT BLUE' CENTENARY TRIBUTE
1918-2018 RAF 100
By: James Holland
ISBN: 978-0-233-00526-3 Price: £25
Format: 288 x 222mm
Web: http://www.carltonbooks.co.uk
Compiling an official history of the
Royal Air Force is a daunting task at
the best of times, but an atempt to
commemorate its 100th anniversary
is even more so. To his credit,
the author (TV historian James
Holland) has managed to achieve an
admirable balance between narrative
and photographs in this coffee-table
offering, merging official records with
personal accounts, and unit and pilot
profiles. In doing so he examines the
RAF’s many roles and functions, to
create an engaging and informative
read, although the occasional
poorly worded or inaccurate
caption detracts from the overall
enjoyment. World War Two receives
copious coverage, with five chapters
describing how the RAF evolved and
grew during the most challenging of
times, and this segues neatly into the
Cold War section. There’s a curious
inclusion of non-RAF test airframes/
organisations, and while this allows
for occasionally sensational photos,
it occupies valuable space, especially
given the comparative brevity of
chapters covering the inter-war
years and especially the post-1991
period. The latter has been a time of
almost constant operations for the
service, notably in the Gulf, Balkans,
West Africa and Afghanistan, during
which its size diminished by almost
two-thirds. Regardless though, this is
a very enjoyable, well-designed and
wallet-friendly history. SF224 pagesCanberra Boys
By: Andrew Brookes
ISBN: 978-1-910690-33-8
Price: £20 Format: 240 x 163mm
Web: http://www.grubstreet.co.ukI may be biased as the Canberra
is one of my all-time favourites,
but that little nugget aside, Grub
Street’s focus on this famous
type is arguably one of its best
‘Boys’ releases. With such a long
career there is much to impart
about the Canberra, and author
Andrew Brookes (himself a formerCanberra ‘jockey'), has done a
fine job in sewing together the
narratives...which are fascinating.
The Canberra participated in
1956’s Suez campaign, and a
nail-biting account from Bernie
Hunter, whose Canberra crashed
in the Bekaa Valley after being
shot down by Syrian Gloster
Meteors, exemplifies the dangers
of that conflict’s missions.
There is also revealing text
on the type’s employment in
Operation Firedog, the counter to
Indonesian President Sukarno’s
‘Confrontation’ (his reply to the
establishment of the sovereign
state of Malaya). Most interesting
are the passages on nuclear
‘sniffing’ duties as part of the
Operation Grapple hydrogen bomb
tests, but Cold war operations
in Germany, the Akrotiri Strike
Wing, overseas operators, record-
breaking flights, ECM activity
with the T.17 and much more.
Descriptions of the various
weapons loads are useful for
modellers, and some of the photos
are true gems, such as the close-
up of an AS.30 missile under a
Canberra B.15. Splendid stuff! CCENGLISH ELECTRIC'S LEGEND
211 pages