HEINKEL He 111 – THE LATTER YEARS – THE
BLITZ AND WAR IN THE EAST TO THE FALL OF
GERMANY
Book: 158-page softback
Written by: Chris Goss
Price: £14.99The follow-up to a previous volume on the early years of the Luftwaffe’s
main bomber type, this selection of 202 black and white and 17 colour
images portrays its operations from the Blitz to the end of the war.
The rst section, ‘Bombers Over the United Kingdom 1941’, adds even
more to the extensive coverage already presented. ‘Russia and the
Mediterranean’ shows aircraft in Sicily and Greece and the operations
in support of the invasion of the Soviet Union in the second half of 1941.
Section Three – ‘In Action 1942-1943’ – includes very rare shots of a
torpedo-carrying variant and another with a ship search aerial array. An
incredible still from a gun camera lm depicts a Heinkel on a French
air eld under attack by a Typhoon literally skimming the grass.
‘Action 1944-1945’ includes a particularly good image of He 111s lined
up just before attacks on Russian bases, which destroyed 43 USAAF
B-17s temporarily stationed there in June 1944. There are also ten
extremely rare shots of He 111Zs, essentially two 111s joined together by
a centre section with a fth engine. It was designed to tow the massive
Me 321 transport glider or two smaller glider types. The black and white
coverage ends with three of the He 111s carrying air-launched V1 ying
bombs, and a picture of Heinkels being scrapped in 1946. The book
is rounded off with wartime colour images, inevitably faded, but highly
interesting nevertheless.
Published by Frontline Books: ISBN 9781848324459; available from
http://www.frontline-books.comRABAUL 1943-44 – REDUCING JAPAN’S
GREAT ISLAND FORTRESS
Book: 96-page softback
Written by: Mark Lardas
Price: £13.99Simpson Harbour adjacent to the city of Rabaul on the
island of New Britain has the nest anchorage in the southwest Paci c.
For this reason, the Japanese seized the island from its Australian
garrison in January 1942. It was perfectly placed to threaten both
northwest Australia and New Guinea and soon became a massive naval
and air base. A strategy was devised whereby air power, supported
by naval forces, isolated and neutralised this major stronghold so
occupation by ground troops was unnecessary.
A section entitled ‘Attackers’ Capabilities’ describes the USAAF
bomber and ghter units, as well as aircraft carrier and Marine Corps
assets, ranged against Rabaul. ‘Defenders’ Capabilities’ summarises
the formidable opposition, while ‘Campaign Objectives’ discusses the
Allied plan, which soon included Australian and New Zealand squadrons.
The main body of the book, ‘The Campaign’, shows how the noose was
slowly tightened in a lengthy war of attrition. Losses were high on both
sides, but the enemy could ill afford them and by early 1944 had almost
been driven from the skies.
Rabaul by now was ringed by air elds on Allied territory and had
been virtually destroyed by bombing. Evacuation of non-essential staff
began and in February 1944 the few remaining aircraft were own out.
Reduced to an irrelevance, the garrison was cut off and spent the last
18 months of the war waiting for an invasion that never came. The text
is supported by 70 black and white, plus two colour photographs, along
with eight maps and diagrams and three colour plates.
Published by Osprey Publishing: ISBN 9781472822444; available
from http://www.ospreypublishing.comJETLINERS OF THE RED STAR
Book: 152-page hardback
Written by: Charles Kennedy
Price: £30An illuminating account of the Soviet Union’s jet airliners,
compiled by an author well known for his books and articles
on commercial aviation subjects. It blends a wealth of information with a
owing narrative sprinkled with anecdotes. The rst section is an overview
of the subject from tentative rst steps in civil ying in the 1920s to the
birth of Aero ot in 1932. Then there is coverage of the licence-built DC-3s
(the Lisunov Li-2), replaced by home-grown Ilyushin Il-12s and 14s, and
on into the jet era.
The detailed stories of eight airliner types are presented in separate
sections, with titles such as ‘Tupolev Tu-104 and -124 The Start of
the Art’, ‘Ilyushin Il-62 The Flagship’, ‘Tupolev Tu-144 The Soviet SST’,
‘Tupolev Tu-154 The Workhorse’ and ‘Ilyushin Il-86 and -96 The People
Movers’. As the author says: “The Tu-104 deserves a place in history for
being the world’s rst jet airliner to provide safe and sustained public
transport.” It played an essential role in bringing the far- ung parts of
Russia and its empire together, later to be augmented by Russia’s rst
truly long-haul aircraft, the Il-62.
The sad story of the promising, but ultimately unsuccessful, Tu-144
supersonic transport is balanced by an account of the Tu-154, which the
author considers the de nitive Soviet airliner: “A true workhorse with over
one thousand built.”
He concludes that the Soviet era of airliners remained up-to-date and
in international service for a quarter of a century after the Soviet Union
broke up – an impressive legacy indeed.
Published by Astral Horizon Press: ISBN 9780993260438; available
from http://www.theairlineboutique.comTHE MAN WHO BUILT THE SWORDFISH –
THE LIFE OF SIR RICHARD FAIREY
Book: 455-page hardback
Written by: Adrian Smith
Price: £25The highly detailed biography of a man described by
the author as a combination of “drive, energy, determination and quiet
ruthlessness”. The narrative begins with a skillful recreation of the
Edwardian social structure that underpinned Fairey’s early years. Then
he graduated from building, ying and selling model aeroplanes in the
1900s to constructing a real aircraft. By 1911, he was an engineer at
Eastchurch in Kent, long since recognised as a cradle of British aviation,
and soon became works manager there for the Short brothers.
Building on his experience with the Short seaplanes, Fairey formed
his own company in 1915, rst as a sub-contractor then, post war,
building such successful types as the Fairey III seaplane, Fox and
Flycatcher. The expanding enterprise took in factories at Hayes,
Middlesex and Hamble, Hampshire. Fairey’s outstanding achievement
was the Sword sh whose many anti-shipping successes culminated in
crippling the Bismarck.
It should be emphasised that this is a work about the man and his
times, rather than an analysis of his company’s aircraft. Later Fairey types,
such as the Barracuda, Fire y and Gannet are covered quite brie y, but
much more space is given to the Fairey Delta 2. This experimental jet
raised the world air speed record in 1956 to 1,132mph. The unsuccessful
Rotodyne helicopter proved the company’s last design before it was
bought out by Westland in 1960. Illustrated by 16 black and white
photographs, this is a de nitive account of a remarkable personality.
Published by IB Tauris & Co: ISBN 9781788313360; available from
http://www.ibtauris.comXXXXXXXXXThe latest products for the
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60 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2018