Category: History / Research

Posted on by

Defeating the Zero: How a Tactical Innovation Overcame Japan’s Deadly Fighter

Coming soon from Air World and author R J Gorman is Defeating the Japanese Zeros: Lieutenant Commander John S. ‘Jimmie’ Thach: One U.S. Navy Pilot and his Part in the Victory in the Pacific , detailing how a brilliant U.S. aerial tactic overcame Japan’s deadly Zero fighter, turning Midway into a decisive Pacific victory.

Lieutenant Commander John S. “Jimmie” Thach of the U.S. Navy recognized the threat posed by the Zero and devised a tactic to counter it. With the Japanese preparing to attack Midway Atoll, Thach trained his pilots in the “Thach Weave,” a revolutionary formation designed to offset the Zero’s superior performance. This tactic proved highly effective in air combat and allowed Thach’s squadron to neutralize the Japanese advantage. The battle at Midway became a turning point in the Pacific War. The U.S. Navy’s victory, aided by Thach’s tactical innovation, crippled Japan’s offensive capabilities. After Midway, the Japanese would never win another major battle, while the Americans would never lose one, marking a decisive shift in the war’s outcome.

The 240 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 30.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Defenders of the Reich: The Luftwaffe’s Fierce Battle Against America’s Bombers

Recently released by Osprey Publishing and author Robert Forsyth is Defenders of the Reich: The Luftwaffe’s War Against America’s Bombers, which tells the story of the Luftwaffe fighter arm’s desperate defense of the Third Reich from the growing Allied bomber offensive in WW2.

The Reichsverteidigung (Defence of the Reich) was a do or die campaign that saw the very best fighter pilots in the Luftwaffe attempt to defend German skies from increasingly large formations of RAF and USAAF medium and heavy bombers. Flying both piston-engined and, eventually, the first jet-engined fighters to see operational service, the Jagdflieger employed a wide range of weapons and tactics in an effort to blunt the Allied air offensive across Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe.

Defenders of the Reich focusses on the story of the pilot, his aircraft, his weaponry, his draining, dangerous missions and Luftwaffe tactics against the USAAF and the RAF bombers from the summer of 1942 through to VE Day. They fought until they were all but obliterated as USAAF and RAF fighters decimated their ranks in the air and targeted their airfields in devastating strafing attacks.

Leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth uses German and Allied archival documents coupled with interviews with former Jagdwaffe pilots, to tell the history of this last-ditch aerial campaign from the perspective of the Luftwaffe.

The 466 page book is available in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook editions.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Fighting Fifteen: The Inspiring, Action-Packed Story of the Pacific’s Deadliest Hellcat Squadron

In his recently released book Fighting Fifteen: The Navy’s Top Ace and the Deadliest Hellcat Squadron of the Pacific War, author Stephen L. Moore shares the inspiring, action-packed tale of VF-15, the elite group of U.S. Navy “top gun” pilots that destroyed more enemy planes than any other Pacific War squadron.

David McCampbell ended his tour of duty as the navy’s “ace of aces,” with thirty-four confirmed enemy planes shot down, and received the Medal of Honor. His “Fighting Fifteen” played a major part in bringing an end to the Pacific War. But when the squadron was commissioned in 1943, most of its men—some barely out of their teenage years—were completely new to aerial combat. A string of deadly crashes during training in their rugged new F6F-3 Hellcats led the men to be booted off their first carrier. With their commander fired and McCampbell installed in his place, the group’s future looked bleak.

But McCampbell transformed this ragged group of talented but disparate individuals into a selfless team of well-trained aviators, and by the time they formally entered the Pacific War with a series of daring island strikes, they were ready. Nicknamed “Satan’s Playmates,” during six critical months of combat the squadron destroyed a record-setting 660 enemy planes across air and ground. Twenty-six of the men would eventually become aces, ascending to an elite fraternity and immortalizing the “Fabled Fifteen.” Now, using previously unknown accounts from the aviators themselves, military historian Stephen L. Moore places readers in the heart of the action as McCampbell and his flying band of brothers battle the Japanese navy and its formidable Zero fighters to the death.

The 432 page book is currently available in hardcover, Kindle and audiobook formats.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Lightning: A Comprehensive Study of Britain’s First and Only Jet Interceptor

The English Electric/BAC Lightning will take center stage in Richard Hall’s upcoming book Lightning: From Inception to Preservation.

The Lightning was advanced for its time and required considerable investment and research to take it from the drawing board to active service as an effective fighting machine. Significant strides were made in the early years after the award of the contract—all of which could have come to nothing when it was deemed in the 1957 Defence White Paper that piloted aircraft had had their day. The design was saved only by its advanced stage of development; as is often the case in flight, turbulence is to be expected. But despite the obstacles put in its path, the Lightning prevailed to become one of Britain’s most admired and respected fast jets.

The book takes the reader through the politics that threatened its development, its groundbreaking design, its service career and many other aspects of its extraordinary history. The 224 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 30.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

How To Fly A Spitfire: A Nut-and-Bolt Guide to the World’s Greatest Aircraft

Coming soon from publisher Frances Lincoln and author Hattie Hearn is How To Fly A Spitfire: A Nut-and-Bolt Guide to the World’s Greatest Aircraft, which takes readers into the cockpit of the legendary Supermarine Spitfire to discover what it really takes to fly Britain’s most iconic fighter.

First flown in March 1936 and operated decisively throughout the Second World War and beyond, the Spitfire is considered a mechanical work of art. Its elegant elliptical wings, powerful Rolls‑Royce Merlin engine, and pivotal role in the Battle of Britain have secured its place in history, and in the hearts of aviation enthusiasts worldwide.

How to Fly a Spitfire takes you on a fascinating, hands‑on tour of this remarkable machine. Much more fun than an overly technical manual, it offers a readable, richly illustrated and step‑by‑step walkthrough of the Spitfire’s controls and systems, giving a unique impression of what it was like to actually pilot one.

The 192 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for April 7.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Mosquito Night Hunters: The Daring RAF Intruders Who Terrorized the Luftwaffe

Coming soon from Air World and author Jeremy Walsh is Mosquito Intruders – Target Europe: The RAF’s First Elite Night Raider Units

Using diaries, first-hand accounts, official records, and contemporaneous sources, the book chronicles the elite RAF Mosquito intruder squadrons—Nos. 23, 418, and 605—that conducted daring low-level night operations across Europe during WW2, targeting Luftwaffe airfields to intercept returning enemy bombers and fighters. The narrative traces the concept’s origins in the Battle of Britain, evolving from early Defiant and Boston aircraft to the superior de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB VI and NF II by mid-1943, highlighting the squadrons’ exceptional ‘Battle Honours’ in defending Malta, supporting Sicily’s invasion, aiding the Dambusters’ Dortmund-Ems Canal raid, spearheading D-Day attacks, and countering V1 flying bombs under charismatic fighter ace leadership. Featuring vivid portrayals of the Mosquito’s beautifully balanced design, speed, firepower, and resilience that earned aircrew reverence, the book immerses readers in these high-stakes missions’ development, execution, and pivotal role in Allied victory.

The 272 page, hardcover title is currently available for pre-order with a March 30 release.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

“Completely New, Lavishly Illustrated” F-86 Epic Drops Soon

Coming soon from author Duncan Curtis is Famous American Aircraft: F-86 Sabre, a thorough history of America’s first swept-wing jet fighter.

This is a completely new monograph detailing the entire F-86 series from gestation and development, through the many variants that were produced, to its retirement from duty. Its operational career is also given detailed analysis. The book makes use of many primary-sources including documents held by the US Air Force Historical Records Agency, US National Archives, Boeing archives and the UK Public Record Office. Much of this data has only been available in the public domain in recent years and so was not accessible when previous books on the F-86 were compiled.

Lavishly illustrated throughout, there are around 500 colour and black and white photos in the book, many previously unpublished. The thoroughly researched text and extensive photographic coverage will make this a close to definitive work on this seminal aircraft. This book will appeal to all who are interested in Cold War aviation history and also to those engaged in modelling the aircraft of this era.

The 384 page hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release scheduled for February 19.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

The Navigator’s Letter: WWII’s Hidden Bond Ignited by One Doomed Flight

Soon to get its U.S. release is the new book The Navigator’s Letter: The True Story of Two WWII Airmen, a Doomed Mission, and the Woman Who Bound Them Together from author Jan Cress Dondi. The book deals with the costliest US air raid of WW2, which occurred over Hitler’s oil fields at Ploesti, Romania on August 1, 1943. It brings to light one of the best untold and dangerous stories of the war, chronicling a moving and heroic story of patriotic duty, familial bonds, brotherhood, and love.

A true story, The Navigator’s Letter is a tale of uncanny coincidences: two friends from the same small Illinois town; both joined the Air Corps; both became navigators; both were assigned to B-24 Liberators; both flew missions over Europe; both of their planes were forced down over Ploesti; and both went missing-in-action.

Intertwined with events of WWII, the story follows the two B-24 navigators coursing through wartime, both with ties to the same woman. Their lives unfurl with the Air Force’s darkest day, Operation Tidal Wave. It was the first-ever zero-altitude air raid, which lead to Operation Reunion, the largest evacuation by air in history repatriating 1,162 POWs from Romania back to American air bases in Italy.

The 400 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release scheduled for February 10.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Incoming: Examination of America’s Secret Cold War Fighters and Interceptors

Coming soon from Crecy Publishing Ltd and author Tony Buttler is American Secret Projects 5: Fighters and Interceptors 1950 to 1980. The new release is a revised and expanded edition of a book published some years ago which looks at American fighter projects that were proposed during the period.

This was an exciting era in terms of fighter development. It was during these years that the jet finally eclipsed the propeller, wings took on entirely new shapes, the ‘sound barrier’ was breached and maximum speeds were multiplied. It was an era in which aeronautical engineering became much more complex but before the computer would come to the designer’s assistance. This meant much more of a ‘try it and see’ attitude to new ideas. Therefore, when an air arm required a new fighter, several design teams could prepare proposals that could be very different from one another.

The topics discussed in detail in the book’s seven chapters include the quest for a long-range interceptor, vertical takeoff aircraft, naval developments and lightweight fighters. Appendices provide listings of all projects that were developed and their specifications. A new separate appendix looks at the Canadian Avro CF-105 Arrow which in many ways matched the work undertaken in the US on long-range interceptors and thus makes an interesting comparison.

The timeframe is fluid as some early projects included originated in the late 1940s. At the other end of the scale, although the design competitions which led to the F-16, YF-17 and F-18 are the final subjects covered in depth, a few projects that followed these fighters are included which again makes the 1980 closing date only approximate. No coverage is given to projects from that point onwards because much of the background is still secret and will probably remain so for a long time.

The 392 page hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with a February 19 release.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Posted on by

Coming Soon: The Full Story of the Luftwaffe’s WW2 Kamikaze Force

Coming soon from Fonthill Media and author Walter S. Zapotoczny is Sonderkommando Elbe: The Luftwaffe’s Kamikaze Force.

By September 1944 the Third Reich was under constant attack by Allied bombers and suffering an onslaught by the Red Army to the east. The Nazi high command struggled for ideas to reduce the effect of the ceaseless bombing and thereby create some breathing space to build and strengthen their new weapon: jet-propelled aircraft. They believed that this new invention could turn the tide of the war.

At the end of 1944 a proposal was offered by Oberst Hans-Joachim “Hajo” Herrmann. His plan called for 1,500 fighter aircraft to conduct a massive attack against an Allied bomber formation on April 7, 1945, inflicting such casualties that the Allies would think twice about continuing their bombing campaign. Attacking bombers was not a new idea, but the method of attack was new. The German pilots were to fly their planes into the bombers, causing enough damage to bring down the aircraft. Unlike the Japanese Kamikaze pilots who carried explosives on board and died in the attack, the German pilots were instructed to bail out and parachute to safety to fly another day.

The 224 page, hardcover book offers the full story of the unit and its pilots. The book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for March 30.

Product Page

Please Note: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.