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New Book Compiles Air Combat Recollections From Pilots in Every Theater of WW2

Coming soon from Air World and author Martin Bowman is Voices in Flight: Squadrons Scramble!: RAF and Commonwealth Fighter Pilots of the Second World War, which offers air combat stories and follows fighter pilots scrambling under alarms, from southern England and Malta to the Blitz.

Feel your pulse race and your heart pound as you follow the pilots of The Few running for their aircraft as the alarms sound and the enemy attack for a second time on a day of glory and death over the sunny skies of southern England. Then, beyond the Spitfire Summer of 1940, how the RAF’s pilots scrambled to defy the enemy over the battered ruins of Malta, the George Cross Island, or to defend Britain at night during the blacked out months of the Blitz.

The prelude to D-Day, the disastrous raid on Dieppe was the scene of the RAF’s biggest air battle up to that point in the war, and Operation Overlord was shielded by the overwhelming aerial might of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. All these momentous events are told through the words of those pilots who fought in the unforgiving arena of the dogfight where a single moment can turn victory into defeat, life into certain death. Continue reading New Book Compiles Air Combat Recollections From Pilots in Every Theater of WW2

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Spitfires over Tokyo: Commonwealth Air Forces in Japan 1945–1948

Coming soon from Fonthill and author Simon Gifford is Spitfires over Tokyo: Commonwealth Air Forces in Japan 1945–1948.

In the spring of 1946, the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Indian Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force dispatched aircraft and men to form the air element of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force of Japan. Equipped with Spitfire XIVs, P51D Mustangs and FG-1D Corsairs, seven squadrons of fighter aircraft spent the next two years backing up the American forces in the successful disarmament of Japan and the country’s transition to a democratic nation. Supporting the fighters were RAF, RAAF, RNZAF Dakotas, which flew numerous sorties linking the forces in Japan to Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Other aircraft flown in Japan included Austers, Ansons, Harvards and Wirraways.

Spitfires over Tokyo: Commonwealth Air Forces in Japan 1945–1948 traces the formation of the occupation force, including the formation of the Spitfire squadrons in India, through their helping liberate Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong, and on to their final disbandment in Japan and the end of occupation duties in 1948. Profusely illustrated with photos of all of the aircraft flown in Japan, the majority of which have not been published previously, the book offers an illuminating window on a little-known area of post-war aviation history.

The 264 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release set for January 30, 2027.

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