Sky Battles

Ref: 3399

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Price: £11.00

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{detailed description}This enthralling book takes examples of air actions fought during the past eight decades, and uses them to illustrate the multi-faceted nature of air warfare.
The narrative opens with a description of a Royal Flying Corps squadron operating S.E.5A biplane fighters over France during the final year of the First World War. The account then moves to the early part of the Second World War, with descriptions of operations by German 'Stuka' dive-bombers, a mission by outmoded Blenheim bombers attempting to stem the German advance through France, an airfield attack by Dornier bombers during the Battle of Britain and the evolution of Britain's air defences to counter the night Blitz in 1940 and 1941.
By 1942 the war had spread across the globe, and there are descriptions of the Battle of the Coral Sea fought between US and Japanese carrier forces, the actions in the Bay of Biscay between RAF patrol planes and U-boats and the attack by unescorted B-17 Flying Fortresses on the Messerschmitt factory at Regensburg, deep in Germany. The final eighteen months of the war saw the Allies firmly established on the offensive, and there are descriptions of a long-range reconnaissance mission, an RAF night attack that went disastrously wrong and the desperate attempts of the Luftwaffe to defend the Fatherland using special air defence units and, later, jet fighters.
During the years following the Second World War the air actions have been less intensive, but they are no less interesting for that. There are descriptions of a hard-fought combat between US Navy carrier planes and MiG fighters over North Vietnam; of Sea Harriers battling with Argentine jets over the Falklands; and, to bring the story right up to date, of F-111 and Tornado bombers attacking targets in Iraq.
As well as portraying the true nature of aerial warfare, the accounts illustrate the far-reaching changes to military aviation that have occurred during the eight decades since its inception. Yet, despite this enormous transformation, one value has remained almost constant — the bravery, determination and resourcefulness of those who have made the sky their chosen arena for battle.{Author / Publisher / Date}by Alfred Price
Published by Arms and Armour Press 1993 1st edition. 160pp illustrated, index. 16x24
{condition}previous owner's stamp otherwise mint, including d/j.
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