Following the devastating raids on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, lightning advances by Japanese forces throughout the Pacific and the Far East, and a desperate battle by the Allied command in the Dutch East Indies, it became evident that an attack on Australia was more a matter of when and not if.
On February 19, just eleven weeks after the attacks on Pearl Harbor and two weeks after the fall of Singapore, the same Japanese battle group that had attacked Hawaii was ordered to attack the ill-prepared and under-defended Australian port of Darwin.
Publishing 75 years after...
Following the devastating raids on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, lightning advances by Japanese forces throughout the Pacific and the Far East,...
In the key Pacific War battles of the Marianas Turkey Shoot, Leyte Gulf, and in and around Japan itself (from late 1943 through to VJ-Day) the principal fighters involved were the F6F Hellcat and the A6M5/7 Zero-sen. The former was Grumman's successor to the pugnacious Wildcat, and its creation was shaped by the combat experiences of Naval Aviators flying the F4F against the A6M2/3 Zero-sen from late 1941. Blooded in combat against the Japanese in August 1943, the Hellcat went on to serve as the principal US Navy fighter on board carrier decks until war's end. Despite its lethality in the air...
In the key Pacific War battles of the Marianas Turkey Shoot, Leyte Gulf, and in and around Japan itself (from late 1943 through to VJ-Day) the princip...
USAF Rolling Thunder strike missions tactically assaulted North Vietnamese defenses, overcoming MiG fighter jets and SAM (surface to air) missiles to devastate North Vietnam's industrial base strategically.
Despite its "F-for-fighter" designation, the F-105 was designed and purchased to give the USAF an aircraft for delivery of nuclear weapons at very high speed, long range and below-the-radar altitudes. When the Vietnam War began, it was the USAF's best available tactical bomber for a "limited conventional" war as well. From 1964 to 1968 it flew the majority of bombing missions...
USAF Rolling Thunder strike missions tactically assaulted North Vietnamese defenses, overcoming MiG fighter jets and SAM (surface to air) missiles ...
The first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the 'hottest outfit afloat' due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second 'Fighting Two' was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr Edward H 'Butch' O'Hare, the Medal of Honor-winning first US Navy ace of World War 2, that he requested the squadron replace...
The first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the 'hottest outfit afloat' due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit o...
The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, though something of a cult favourite, remains a largely unremarked classic of Naval Aviation. Built for nuclear weapon delivery, the A-3 made its name in Vietnam as a conventional bomber, tanker and Electronic Warfare platform. It was the largest aircraft ever regularly operated from the decks of aircraft carriers, earning it the fleet-wide nickname 'Whale'. It excelled in every mission area assigned to it and operated in the US Navy for more than four decades, from 1956 through to 1991. Fully illustrated to depict the incredible array of paint schemes and awesome...
The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, though something of a cult favourite, remains a largely unremarked classic of Naval Aviation. Built for nuclear weapon del...
Featuring first-hand accounts from veteran pilots, rare archival photographs and expert analysis, this volume brings to life the vicious dogfights that took place between the Bf 109 and the Yak as they vied for mastery of the frozen skies of the Eastern Front.
Step into the cockpit of the Luftwaffe's Bf 109 and the Red Air Force's Yaks 1-7, two fighters which were involved in some of the largest, fiercest aerial battles in history. The Iconic Messerschmitt fighter and its combat hardened pilots administered a fearful drubbing to the Yaks in the beginning of the war. Some of the...
Featuring first-hand accounts from veteran pilots, rare archival photographs and expert analysis, this volume brings to life the vicious dogfights ...
The untold story of A-10 units in Operation Enduring Freedom reaches its conclusion with this second of two volumes focusing on the type's combat missions in Afghanistan. Featuring numerous first-hand accounts and photography from those who experienced the conflict, along with imagery from official military archives, this book offers a unique and detailed insight into the record of the A-10 in one of the 21st Century's most significant conflicts.
Initially, the A-10 Thunderbolt was not a favorite of the USAF, which, prior to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, was hoping to shunt...
The untold story of A-10 units in Operation Enduring Freedom reaches its conclusion with this second of two volumes focusing on the type's combat m...
The striking appearance of Luftwaffe's bizarre 'Mistel' Composite attack aircraft might seem ridiculous to modern eyes, but employed correctly, these original 'fire and forget' weapons were devastatingly effective, as Allied sources testify. This book draws on a wealth of first-hand reports and revealing contemporary photographs to tell the full, strange story of the Mistel units. They were the product of a remarkable mix of desperation and innovation, and were actually grounded in a pre-war, non-military practise. Indeed - the mounting of one aircraft atop another was initially conceived to...
The striking appearance of Luftwaffe's bizarre 'Mistel' Composite attack aircraft might seem ridiculous to modern eyes, but employed correctly, these ...
The Douglas AD Skyraider is considered the most effective naval aircraft of the Korean War, overshadowed in fame by the new jet fighters that captured the public imagination. Too late for combat in World War II, the AD had replaced Dauntless, Helldiver, and Avenger dive- and torpedo-bombers from that conflict on carrier decks during the late 1940s and was on hand to react to the surprise North Korean invasion of South Korea in June 1950.
This book tells the story of the carrier-based U.S. Navy squadrons and the three land-based U.S. Marine Corps AD units that flew combat missions...
The Douglas AD Skyraider is considered the most effective naval aircraft of the Korean War, overshadowed in fame by the new jet fighters that captu...
Designed following the relative poor performance of America's multi-role fighters during the Vietnam War, the F-15 Eagle was conceived as a dedicated air superiority fighter. But having trained for fifteen years in the Eagle, it wasn't Eastern Bloc-operated MiGs that the F-15 eventually came up against, but pilots of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi air force.
This book analyzes the combat between the American and Soviet "Cold War fighters" in a balanced and objective fashion, examining how the technical abilities of the aircraft combined with the different levels of training available to...
Designed following the relative poor performance of America's multi-role fighters during the Vietnam War, the F-15 Eagle was conceived as a dedicat...
