This book is another fine addition to Osprey's growing collection of 'aces' books. This time it concentrates on Spitfire aces from 1944 until the end of the war. As you might imagine, most of these men were flying with the 2nd Tactical Air Force on the continent after the Normandy invasion. Much of the action against the Luftwaffe was in this area as the Germans did not have the time or resources to put up much against the UK itself. About the only place that still saw Luftwaffe intrusion was from recce planes flying from Norway against the British fleet at Scapa Flow. Not to say that there were not some bomber and fighter bomber sorties, but as the bases along the Channel coast were taken over, the opportunities just did not present themselves as before.

During this time, most of the Spitfires were the Mk IX and later the XIV and XVI variants. Still, some units in the UK were still flying the Vb and others were using at least a few Mk VII high altitude types. These latter aircraft did not make up an entire squadron, but were added to the standard unit to provide some additional capabilities. They were often successful, even at low altitude as the cover painting attests. Of course, many RAF units were manned by pilots from other nations and these men are given the appropriate amount of coverage.

In line with other books in this series, there are a ton of well done period photographs as well as the usual large center section of full color profiles of the planes that were flown by units during the war. We also get the usual mission stories to spice things up, one of the major attractions of this series. In the appendices is a listing of aces and their scores. An excellent read and a great reference book for the fan of this iconic British.

October 2014

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