This is a companion book to the one on Pacific Catalina units and covers PBY operations from the Arctic to Brazil to the North African coast. Atlantic based Catalinas were probably tasked with some of the most tedious work of the conflict, and that was patrolling the coastal waters. Early in the war they had considerable success against German submarines and several of those stories are included in the book. But as the Germans moved beyond the Catalina's patrol range, their task became more of air-sea rescue than actual offensive missions, those tasks taken over by longer ranged PB4Y-1 Liberators.

Probably the most interesting portions of the book to me were operations out of Iceland and Greenland. Two of the least hospitable area of the world in which to conduct flying operations due to the constantly changeable weather. The stories of rescues from the Greenland ice cap are absolutely amazing including one that took 149 days to complete; a story you have to read to believe.

The author has compiled an excellent reference on these units as well as coast guard squadrons that operated from the North Atlantic bases after the Navy pulled out of those missions in 1943. There are quality period photos as well as a goodly number of fine profiles to get the creative juices flowing for modelers.

In all, a superb book on a part of WWII that gets very little press. A book I can justifiably recommend to you.

December 2007

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