Squadrons #14: Supermarine Spitfire Mk. VIII (Southwest Pacific-British)
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Author: |
Phil Listemann |
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Price |
$13.95 Also available in .pdf format |
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Reviewer: |
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| Notes: | ISBN: 978-2918590-92-7, Available at www.raf-in-combat.com 40 Pages |
For their
next 'Squadrons' book, RAF-in-Combat has chosen a type
that saw little operational use in Europe but was used quite a bit in the
'lesser' theaters of operation for the RAF. Specifically, this one covers the
RAF's use of the Spitfire VIII in the southwest Pacific.
In this case, these aircraft operated primarily out of Darwin and surrounding air fields. There were three RAF squadrons that were incorporated into RAAF wings, those being 54, 548 and 549 squadrons. Only 54 squadron had seen any action previously, the other two being formed in Australia. With the Australians getting the Mk.VIII, so did the RAF units so that supply would not be an issue.
Generally the experience of these squadrons during the time they were operational in Australia was dismal. Only one aircraft was shot down and that was a shared victory with 54 squadron. Much of the lack of combat was due to the lack of opposition, the Japanese not bothering with Australia much after 1943. In fact, 548 and 549 squadrons had a real issue with morale and very little actual flying was done in the last year or so of the Pacific war. There were also issues with the Merlin engines used in the Spit VIII which had a rather large number of failures, sometimes with fatal results.
This book covers the history of the type along with its operational period of over the years. The planes were flown in the standard green grey scheme, overall unpainted metal and in the RAAF foliage green. Some had the white theater markings and all had the blue/white insignia. In line with others in this series there are some super photos and great full color profiles. The stats section is what you've come to expect from this series, making it a superb reference book and one worth having on hand.
June 2016
Copyright ModelingMadness.com
Review book courtesy of www.raf-in-combat.com. Visit them for other great titles. You can get this one at this link. Also available as a .pdf.
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