For their next 'Squadrons' book, RAF-in-Combat has chosen the Spitfire XII. The Spit XII was always considered an interim aircraft, used mostly to get Griffon Spitfires into service before the real full production version, the Spitfire XIV was able to be rolling off the production lines. As such, there were differences in the small batches that were produced, mostly regarding the version of the engine that was used.

100 airframes were produced, enough to equip 2 squadrons with spares. Usually a considerable number of spare engines are built for a production run, but due to the nature of this aircraft, not that many extras were built. Even then, the airplane was quite good at low level. This was by design as the reason for using the new engine was to be able to catch marauding FW-190 fighter-bombers that were causing havoc with their raids on southern England. In the Spitfire XII, the RAF finally had a plane that was able to catch these aircraft and to be able to successfully dog-fight with them as well.

The two squadrons that operated this aircraft were 41 and 91 Squadrons, both of them eventually based at Westhampnett. These units operated the Spitfire XII from about early 1943, with 91 Squadron giving theirs up in Feb 1944 and 41 Squadron in September 1944. Since 41 Squadron had the planes longer, they had greater success and were able to be a real force when the V-1 assaults occurred in mid 1944. Few aircraft lasted past squadron use, though some went to training units or army co-op units where there speed was helpful in testing anti-aircraft defenses.

Overall, it is a superbly researched and presented book that gives the background and unit operations of the type. In addition to all the great photos, we have the usual large color profiles we have come to expect in this series. Available in .pdf for the moment but I'm sure that others are coming. A book I found fascinating and one that is bound to be a valuable reference resource in the years to come.

June 2014

Review book courtesy of www.raf-in-combat.com. Visit them for other great titles

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