This volume covers pretty much two nations in the last two years of WWII. In reality, only Iraq and Egypt had anything close to a viable air force. Iraq had the more modern of the two forces, but relied on Italian equipment, something that dried up when Italy joined the war. As for the Egyptians, well, they were basically at the mercy of the British and never really got any sort of modern aircraft, even still getting Gladiators into 1945.

The section on the Iraq Air Force only covers a small portion of the book as it was nearly non-existent after the little episode with the Germans in 1941. Not surprising that the British didn't trust them. However, they didn't totally destroy any aircraft left over from that conflict so the RIAF did have a presence where needed in terms of their continuing conflict with the Kurds and to assist with keeping an eye on Iran.

So most of the book covers the Egyptian Air Force. The service at one time was down to almost no serviceable aircraft due to a lack of spares. Yet they were still charged with the defense of the Suez Canal, a job that had to be fairly dull and even frustrating as the aircraft they had were unable to catch any German raiders. Eventually the REAF was able to get some Hurricanes and a few Spitfires. Not the latest variants, but better than nothing even if they were somewhat war weary airframes. They even managed to obtain some transport and trainer types. The latter were especially needed as the previous trainers had deteriorated to the point that they were not totally sound.

The book would not be complete without mentioning the French in the Levant. Initially these were Vichy forces, but later they were replaced by Free French forces. The French were still upset at the British for the sinking of their fleet at Toulon so there were some skirmishes between both French forces and the British during the war, but nothing that resulted in a major loss of life. As always there is a major political story here in all parts of the Middle East and the authors have done a superb job researching all sides of the story. In fact, it is this as much as anything else that makes these Helion books so interesting to read. As usual, we are provided with some fine period photos as well as the usual selection of profiles and maps in the center of the book. You really need to add this entire series to your library. Well worth it.

June 2023

Copyright ModelingMadness.com. All rights reserved. No reproduction in part or in whole without express permission.

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishers, where you can order your copy at this link.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and fairly quickly, please contact the editor or see other details in the Note to Contributors.