Squadrons #17: The Curtiss Mohawk
One
of the more widely used of the 'minor' types that fought in WWII was the Hawk
75A, built for the USAAC as the P-36. The biggest user of this aircraft was
France, mostly due to their own aircraft industry's inability to meet the huge
orders placed for aircraft prior to WWII. To be frank, the aircraft was pretty
successful in French service with captured aircraft being used by Finland the
the rest of the undelivered French order being sent to the UK. These were
determined to be unusable in the European theater despite the fact they out
handled the Hurricane. This was mostly due to the Hurricane having eight rifle
caliber machine guns vs the six for the Hawk 75.
However, they were considered fit enough for use in 'lesser' theaters
such as East Africa and in India/Burma. In East Africa they were used by the
SAAF while in India, two squadrons operated the type for well over a year until
mostly replaced by Hurricanes. Interestingly, when both Hurricanes and Mohawks
were used for bomber escort, it was the Mohawk with its superior dog-fighting
abilities that were used to defend against IJAAF Ki-43s.
This book is like others in the series which takes a look at the various
squadrons that flew these types that were not widespread throughout the RAF. We are provided a brief history of the type along with its
operational use during WWII. This means a well researched history of the type's
use with the various squadrons that flew the plane. 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.
December 2016
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