A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2

Author: Christopher Shores

Publisher: Grub Street Publishing

Published: 2014-07-19

Total Pages: 736

ISBN-13: 191069097X

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This second volume in the seminal series on aerial combat, pilots, and tactics in Libya and Egypt in the middle of World War II. In volume two of this series, historian Christopher Shores begins by exploring the 8th Army’s movements after Operation Crusader when they were forced back to the Gazala area in northeastern Libya, as well as their defeat in June, 1942, the loss of Tobruk, and the efforts of Allied air forces to protect their retreating troops. Shores continues with the heavy fighting that followed in the El Alamein region. This features the Western Desert Air Force and the arrival of the first Spitfires. The buildup of both army and air forces and the addition of new commanders on the ground aided the defeat of Rommel’s Deutsche Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa, after which came the Second Battle of El Alamein. With the arrival of the United States Army Air Force, the Allied air forces gained dominance over the Axis. Shores recounts the lengthy pursuit of the Italo-German forces right across Libya, including the capture of Tripoli and the breakthrough into Southern Tunisia. This allowed a linkup with other Allied forces in Tunisia (whose story appears in Volume 3). Included with the action are stories of some of the great fighter aces of the Desert campaign such as Jochen Marseille and Otto Schulz of the Luftwaffe, Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the Regia Aeronautica and Neville Duke, Billy Drake, and “Eddie” Edwards of the Commonwealth air forces. Finally, Shores touches on the Allied and Axis night bombing offensives and the activities of the squadrons cooperating with the naval forces in the Mediterranean.

Taranto
Taranto

Author: David Hobbs

Publisher: Seaforth Publishing

Published: 2020-11-30

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 1526793849

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“If you only read one book on the development of the Fleet Air Arm and Naval air warfare in the Mediterranean during World War 2 then this should be it.” —Military Historical Society After the Italian declaration of war in June 1940, the Royal Navy found itself facing a larger and better-equipped Italian surface fleet, large Italian and German air forces equipped with modern aircraft and both Italian and German submarines. Its own aircraft were a critical element of an unprecedented fight on, over and under the sea surface. The best-known action was the crippling of the Italian fleet at Taranto, which demonstrated how aircraft carriers and their aircraft had replaced the dominance of battleships, but every subsequent operation is covered from the perspective of naval aviation. Some of these, like Matapan or the defense of the “Pedestal” convoy to Malta, are famous but others in support of land campaigns and in the Aegean after the Italian surrender are less well recorded. In all these, the ingenuity and innovation of the Fleet Air Arm shines through—Taranto pointed the way to what the Japanese would achieve at Pearl Harbor, while air cover for the Salerno landings demonstrated the effectiveness of carrier-borne fighters in amphibious operations, a tactic adopted by the US Navy. The author’s years of archival research together with his experience as a carrier pilot allow him to describe and analyze the operations of naval aircraft in the Mediterranean with unprecedented authority. This provides the book with novel insights into many familiar facets of the Mediterranean war while for the first time doing full justice to the Fleet Air Arm’s lesser known achievements. “A full and fascinating story.” —Clash of Steel

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945

Author: Christopher Shores

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2018-11-05

Total Pages: 697

ISBN-13: 1911621785

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This fourth volume in the comprehensive series “fills a gap in the existing narrative” of WWII’s Mediterranean air war (Journal of Military History). The fourth volume in this momentous series commences with the attacks on the Italian island fortress of Pantellaria, which led to its surrender and occupation achieved almost by air attack alone. The account continues with the ultimately successful, but at times very hard fought, invasions of Sicily and southern Italy as burgeoning Allied air power, now with full US involvement, increasingly dominated the skies overhead. The successive occupations of Sardinia and Corsica are also covered in detail. This is essentially the story of the tactical air forces up to the point when Rome was occupied, just at the same time as the Normandy landings were occurring in northwest France. With regards to the long-range tactical role of the Allied heavy bombers, only the period from May to October is examined, while they remained based in North Africa, with the narrative continuing in a future volume. This volume also delves into the story of “the soldiers’ air force.” Frequently overshadowed by more immediate newsworthy events elsewhere, the soldiers’ struggle was often of an equally Homeric nature. “No future publication on the Mediterranean air war will be credible without use of this series.” —Air Power History

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945

Author: Christopher Shores

Publisher: Grub Street Publishers

Published: 2016-08-05

Total Pages: 682

ISBN-13: 1910690678

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The third volume in the epic military aviation series focuses on the Allied invasion of North Africa during World War II. This work of WWII history takes us to November 1942 to explain the background of the first major Anglo-American venture: Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. Describing the fratricidal combat that followed the initial landings in Morocco and Algeria, it then considers the unsuccessful efforts to reach northern Tunisia before the Germans and Italians could get there to forestall the possibility of an attack from the west on the rear of the Afrika Korps forces, then beginning their retreat from El Alamein. The six months of hard fighting that followed, as the Allies built up the strength of their joint air forces and gradually wrested control of the skies from the Axis, are recounted in detail. The continuing story of the Western Desert Air Force is told, as it advanced from the east to join hands with the units in the west. Also covered are the arrivals over the front of American pilots and crew, the P-38 Lightning, the Spitfire IX, and the B-17 Flying Fortress—and of the much-feared Focke-Wulf Fw 190. The aerial activities over Tunisia became one of the focal turning points of World War II, yet are frequently overlooked by historians. Here, the air-sea activities, the reconnaissance flights, and the growing day and night bomber offensives are examined in detail.

Strangling the Axis
Strangling the Axis

Author: Richard Hammond

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-06-25

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1108478212

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Richard Hammond offers a major reassessment of the role of the war at sea in Allied victory in the Mediterranean region.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945

Author: Giovanni Massimello

Publisher: History of the Mediterranean A

Published: 2016-07-29

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781910690000

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The third volume in this series returns to November 1942 to explain the background to the first major Anglo-American venture - Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. It deals with the fratricidal combats which followed the initial landings in Morocco and Algeria for several days. It then considers the efforts made - unsuccessfully in the event - to reach northern Tunisia before the Germans and Italians could get there to forestall the possibility of an attack from the west on the rear of the Afrika Korps forces, then beginning their retreat from El Alamein. The six months of hard fighting which followed as the Allies built up the strength of their joint air forces and gradually wrested control of the skies from the Axis, are covered in detail. Then from 1 April 1943 the continuing story of the Western Desert Air Force is told from the point at which Volume 2 ended, as it advanced from the east to join hands with the units in the west. Now also described are the arrivals over the front of American pilots and crew, the P-38 Lightning, the Spitfire IX and the B-17 Flying Fortress - and of the much-feared Focke-Wulf FW 190. The aerial activities over Tunisia became one of the focal turning points of World War II, yet this is frequently overlooked by historians. As before, the air-sea activities, the reconnaissance flights and the growing day and night bomber offensives form a major part of this volume. The mastery of the whole African coastline of the southern Mediterranean by the Allies prepared the way for the invasions of the European territories on the other side of this critical sea during 1943, which will be dealt with in Volume 4.

Malta 1940–42
Malta 1940–42

Author: Ryan K. Noppen

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2018-02-22

Total Pages: 92

ISBN-13: 1472820614

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In 1940, the strategically vital island of Malta was Britain's last toehold in the central Mediterranean, wreaking havoc among Axis shipping. Launching an air campaign to knock Malta out of the war, first Italy and then Germany sought to force a surrender or reduce the defences enough to allow an invasion. Drawing on original documents, multilingual aviation analyst Ryan Noppen explains how technical and tactical problems caused the original Italian air campaign of 1940–41 to fail, and then how the German intervention came close to knocking Malta out of the war. Using stunning full colour artwork, this fascinating book explains why the attempt by the Axis powers to take the British colony of Malta ultimately failed.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945

Author: Christopher Shores

Publisher: Grub Street Publishers

Published: 2012-06-19

Total Pages: 962

ISBN-13: 190980875X

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This first volume in the seminal series on World War II aerial combat, pilots, and tactics that “reads like an encyclopedia on the subject” (Portland Book Review). In the early days of World War II, both Allied and Axis powers extended the theater of war to North Africa, where hard-fought battles were conducted in the harsh desert. But before anyone could claim victory on the ground, they had to hold dominion in the air. Here, historian Christopher Shores has combined his books Fighters over the Desert and Fighters over Tunisia into one volume, as well as adding updated information about the deadly fighter aircraft, reconnaissance aircraft, and maritime units active in the Mediterranean. Full of in-depth research and featuring essential maps, this is “an intimate introspection by these men of their experiences and the respect that they shared not only for each other but also their adversaries” (The Military Reviewer).

Combat Over the Mediterranean
Combat Over the Mediterranean

Author: Chris Goss

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2017-06-30

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1473889456

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Drawing on an extremely rare collection of photographs taken by the camera guns of Bristol Beaufighters deployed on ground-attack and anti-shipping operations, this book will form a rare indeed unique view of what it was like to fly dangerous strike missions against German and Italian forces over North Africa and the Mediterranean between 1942 and 1945.Despite being reformed in the UK in November 1940 as Coastal Commands first Beaufighter squadron, 252 Squadron, which also operated Bristol Blenheims until April 1941, was destined to spend most of its service in North Africa and the Mediterranean before being disbanded in Greece in December 1946.One of the squadrons commanding officers, Wing Commander DOB Butler, DFC, had the foresight to keep perfect examples of the many thousands of gun camera stills taken by the Beaufighter pilots under his command. As a result, he has preserved a remarkable history of the air and sea war in the Mediterranean from October 1942 to May 1945. These dramatic stills show attacks against German and Italian aircraft, Axis warships and merchant men, harbors and other targets on what are now popular holiday destinations such as Rhodes, Naxos and Kos and across the Greek Islands, the Aegean and Ionian Seas.This book will be based around these remarkable and spectacular photographs and will include full details of key missions and the crews who participated, with information drawn from Squadron records and combat reports.