No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron 1940-1945

by

Tomas Polak with Jiri Rajlich & Pavel Vancata
Illustrations by Malcolm Laird

Philedition

Reviewed by Steven “Modeldad” Eisenman

HyperScale is proudly supported by Squadron.com

No. 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron is another in the series of monographs from a new publishing endeavor that focus on the RAF in Combat.  This seems to be a Herculean effort and appears to have the objective of producing nearly 490 monographs, each focusing on a specific Squadron within the RAF.

The RAF in Combat series focuses on the squadrons and the airmen who made up those squadrons. It is about the airmen, rather than the machines.

The monograph begins with a most useful glossary of terms.  It then proceeds, in about 30 pages, to provide an overview of the combat history of 310 Squadron which was comprised of Czechoslovak airmen who made their way to Great Britain after the destruction of their homeland and the fall of France.

The authors take small digressions, perhaps realizing that some readers may not be familiar with the aircraft flown by the Squadron. There are brief descriptions of the Hurricane and Spitfire.  There are also brief descriptions of the organization of the RAF, which I found helpful.

The bulk of the monograph is made up of numerous appendices.  These include, among others, a list of the individual aircraft letters in the squadron’s code “NN” and the aircraft type and serial number of the aircraft that was assigned a given individual aircraft letter.  There is a diary of sorties flown, claim lists and aircraft losses.

Finally, there is the Squadron Roster, biographies of the pilots of 310 Squadron.  Some are merely a line or two; others are a full two columned page.  Photographs of many of the airmen are included.

There are pictures and a few profiles of the aircraft scattered through out.

This is clearly a monograph about the personnel and record of 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron.  For those interested primarily in the actual aircraft of the Squadron, this small volume will probably not satisfy your interest.  While not many may want to start a collection that may grow to 490 volumes, selective unit histories I believe will be an interesting addition to the library of anyone with an interest in the RAF and the air war in Europe during WW-2. 

Recommended.

Thanks to Philedition for the review sample