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Squadrons No. 60

Supermarine Spitfire - Australian Squadrons in Western Europe and the Med

Philedition

S u m m a r y :

Catalogue Number, Description and ISBN:

Squadrons No. 54
Supermarine Spitfire - Australian Squadrons in Western Europe and the Med
by Phil H. Listemann
Illustrations by Gaetan Marie

ISBN: 979-2-494471-02-3

Contents & Media:

Soft-cover format, 68 pages.

Price:

Available online from www.raf-in-combat.com and selected retailers

Review Type:

First Look

Advantages:

Useful to both modellers and those interested in the history of aircraft and Commonwealth involvement in WWII, good set of well reproduced personal photos and nice coloured profiles.

Disadvantages:

None noted.

Conclusion:

This is an interesting and valuable volume for both the historian and modeller that adds another chapter to the literature on the Commonwealth use of the Spitfire. Recommended..


Reviewed by Graham Carter


FirstRead

 

This is a 96-page case-bound A4 ‘bookazine’ with a glossy card cover and is the latest in this long series of editions covering specific squadrons using a variety of Allied fighters and light bombers during WWII. It contains 90 pages of information on semi-matte paper and 6 more that are either blank or advertise other volumes.

 

 

This volume covers the four Spitfire squadrons crewed by Australians - numbers 451, 452, 453 and 457, all based in England, NW Europe and Mediterranean from 1941 to early 1945.

Starting with a very brief overview of the RAAF use of Spitfires of many marks, from the Mk I up to the Mks XVI and XIV,  in the European and Mediterranean campaigns, the main part of the volume is concerned with these four squadrons. Each is treated with a variable coverage looking at their actions, bases, and personnel. Each is accompanied by tables of battle claims, and aircraft losses due to action or accidents, interspersed with useful photos of aircraft and personnel from private sources, all in B&W. Quality is a little variable depending upon the originals, but are interesting in that they often show casual scenes around the planes. There follows an ‘In Memoriam’ table of details of the staggering number of pilots who lost their lives while flying with these squadrons.

 

 

There are also a large number of personal profiles of pilots involved in action in these planes: Raymond Thorold-Smith, Pete Brothers, John Gibson, John Ratten, John Yarra, Kevin Barclay, Donald Andrews, Ernest Esau, Douglas Davideson, Edgar Kirkham, Walter Gale and Colin Robertson.

There are none of the usual large colour profiles to end the book but each chapter has a couple of smaller ones from the pens(?) of Gaetan Marie.

 

  • Philedition Squadrons Number 54 Hawker Biplanes Fighters Book Review by Graham Carter: Image
  • Philedition Squadrons Number 54 Hawker Biplanes Fighters Book Review by Graham Carter: Image
  • Philedition Squadrons Number 54 Hawker Biplanes Fighters Book Review by Graham Carter: Image
  • Philedition Squadrons Number 54 Hawker Biplanes Fighters Book Review by Graham Carter: Image
  • Philedition Squadrons Number 54 Hawker Biplanes Fighters Book Review by Graham Carter: Image
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This is an interesting and valuable volume for both the historian and modeller that adds another chapter to the literature on the Commonwealth use of the Spitfire. Recommended.

Thanks to Phil Listemann for the review sample.

Review Text Copyright © 2023 by Graham Carter
This Page Created on 17 August, 2023
Last updated 19 September, 2023

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