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The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II
The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II
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Description
This is a concise history of the Royal Navy's air arm during World War II (1939-1945), from the Arctic convoys, to the battle for Malta, to the last raids on Japan. The contribution of British Naval aviation to the ultimate Allied victory cannot be underestimated. Amazingly the Admiralty only had 406 operational pilots and 8 carriers when war broke out, but a mere 6 years later there were over 3,000 operational pilots and 53 aircraft carriers patrolling the seas in every theater of the war. The author charts the rapid evolution of the Fleet Air Arm during the war years as air power took over the cutting edge of naval warfare from surface battleships. The carriers were in action from the first with actions by HMS Ark Royal and Courageous in September 1939 to the major actions of the carrier force off Japan in the closing days of the war. This book offers a complete overview from recruitment and training to the thrilling accounts of operational successes and failures. Discover some of the most dramatic actions of the war as Royal Navy aces battled against Axis forces scoring both the first and last kills of the war.
Table of Contents
– World War I
– The interwar years
RECRUITMENT & TRAINING
– Pilots
– Observers
–Telegraphist Air Gunners
– Mechanics
– Fighter direction officers
– deck landing control officers
– Meteorologists
– Women's Royal Naval Service
COMMAND STRUCTURE
– Chain of command
– Squadron composition
– Embarked air groups
– Mixed squadrons
– Squadron numbering & markings
CAMPAIGNS
– 1939: the Western Approaches
– 1940: Norway – France & the Battle of Britain – the Mediterranean: Force H – the Taranto raid
– 1941: the Mediterranean – the Bismark
– 1942: the 'Channel Dash' – the Malta convoys – Operation 'Torch'
– 1943: Sicily & Italy – Victorious in the Far East
– 1944: the Tirpitz raids – the Normandy landings – Operation
'Dragoon'
– 1944–45: the British Pacific Fleet: the East Indies – Okinawa –Japan
TACTICS
– Torpedo-bombers
– dive-bombers
– fighters
SOURCES & SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
PLATE COMMENTARIES
INDEX
Product details
| Published | Jun 17 2008 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 64 |
| ISBN | 9781846032837 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Illustrations | 64 b/w |
| Dimensions | 10 x 7 inches |
| Series | Elite |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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