Air war against Germany and Italy, 1939-1943 (Australia in the war of 1939-1945)

Australian War Memorial, 1962. hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 0x0x0. 1962 reprint, Australian War Memorial (Canberra, Australia), 6 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches tall x 2 inches thick blue cloth hardcover in publisher's unclipped dust jacket, gilt lettering to spine, copiously illustrated with black-and-white photographs, index, xvii, 731 pp. Very slight soiling and rubbing to covers. Otherwise, a near fine copy - clean, bright and unmarked - in an only very slightly soiled and edgeworn dust jacket which is nicely preserved and displayed in a clear archival Brodart sleeve. Note that this is a heavy and oversized book, so additional postage will be required for international or priority orders. ~K~ [3.5P] This volume describes the part played by increasing numbers of Australians in the first four years of the air war in Europe and the Middle East. In 1939 there was one Australian squadron in England and there were some 400 Australians in the RAF. At the end of 1943 there were about 15,000 Australian airmen serving in the war against Germany and Italy, a proportion of them being in eighteen Australian squadrons. Since the Australians were so widely dispersed - almost every RAF squadron contained some - the author has outlined the story of the air war as a whole, assessing its achievements and examining the commanders' policies in the light of German and Italian as well as British documents. At the same time he has illustrated the general narrative with accounts of the experiences of individual Australian crews.