Jon Lake - Böcker

Nicknamed the Flying Porcupine due to its heavy armoury of 14 guns, the Sunderland was the RAF's staple maritime patrol aircraft during World War II. It saw action with the RAAF, RNZAF and RNCAF. In this detailed text, crews explain their combat experience.

The RAF's most successful heavy bomber of World War 2, the Avro Lancaster formed the backbone of Bomber Command during the large-scale night bombing campaign against occupied Europe. Produced in massive numbers (7300+ up to VE-Day), the first examples entered squadron service on Christmas Eve 1941, and tasted combat the following March. The first of two volumes on the British bomber icon of World War 2, this volume covers the early daylight raids, the first 1000 bomber raids on Germany and the epic Dambusters mission of 16/17 May 1943 by No 617 Sqn.

The RAF's most succesful heavy bomber of World War II, the Avro Lancaster, formed the backbone of Bomber Command during the large-scale night bombing campaign against occupied Europe. Produced in massive numbers (over 7300 up to VE-Day), the first examples entered squadron service on Christmas eve 1941, and tasted combat the following March. The second of two volumes on the British bomber icon of World War II, this title details Bomber Command's massive nocturnal bombing campaign, its support for the D-Day landings, Tallboy raids against the U-boat pens in France and the battleship Tirpitz in Norway and the final daylight missions of 1945.

The B52 is perhaps the most easily recognized of all USAAF military aircraft since the 1960s. This book looks at the B52's combat history. The B-52 Stratofortress first saw combat over the jungles of Vietnam during Operation Arc Light in June 1965, and it remained in action, flying from bases in the Pacific, until the US withdrawal in early 1973. During the conflict, the brunt of the bombing was carried out by "big belly" B-52Ds. The type next saw action over Iraq and Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm in early 1991, when it was used both as a conventional bomber and as a launch platform for Tomahawk cruise missles. Further action came the B-52s' way in 1999 over Kosovo and Serbia, and this was followed in 2001-2002 by Operation Enduring Freedom, which saw the B-52s flying long-range missions from Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, against Taleban and Al Qaeda targets in Afghanistan.

As the Cold War drew to an end the B-52's role began to change. While the B-52H remained committed to the nuclear strike role, older B-52Gs were increasingly pressed into service in the conventional role; they dropped about one third of the ordance delivered by the USAF during Operation Desert Storm and were a high profile element in the 'shock and awe' tactics of Operation Iraqi Freedom. This book details the recent combat history of this huge aircraft which has proved one of the most effective weapons available to US force commanders.

The first virtually all-jet war, the conflict in Korea saw F-86 Sabres of the USAF take on MiG-15s of the North Korean and Chinese air forces.Although the Allied pilots were initially taken aback by the ability of the communist fighter in combat, sound training and skilful leadership soon enabled Sabre pilots to dominate the dogfights over the Yalu River. In all 39 F-86 pilots achieved ace status, and a number of these are profiled in this volume, as are notable pilots from the US Navy, Marine Corps and Royal Navy and, for the first time, the handful of MiG-15 aces.

The Bristol Blenheim was the result of a speculative private venture, rather than a design built to a specific Air Ministry request. First flown in 1935 its impressive performance led to a large production run. It was the Blenheim that performed the first recce and bomber raids on Germany at the beginning of the war. It continued in front-line service in Africa and the Far East well into 1943. This volume on the Bristol Blenheim includes interviews with aircrews, unit histories and describes the tactics used in combat with Blenheims. Scale drawings of the fighter and bomber variants are presented and there is a section on uniforms as worn by Blenheim aircrew.