Allied Fighter Aces: The Air Combat Tactics and Techniques of World War II

Air power in World War II was crucial for ultimate victory. It held up armies in the field, sapped war-making capacity at home and reduced naval forces to near impotence. Gaining air superiority was the task of the fighter and it was the fighters who determined the eventual outcome of the war. Many thousands of fighter pilots of many nations v British, American, Australian, Canadian, Polish and many more v flew, fought and died in Allied aircraft. A few became famous. About five percent of fighter pilots accounted for some forty percent of all air victories and these were the aces. Mike Spick, author of the excellent Luftwaffe Fighter Aces, examines in detail every major theatre of the air war, compares the aircraft and operational conditions, and highlights individual tactics and methods of the best of the aces. Twenty-five diagrams graphically illustrate some of the most successful combat tactics. With first-hand accounts putting the reader in the thick of the action, Allied Fighter Aces is an exciting, fast-paced read as well as a major source of reliable information for the air combat enthusiast.