Osprey Aircraft of the Aces Series

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTThe 325th FG was activated under General Order number 50 on 30 July 1942 and set up training operations at Theodore F Greene Field in Providence, Rhode Island. By mid-December 1942 the group was considered ready for combat and the alert for overseas duty arrived on 2 January 1943. The pilots and their P-40s departed on the carrier USS Ranger on 8 January and flew their aircraft off the vessel into Cazes airfield, near Casablanca, on 19 January 1943. After the remainder of the...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTJagdgeschwader 3 may not have the same immediate resonance as some of the more famous Luftwaffe fighter units, such Jagdgeschwader 2 -Richthofen', but it is arguably the archetypal German fighter formation of World War 2. Not only did it participate in every campaign fought by the Luftwaffe (with the exceptions of Poland and Norway), it flew every major variant of the two legendary German wartime fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - starting with the...

Aces of Jagdgeschwader Nr III from Osprey Publishing Item Number:OSPACE128 Author: Greg VanWyngarden Illustrator: Harry Dempsey, Mark Postlethwaite Short code: ACE 128 Publication Date: 20 Jan 2016 Number of Pages: 96 About this Product Royal Prussian Jagdgeschwader Nr III was the third of Germany's vaunted fighter wings to be formed during World War 1. Commanded by the Pour le M-rite winner and well-respected ace Hauptmann Bruno Loerzer for its entire existence, it was composed of the...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTInitially formed to assist in the defence of the city of Metz against French bombing raids, Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 17 would go on to become one of the most distinguish German fighter units of World War 1. Its first victory was scored by the pilot whose story is inextricably interwoven with that of his unit - the -Blue Max' recipient Julius Buckler. He was largely responsible for inspiring the unit's unique Esprit de Corps, expressed in its famous and unique -battle-cry'...

The ace pilots of the Republic of China Air Force have long been shrouded in mystery and obscurity, as their retreat to Taiwan in 1949 and blanket martial law made records of the RoCAF all but impossible to access. Now, for the first time, the colourful story of these aces can finally be told. Using the latest research based on released archival information and full-colour illustrations, this book charts the history of the top scoring pilots of the RoCAF from the beginning of the gruelling,...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTDubbed the -Eagles of Duxford', the 78th Fighter Group (FG) was unique in being the only fighter unit in the -Mighty Eighth' to fly the P-38 Lightning, P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang operationally. Arriving in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) in November 1942, and eventually committed to combat five months later, the 78th, along with the 4th and 56th FGs, -wrote the book' on long-range fighter escort by VIII Fighter Command in the ETO. This volume charts the...

Albatros Aces Of Ww-I Pt1 by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE32Author: Norman FranksIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookThe Albatros family of fighters were amongst the most effective aircraft employed by the Idlfieg (Imperial German Air Service) for much of World War 1, with the D.III and D.Va being flown by most of the 363 pilots who qualified as aces at some point in their often brief careers. The Albatros was the scourge of the RFC on the Western Front in 1916-17, with pilots of the calibre...

Allied fighter pilots began encountering German jets - principally the outstanding Me 262 fighter - from the autumn of 1944. Stunned by the aircraft's speed and rate of climb, it took USAAF and RAF units time to work out how to combat this deadly threat as the Luftwaffe targeted the medium and heavy bombers attacking targets across the Reich. A number of high-scoring aces from the Eighth Air Force (Drew, Glover, Meyer, Norley and Yeager, to name but a few) succeeded in claiming Me 262s, Me 163...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTThe Japanese High Command realised that the loss of Okinawa would give the Americans a base for the invasion of Japan. Its desperate response was to unleash the full force of the Special Attack Units, known in the west as the Kamikaze (-Divine Wind'). In a series of mass attacks in between April and June 1945, more than 900 Kamikaze aeroplanes were shot down. Conventional fighters and bombers accompanied the Special Attack Units as escorts, and to add their own weight to the...

Once Nazi Germany had conquered Norway in 1940, just a handful of Gruppen flying the Bf 109 and Bf 110 fighters were able to shatter all opposition and dominate the air in the Arctic Circle. Yet as the dual threats of the RAF and the Red Air Force grew, the Luftwaffe was forced to increase its fighter presence to full Geschwader strength with the formation of JG 5 Eismeer (Ice-sea) in early 1942.The struggle for the frozen skies of the arctic raged on until the end of the war as the embattled...

Author: Paolo VarrialeIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookAustro-Hungarian industry produced a series of poor fighter types such as the Ph_nix D I and Hansa-Brandenburg D I during the early stages of the war, and it was not until licence-built examples of the battle-proven Albatros and D II and D III began to reach Fliegerkompagnien, or Fliks, in May 1917 that the fortunes of pilots began to look up. Unlike the German-built Albatrosen, the Oeffag aircraft were far more robust than German...

Bf 109 F/G/K Aces of the Western Front by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE29Aircraft of the Aces 29Illustrator: John WealAbout this bookThe follow--on volume to Osprey Aircraft of the Aces 11 - Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41, this book charts the story of the myriad aces who flew the later marks of Messerschmitt fighter through to VE-Day. As good as the Emil had been during the opening 18 months of the war, the aircraft was being progressively bettered in virtually all aspects of aerial combat by...

Bf-109d/E Aces 1939-41 by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE11About this bookThe period covered in this volume was considered to be the 'glory years' for the Jagdwaffe - fresh from the experience gained in the Spanish Civil War - and for the Bf 109 in particular. Many famous pilots scored their first kills in the classic dogfights staged over Poland, Western Europe, the Channel and finally southern England. Some 40 Knight's Crosses were awarded in 1940 alone. However, after sweeping all before them in...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTThe first VF-2 was a prewar unit that had been dubbed the -hottest outfit afloat' due to the skill of their non-commissioned pilots. This first unit only saw combat at the Battle of the Coral Sea, although VF-2 pilots flying Grumman F4F Wildcats were able to rack up 17 claims there during the bitter 48-hour period of fighting. The second -Fighting Two' was armed with the new Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat fighter. Arriving in Hawaii in October 1943, the squadron so impressed Cdr...

Finish Aces Of Ww-Ii by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE23Aircraft of the Aces 23Author: Kari StenmanIllustrator: Mark StylingAbout this bookAlways outnumbered by their Soviet counterparts, the small band of Finnish fighter pilots who defended their Scandinavian homeland from the 'communist hordes' in three separate wars between 1939 and 1945 amassed scores only bettered by the Luftwaffe's Jagdflieger. Initially equipped with a motley collection of biplane and monoplane fighters garnered from sources...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTThe Dutch D.XXIs saw less than a week of action following the German invasion of the west on 10 May 1940, with many of the country's 28 fighters being destroyed on the ground. However, those that survived the initial onslaught inflicted losses on the Luftwaffe. By then, however, the D.XXI had found everlasting fame in Finland during the Winter War of 1939-40. Proving itself a real thorn in the side of the Soviets, the fighter, operating in primitive conditions and against...

Hellcat Aces WW II by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE10Author: Barrett TillmanIllustrator: Mark StylingAbout this bookGrumman's successor to the pugnacious Wildcat, the Hellcat embodied many of the lessons learnt by F4F pilots in the opening months of the Pacific war. Introduced to the fleet in January 1943, and blooded in combat against the Japanese by VF-5 seven months later, the F6F served as the principal US Navy fighter on board carrier decks until VJ-Day. Despite its lethality in the air when...

Hurricane Aces 1939-40 by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE18Aircraft of the Aces 18Author: Tony HolmesIllustrator: Keith FretwellAbout this bookThe Hawker Hurricane was the Raf's first monoplane fighter, and it dragged the air force into a position where it could defend Britain in its 'hour of need'. Prior to the Battle of Britain, a number of squadrons equipped with the fighter had seen action firstly in the 'Phoney War', and then during the disastrous campaign in France. Pilots like 'Cobber' Kain...

Imperial Japanese Navy Aces by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE22Aircraft of the Aces 22Author: Henry SakaidaIllustrator: Tom TullisAbout this bookThe outcome of the Pacific War was heavily influenced by the results of naval battles between the Imperial Japanese fleet and the US Navy. One of the key elements was Japan's large fighter component, which had gained experience over Manchuria, China and Mongolia in the late 1930s. Flying A5Ms, at least 21 pilots achieved 'acedom' securing air superiority...

J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden/Shiden-Kai Aces from Osprey Publishing Item Number: OSPACE129 About this Product Although seen as a replacement for the A6M Zero-sen carrier-based fighter, the Mitsubishi J2M Raiden was actually designed as a land-based naval interceptor optimised for speed rather than manoeuvrability. Engine cooling problems for its Mitsubishi Kasai 23 engine, airflow and flight control issues plagued the Raiden's development, but despite these production delays, aces Sadaaki...

Formed shortly after the outbreak of World War 2, and equipped with Messerschmitt Bf 109Es, Jagdgeschwader 1 was initially tasked to defend the regional North Sea and Baltic coastal areas and Germany's main port cities and naval bases. The greatest task for JG 1 though came after 1942 in its defence of the Reich against the US Eighth Air Force's B-17s and B-24s, bearing the brunt of defence against increasingly regular, larger and deep penetrating USAAF daylight bomber raids with fighter...

Japanese Army Air Force Aces by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE13Aircraft of the Aces 13Author: Henry SakaidaIllustrator: Grant RaceAbout this bookLittle has been published in English on the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF), let alone its most successful fighter pilots - no less than 150 of them achieved ace status during eight years of near-constant war, and they are all listed in this volume. From the arid plains of the Mongolian border region to the lush jungles of New Guinea, the JAAF was more...

Ki-44 'Tojo' Aces of World War 2 by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE100The Ki-44 'Tojo' epitomises JAAF air power in defence of the homeland, but was also used extensively in the skies over China. The introduction of the Ki-44 was noted with concern because of its departure from the performance and tactics previously associated with the JAAF. It was a fast-climbing, heavily armed point-defence interceptor that was used successfully in slashing hit-and-run tactics that caught Allied pilots...

Ki-61 & Ki-100 Aces from Osprey Publishing Item Number:OSPACE114 Aircraft of the Aces Series: Each book focuses on the fighter pilots who became aces flying a particular aircraft in a particular war or theatre of war, with first hand accounts from the aces themselves. Aircraft profiles, unit listings and scale plans support the text. Books in Osprey’s Aircraft of the Aces series cover the full spectrum of manned military flight. From the earliest aces of World War I, through every...

Author: Robert ForsythIllustrator: Jim LaurierAbout this book_Viermot Aces_ were pilots who shot down five or more USAAF and RAF bombers during the daylight Defence of the Reich missions from May 1942 through to VE Day. This book tells the complete story of the men and the planes that challenged the great bomber offensive. Flying a number of different aircraft including the Bf 110G, Me 210 and the Me 410, they fought their desperate battles against the numerous machine guns of B-17s and...

Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstorer Aces of World War 2 by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE25Aircraft of the Aces 25Illustrator: John WealAbout this bookThis volume is the first of its type to be devoted exclusively to the Zerst_rer day fighter aces, spanning the war years from Poland to the defence of the Reich. Although Messerschmitt's single-engined Bf 109 has received most of the plaudits for achieving virtual air superiority over Europe in 1939-40, the exploits of the manufacturer's...

The Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) at the beginning of the Vietnam War were equipped with slow, old Korean War generation fighters - a combination of MiG-17s and MiG-19s - types that should have offered little opposition to the cutting-edge fighter-bombers such as the F-4 Phantom II, F-105 Thunderchief and the F-8 Crusader. Yet when the USAF and US Navy unleashed their aircraft on North Vietnam in 1965 the inexperienced pilots of the VPAF were able to shatter the illusion of US air...

Author: Dmitriy KhazanovIllustrator: Andrey YurgensonAbout this bookThe MiG-1/3 family of fighters was built to satisfy a Soviet Air Force requirement for an advanced, fast, high-altitude fighter. Entering service in the spring of 1941, the problematic MiG-1 had its handling issues rectified with the hasty production of the MiG-3. Many of these were destroyed on the ground when the Germans launched Operation Barbarossa. Nevertheless, enough examples survived to allow pilots such as Stepan...

Mustang Aces of the Eighth Air Force by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE1About this bookUnquestionably the best American fighter of World War 2, the North American P-51 Mustang served in large numbers with the USAAF"s Eighth Air Force from late 1943 until VE Day, and was the mount of most aces in-theatre. Charged with the responsibility of escorting huge formations of B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator bombers on daylight raids deep into Germany, the P-51 pilots of the various fighter...

Author: Jon GuttmanIllustrator: Harry DempseyAbout this bookThis second Naval Aces of World War 1 book looks at the many flying naval heroes who served alongside or against those of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). While the RNAS operated its own formidable arsenal of Nieuport and Sopwith scouts over the Flanders coast, the German Navy countered with its own Land Feld Jagdstaffeln and Seefront Staffeln. Unique to World War 1 was the use of flying boats as fighters in combat, which figured...

Author: Steve BlakeIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookWhen the 82nd Fighter Group was organized in March 1942, most of its initial pilot cadre was comprised of newly graduated staff sergeant pilots of Class 42-C _ enlisted men! They learned to fly the P-38 at Muroc, in California_s Mojave Desert, and then moved to the Los Angeles area to continue their training and to serve as part of its air defence. In September 1942 the group was transported to the East Coast, from where it shipped out...

P-38 Lightning Aces Pacific by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE14Aircraft of the Aces 14Author: John StanawayIllustrator: Tom TullisAbout this bookThe P-38 was used on virtually every front to which the USAAF were committed, but enjoyed its greatest successes in the Pacific and China-Burma-India (CBI) theatres. The speed, range and firepower of the P-38 made it the favourite of nearly all aircrew fighting in the Solomons, New Guinea and the Philippines, and over 1800 Japanese aircraft fell to its...

P-47 T-Bolt Aces 9th & 15th Af by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE30Aircraft of the Aces 30Author: Jerry ScuttsIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookThis book charts the story of the lesser known aces who flew the mighty Republic aircraft as a tactical fighter-bomber with the Ninth Air Force, rather than as a long-range escort. It also details the exploits of the Mediterranean-based 325th FG, which was the only P-47 group within the strategic Fifteenth Air Force. Thunderbolt aces within the Ninth...

P-47 Thunderbolt Aces Eight Af by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE24The US aviation industry produced three great fighter designs to equip its burgeoning army air force during World War 2, and of this trio, Republic's P-47 Thunderbolt was easily the heaviest. Powered, crucially, by a turbocharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine that produced 2000 hp, the first production fighters reached the 56th FG in June 1942, and six months later the group joined the Eight Air Force in...

Of all Allied airmen, Polish pilots had had the most experience of fighting the Luftwaffe by the time the war came to Britain. As the Battle of Britain raged, they quickly proved themselves as highly aggressive and skilful interceptors, especially when flying the famous Spitfire. The Polish Air Force eventually became the largest non-Commonwealth Spitfire operator, using some 1,500 Mks I, II, V, IX and XVI to devastating effect. Top scoring USAAF ace of the ETO, Francis "Gabby" Gabreski and a...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTOften overshadowed by the fighters that either protected or threatened them, two-seater reconnaissance aircraft performed the oldest and most strategically vital aerial task of World War 1 - a task that required them to return with the intelligence they gathered at all costs. Bomber sorties were equally important and dangerous, and the very nature of both types of mission required going in harm's way. A remarkable number of British, French and German two-seater teams managed...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTAlthough the Russian Imperial Army Air Service consisted of no more than four BAGs (Boevaya Aviatsionniy Gruppa - battle aviation groups), each controlling three or four smaller AOIs (Aviatsionniy Otryad Istrebitelei - fighter aviation detachments) equipped with a variety of aircraft types, its fighter pilots nevertheless gave a good account of themselves. Indeed, during three years of war they claimed more than 200 Austro-Hungarian and German aircraft shot down, creating 13...

Author: Hugh MorganIllustrator: John WealAbout this bookNo single volume in English has ever appeared in the West dealing with this intriguing subject area, but now that restrictions have relaxed in the former Soviet Union, records of the deeds of the elite pilots of the various Soviet Air Forces are coming to light. Although initially equipped with very poor aircraft, and robbed of effective leadership thanks as much to Stalin's purges in the late 1930s as to the efforts of the Luftwaffe,...

Author: Yuriy RybinIllustrator: Aleksander RusinovAbout this bookFollowing the destruction wrought on the Red Army Air Forces during the first days of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941, the Soviet Union found itself desperately short of fighter aircraft. Premier Josef Stalin duly appealed directly to Prime Minister Winston Churchill for replacement aircraft, and in late 1941 the British delivered the first of 3360 Hurricanes that would be supplied to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease...

This book reveals how first using the Spitfire I and II, and then following the introduction of the Bf 109 the cannon-armed Spitfire V, RAF squadrons embarked on a range of missions which included one of the most important air battles of the war, over Dieppe on 19 August 1942. Alongside British pilots were squadrons manned by exiled Europeans and pilots from the RAAF, RCAF and RNZAF. In just three years over 100 of these pilots were to rack up ace status in the Spitfire.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTThis book traces the achievements of the pilots flying the iconic Spitfire in Northwest Europe, and examines how the steady technological improvements that were made throughout the Spitfire's service life improved its capabilities in the air. Based at airfields throughout southern England, Merlin engine Spitfires provided the bulk of the air cover for the D-Day landings and it was an RCAF Spitfire which claimed the first ever ME 262 jet kill. 36 colour profiles covering a...

Spitfire Mk.I Aces '39-'41 by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE12Spitfire Mk Is and IIs served only briefly in the frontline with the RAF, but their pilots were responsible for achieving impressive scores against the Luftwaffe during 1940/41. This volume details the RAF's first aces of World War 2 who helped stem the German tide during Britain's struggle for survival in the bitter years between 1939 and 1941. Early-mark Spitfires were notorious for their light armament, overheating engines...

Spitfire Mk.V Aces 1941-45 by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE16Aircraft of the Aces 16Author: Alfred PriceIllustrator: Keith FretwellAbout this bookAs the first Spitfire variant to see extensive service outside of Britain, the Mk V fought the Axis alliance over the deserts of North Africa, the waters of the Mediterranean and the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean off the northern coast of Australia. Initially produced in haste to combat the arrival of new German fighters (the Bf 109F and the Fw 190)...

Typhoon/Tempest Aces Ww-Ii by OspreyItem Number: OSPACE27Aircraft of the Aces 27Author: Chris ThomasIllustrator: Chris DaveyAbout this bookHawker Typhoon and Tempest - two aircraft types with widely differing reputations. The former was a technical nightmare redeemed as a ground attack machine, whilst the latter proved to be the most superlative low and medium level fighter to see service with the RAF, and arguably any air force, during the latter stages of World War 2. With 246 enemy aircraft...

ABOUT THIS PRODUCTShortly after the Allied landings in France the Germans unleashed the first of their so-called -revenge weapons', the V1 flying bomb. Launched from specially constructed sites in northern France, the fast, small, pulse-jet powered pilotless aircraft were aimed at London with the sole intent of destroying civilian morale to the point where the British government would be forced to sue for peace. This dangerous new threat drew an immediate response, and the Air Defence of Great...

Wildcat Aces Ww II by Osprey PublishingItem Number: OSPACE3Author: Barrett TillmanIllustrator: Chris DaveyArguably the most important piston-engined single-seat fighter design ever to see service with the US Navy and Marine Corps, the aesthetically inelegant F4F Wildcat achieved much acclaim during its bloody frontline career. Thrown into combat at Coral Sea, Midway and Guadalcanal, the handful of Wildcat units of the Navy and Marine Corps took on large numbers of fighters and bombers and came...