Featuring stunning illustrations, this compact volume explores the early successes of the aircraft model and its aces.Although only built in modest numbers principally for the Dutch Air Force, the low-cost monoplane D.XXI fighter enjoyed its greatest success in combat with the Finnish Air Force. The 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 grou...

Beating its biplane rivals in a 1936 Reich Air Ministry design competition, the Arado Ar 196 provided the Kriegsmarine with possibly the best shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II.Replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane as the standard catapult-launched floatplane embarked on the Kriegsmarine's capital ships, the Ar 196 flew an assortment of combat missions during World War II, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissan...

Beating its biplane rivals in a 1936 Reich Air Ministry design competition, the Arado Ar 196 provided the Kriegsmarine with possibly the best shipborne reconnaissance seaplane of World War II. Replacing the Heinkel He 60 biplane as the standard catapult-launched floatplane embarked on the Kriegsmarine's capital ships, the Ar 196 flew an assortment of combat missions during World War II, including coastal patrol, submarine hunting, light bombing, general reconnaissance and convoy escort sor...

An illustrated history of a remarkable aircraft, the Dornier Do 24, which served both military and humanitarian purposes.Perhaps the most seaworthy flying boat ever built, the elegant, tri-motor Dornier Do 24 served with both the Allied and Axis forces in very different parts of the globe during World War 2, garnering an excellent reputation along the way. This study uses archival records, first-hand accounts and revealing photographs to illuminate the combat caree...

Featuring stunning illustrations, this compact volume explores the early successes of the aircraft model and its aces.Although only built in modest numbers principally for the Dutch Air Force, the low-cost monoplane D.XXI fighter enjoyed its greatest success in combat with the Finnish Air Force. The 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 grou...

An illustrated history of a remarkable aircraft, the Dornier Do 24, which served both military and humanitarian purposes.Perhaps the most seaworthy flying boat ever built, the elegant, tri-motor Dornier Do 24 served with both the Allied and Axis forces in very different parts of the globe during World War 2, garnering an excellent reputation along the way. This study uses archival records, first-hand accounts and revealing photographs to illuminate the combat caree...

Always 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 across the globe, the Finnish Air Force was thrust into combat in November 1939. Given little chance agai...

The last great untold story of World War II, the career of Hitler's "Super Fighter" intended to destroy the RAF in the Battle of Britain and why it never succeeded.The super-secret Heinkel He113 fighter was designed to be a high-speed, high-altitude fighter that could outperform, outgun and outfight any other aircraft in the world when it entered service with the Luftwaffe in 1940.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The definitive history of combat aviation and fighter aircraft, from World War I to presentINCLUDES 32 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND 12 MAPSLords of the Sky is the “dramatic, fast-paced, and definitive" (Michael Korda) aviation history of fighter pilots and aircraft and their extraordinary influence on modern warfare, masterfully written by "one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history” (New York Post). A twenty-year USAF veteran ...

Learn more about World War II Battles - whether you are preparing for the History Test, a college final, or even if you simply desire to learn more about world history. Over 400 articles carefully checked for accuracy and completeness by a team of experts. Over 1,000 photographs. The Encyclopedia articles are based on Wikipedia.TABLE OF CONTENTS: Timeline of World War IIBattles of 1939Battles of 1940Battles of 1941Battles of 1942Battles of 1943Battles of 1944Battles of 1945Appendix - Winte...

A detailed history of the American World War II bombing mission over Nazi Germany, by the author of The First Day on the Somme.On August 17, 1943, the entire strength of the American heavy bomber forces in England set out to raid two major industrial complexes deep in southern Germany: the Messerschmitt aircraft factory and the KGF ball bearing plant. For American commanders, it was the culmination of years of planning, the day when their self-defending for...

The 'storm troopers' of the Luftwaffe, the elite Sturmgruppen units comprised the most heavily armed and armoured fighter interceptors ever produced by the Germans.Their role was to smash like a mighty fist through the massed ranks of USAAF daylight bombers. Only volunteers could serve with these elite units, and each pilot was trained to close with the enemy and engage him in extremely short-range combat, attacking from the front and the rear in tight arrowhead fo...