Bøker av Ron Mackay

This book is a concise, visual history of this iconic RAF WWII bomber by noted aviation historian Ron Mackay.

A new pictorial history of one of the most significant aircraft of the Second World War.

This book covers Bomber Command from creation in 1936 to 1945. In parallel with Fighter Command's initial defensive fallibility, the means to hammer the Axis industrial base into oblivion was totally lacking and had to be painfully built up to the point where the Force decisively added its weight to bring about an ultimate Allied Victory.

This second of two volumes on de Havilland's "Wooden Wonder" covers the World War II bomber and photoreconnaissance variants of the deadly Mosquito. Along with its night fighter and fighter-bomber variants, Mosquito bomber squadrons attacked the enemy around the clock. Pinpoint assaults on specialist targets were another aspect of Mosquito operations, whose destructive effect on the Axis was constantly felt. Also featured in this volume is the Mosquito's operational service between 1942 and 1945 within the ranks of the RAF, Commonwealth air forces, and US Army Air Force, as well as postwar use.

This first of two volumes on the Supermarine Spitfire covers the design, testing, development, and early WWII combat use of the famed British fighter aircraft's initial variants. The Spitfire in its original marques up to the Mk. VII provided a platform that allowed the Royal Air Force to challenge the German Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters during the 1939-1942 period of WWII. The book also covers the Seafire Marques I to III, which provided similarly valuable service for the British Navy's Fleet Air Arm.

This book covers the period between the creation in 1936 of Fighter Command and the end of WWII. It purports to demonstrate how a dangerously outmoded structure was transformed through the impetus of a feral aerial conflict into an operational force that effectively challenged and finally helped bring about the Luftwaffe's comprehensive demise.

The Hawker Hurricane has rightly earned its place in military aviation annals. Although only preceding the Spitfire by four months in its prototypic launch, the Hawker machine was available in measurably greater numbers by the Battle of Britain, a very critical stage of WWII for Britain and its Empire. Its rugged qualities saw use in the Mediterranean and Far East Theaters, and on the Russia Front. It adapted equally well to naval operations as a CAM-ship "protector" for Allied convoys and then as the first truly modern British fighter design to operate off the Fleet Air Arm's aircraft carriers. The solid wing structure lent itself naturally to the carriage of bombs and heavier-scale weaponry such as the 40 mm cannon that dealt out a fair measure of punishment. The few airworthy examples are a poignant reminder of Britain's WWII aviation prowess. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

The "Interim" LSM(R) or Landing Ship, Medium (Rocket) was a revolutionary development in rocket warfare in World War II and the U.S. Navy's first true rocket ship. This book provides a comprehensive operational history of the Navy's 12 original "Interim" LSM(R)s.

This is a study of one of the 8th USAAF''s sub-units. The 1st Combat Bomb Wing (1CBW), created on 13 September 1943, was preceded first by the 1st Bomb Wing, and then the 101st Provisional Bomb Wing, which included the 91BG as an element. By then, the 91BG was joined by the 351BG and 381BG, with the 351BG later displaced by the 398BG. The operational experience of these units virtually spanned the entire 33 months of the "Mighty Eighth''s" existence and the often costly but finally successful campaign to deny Hitler''s Germany the means with which to pursue its warped dreams of conquest.

This is a relevant title to describe the pioneer force destined to operate a hitherto un-tested concept in modern aerial warfare: the 1st Bomb Division. The initial period of shallow-penetration missions with a severely under-strength force of B-17s, crews and support equipment was followed by growing and finally unsupportable losses. Nevertheless from early 1944 onward it was becoming clear that what was by then the 1st Bomb Division, had held its ground, often against painful tactical and strategic odds, and in doing so had laid the foundations for the final victory of America's bombing campaign against Hitler's regime.

The 389 Bomb Group was unique among all Groups assigned to the 8th USAAF because it actually commenced operations in July 1943 out of North Africa that culminated in the infamous Ploesti mission on 1 August. After returning to England in September, the combat crews joined in on the grim duty of hammering Nazi Germanys industrial resource. By April 1945, 321 missions had been flown during which over 17,000 tons of ordnance was dropped. The cost was 153 B-24s MIA or lost over England. Known as the Sky Scorpions from their detachment in North Africa, the Hethel-based unit also provided the initial numbers of PFF-equipped aircraft for the 2nd Bomb Division.

The 44th Bomb Group, which flew the B-24 Liberator, was the "pioneer" unit for what evolved from the "Mighty Eighth''s" 2nd Bomb Wing into a full-scale Bomb (and later Air) Division. The Group amassed an impressive 343 missions and won two Distinguished Unit Citations between November 1942 and April 1945, dropping nearly 19,000 tons of ordnance in the process including the legendary August 1943 Ploesti mission. These statistics were achieved at a material cost of around 200 aircraft, and a human cost of some 2,000 airmen MIA, as the 8th USAAF focused its strategic bombing campaign in the face of determined Luftwaffe opposition.