  | Book Details Title: Through Adversity: The British and the Commonwealth War in the Air 1939-45. Volume 1 (Helion Wargames) |
Book DescriptionReview a veritable tome of top-quality history, clearly based on meticulous research and some thoughtful anaysis of archive material, anecdotal accounts and a myriad of data.The Military Historical Society Bulletin Read more About the Author Ben Kite is a serving senior British Army Officer. He has served in a variety of different roles in his thirty year Army career including deployments to Belize, Bosnia, Kurdistan, South Africa, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. His service included operational roles with Royal Marine and Royal Air Force Units. Ben Kite has instructed at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and is a graduate of the Higher Command and Staff Course. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the British Commission for Military History. He is the author of the best-selling Stout Hearts -The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944, published in 2014 to wide acclaim. Read more Customers Review:I bought this book due to a combination of factors that included an abiding interest in the Royal Air Force of World War 2, a thirst for potentially new scholarship, and as a potential comparative reference source for a book about the USAAF that I am working on.My first impression is that it is thematically rather than chronologically organized. To wit, the chapters in Volume 1 are as follows:Part I – Antecedents: Chapters 1 and 2 respectively entitled “Foundations” and “Learning to Fly.” The former seeks to cover the entirety of the interwar years without examining doctrine or aircraft development. I thought that such an approach somewhat less than helpful as doctrine provides the “why” behind the RAF’s actions. In my opinion, the RAF did well in the Battle of Britain because that campaign fit its prewar doctrinal model. It did far less well in France during 1940 as its doctrine did not prioritize support to the army. Chapter 2 provides useful insight into how pilots became pilots, at least in a basic sense as it does not branch out to include follow-on specialty training.Part II is entitled “Air Superiority” encompassing chapters 3 through 10. They are as organized as follows: Chapter 3 – Guardians of the Heart: Fighter Command’s Air Defense of Britain, Chapter 4 – Seek and Destroy: A Battle of Britain Fight Command Mission, Chapter 5 – Firmness of Purpose: Offensive Air Operations Over Fortress Europe, Chapter 6 – Always Ready: Countering German Night Raiders and V-Weapons, Chapter 7 – With Fists and Heels: Malta’s Battle for Air Superiority in the Mediterranean, Chapter 8 – In the Middle of Things: The British Loss of Air Superiority and Collapse in the Far East, Chapter 9 – Boldness to Endure Anything: Turning the Japanese Tide and Chapter 10 – Concluding Thoughts on Air Superiority.Part III is entitled “Strike” and it consists of four chapters: Chapter 11 – Strike Hard, Strike Sure: Bomber Command’s Offensive, Chapter 12 – We Act With One Accord: A Bomber Command Mission – the Route Out, The King’s Thunderbolts are Righteous: A Bomber Command Mission – the Strike and Return Leg, and Chapter 14 – Through to the End: The Development of Precision Bombing Capability.Part IV is entitled “The War At Sea” and it consists of six chapters: Chapter 15 – They Shall Not Pass Unseen: Coastal Command’s Hunt for U-Boats, Chapter 16 – We Ambush the Ambusher: Coastal Command’s Battles to Sink the U-Boats, Chapter 17 – Woe to the Unwary: The RAF’s Early Anti-Shipping Operations, Chapter 18 – Strike and Strike Again: Anti-Shipping Operations Mature, Chapter 19 – I Seek Higher Things: The Fleet Air Arm’s War – Ships and Aircraft, and Chapter 20 – Safeguard and Avenger: The Operational Roles of the Fleet Air Arm.That concludes Volume 1. There some major gaps in the overall historiography which the introduction does say will addressed in Volume 2. Kite intends to cover ground support operations, to perhaps include the Advanced Air Striking Force in France during May – June 1940 as well as the Western Desert Air Force during 1940 – 43, in detail in his next volume. I am giving him the benefit of doubt (and a preemptive five star rating) in anticipation of his doing just that. I do hope that he covers doctrinal development in the RAF, but I am not as sure whether he will. It would also be nice to see some chapters on aircraft development in Volume 2. But we will have to wait to find out.You might have noticed that i felt portions of the narrative were somewhat uncritical. I came to that conclusion after skimming through Chapter 5 which I think glossed over the many problems encountered by RAF Fighter Command as it attempted to mount a campaign for which its fighters were ill-suited, e.g. its tough for short range interceptors to perform medium range air superiority mission beyond the safety net provided by their home radar system. The Germans, on the other hand, masterfully exploited the fact that now they had the advantage of radar systems controlling THEIR fighters. The result being the RAF lost 3 to 4 fighters for each one it shot down.The production values are excellent as evidenced by numerous maps (some in color), figurers, annexes and photographs. Although the thematic approach is IMHO more suitable for a reference work, I did not find it overly difficult to wade through (I am still in the process of doing so). Any and all misgivings aside, I do intend to purchase Kite’s Volume 2 when it comes out. | |
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