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Featured battle : Sicily. Allied Landings
Part of Second World War
Date : 10 July 1943 - 13 July 1943
The capture of Sicily was essential to the Allied effort to invade Italy. A two pronged assault was planned. a] British 8th Army landing south of Syracruse on a 30 mile front including the Pachino Peninsular. b] US 7th Army landing on a 50 mile front on the south west coast. A 30 mile gap was left between the British left and the American right. There was little serious opposition due in part to the bad weather making 'it unfit for a landing'. The bad weather contributed to the airborne troops [glider and parachutists] suffering very badly, only 12 of 140 British gliders landed in or near their designated targets, many falling short into the sea.In spite of increasing opposition by the 13th the beachhead was firmly established and included the ports of Syracruse and Augusta.
Featured image :
Sopwith Camel 2F1 World War 1 fighter
The Sopwith Camel (so called because of the hump in the forward fuselage between the pilot and the propeller) arrived late in the First World War, entering service on the western front on 4th July 1917, to late to prevent the 'happy time' in April that year when the German Jagdstaffel wrought such havoc on allied aircraft. Even with it's late entry to the war, it proved such a successful 'fighting scout' that it downed more enemy aircraft than any other single type during the whole war, and only the German Fokker Dr.1 could match it's manoeuverability. The over-land version, the F1 mounted a pair of synchronised .303in Vickers machine-guns in the hump just over the engine, firing through the propeller. This version, the naval 2F1 mounted a pair of Lewis .303 MG (or often one Lewis and One Vickers) on top of the upper wing, firing above the propeller disc. This particular aircraft was flown by Flight Sub-Lieutenant Stuart D Culley, from a lighter towed by the destroyer HMS Redoubt on 11th August 1918 when he shot down the last German airship (L.53 under Kapitänleutnant Prölss) to fall during the war.
Gallery updated : 2022-04-04 08:33:43
Featured review :
British Aircraft Carriers
David Hobbs
A wealth of knowledge presented in a most readable form for everyone from the novice to the initiated. Encyclopedic in scope it may be dipped into at any point but I found in reading cover to cover the fascinating story went from airships to future carriers. All aspects, design, development and service are dealt with. There are very many photographs, lots from the author's own collection, plus drawings and plans. An unusual but welcome feature are the fold out copies of Admiralty drawings which are in the middle of the book.
At £45 this is not a cheap book, but a Rolls Royce is not a cheap car, and this is a Rolls Royce of a book.
Seaforth Publishing. Pen & Sword Books Ltd., 2013
Reviewed : 2015-04-29 19:28:26
