Comments: Softcover, 100 pages, mostly black-and-white, 15 wartime color photos


ISBN: 9-781473-889231


Price: $22.95


Publisher: Pen and Sword

From the publisher: Period photography chronicles the combat operations of the U.S. Army Air Force units flying Spitfires in the European and Mediterranean theaters of operations from summer 1942 to the end of the conflict.

Only a handful of British combat aircraft wore the American stars and bars, with the Beaufighter, Mosquito, and Spitfire being the key types to see action with American crews in American squadrons. The Spitfire was, by some margin, the most widely used of the three, and the Yanks who flew it in combat rated it highly. Employed primarily by six squadrons of the 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups, initially from airfields in the UK and then in North Africa and Italy, the Spitfire was used both as a fighter and fighter-bomber until it was replaced by the P-51 Mustang in spring of 1944.

The final star-spangled Spitfires in the frontline were the Eighth Air Force’s high-flying, unarmed PR XI photo-reconnaissance aircraft of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group. Ranging far into Germany, the PR blue Spitfires provided critical pre- and post-strike target imagery for the Mighty Eighth’s heavy bombardment groups

FSM says: Whether you’re crazy about Spitfires or just want to give one a different attitude for a modeling change of pace, this can be an inspiring reference. Numerous ground-support vantage points provide surprising images of aircraft details.