Lire l’article en français
IMPORTANT !!!
This book, the sixth in P. Listemann’s “Squadron” series, should be ordered immediately (… before reading this review…) by any RAAF enthusiast – as it is truly a limited edition – with only 500 copies available for sale. For those of you who need further persuasion – please read on…
In its ninety pages this new book covers the wartime history of 453 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron, in the two theatres in (and over) which it operated, the Far East 1941-42 flying Brewster Buffalo fighters and then after reforming in the UK : N.W. Europe 1942-45 operating four successive marks of Supermarine Spitfires.
Upon opening the book the reader is launched into the Squadron’s participation in the initial months of combat in the Far Eastern theatre as one of the few allied fighter squadrons facing the Japanese onslaught over the Malayan peninsula. Having formed during May 1941 at Bankstown NSW, within three months the squadron (without aircraft) had been deployed to Singapore. The first twelve pages of the book cover operations from formation on 21st May 1941 up to initial disbandment of the remnants in Australia ten months later.
Having only receiving its Buffalo aircraft upon deployment to Singapore in August 1941 – the last three months of peace were taken up with trying to reach an acceptable state of operational readiness. Making the best of inexperienced personnel and an aircraft which would prove inferior to Japanese fighters, the squadron was declared operational on 19th November 1941 at Sembawang. The author describes the activities – against all odds - of the squadron from December 1941 through to March 1942 in fascinating detail. Interestingly 453 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron was tasked – but was unable - to provide air cover for the battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse – which were sunk by Japanese aircraft on December 10th. The first kill claimed by 453 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron and the first operational losses were suffered on 13th December. From then on, the squadron participated in many actions ; vainly attempting to halt the Japanese advance into the Malayan peninsula toward Singapore. Merged with 21 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn at the end of December the Buffalo pilots remained active against the Japanese forces – flying escort for a variety of allied bombers : Australian Wirraways and Hudsons, Dutch Martin 139s and British Blenheims, The author describes the operations flown in these hectic months, flying from Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Sembawang. The final actions fought during January 1942 were flown by a mix of aircrew including some from 243 and 488 (R.N.Z.A.F.) Squadrons. (Whilst reading this chapter – readers are advised to refer to the small map on page 39 which shows the bases from which the squadron flew during this period)
February saw the evacuation of the remnants to Sembawang – then Palembang in Sumatra where the last aircraft were discarded. The surviving personnel then departed for Australia by sea. Formal disbandment of the squadron took place in Australia on 15th March 1942.
Sixteen subsequent pages proceed to cover the N.W.-Europe operations of the squadron from summer 1942 up to final post-war disbandment early in 1946. Having recalled 452 (R.A.A.F.) & 457 (R.A.A.F.)Squadrons from the UK (to defend Australia against the Japanese) 453 was chosen to be the representative Australian fighter squadron in Europe – reforming at Drem in Scotland in June, at first with a mix of Australian, British and Polish aircrew and a mix of British and Australian groundcrew. Flying Spitfire Vbs the first ops were flown from Drem in August. In September the squadron moved south to Hornchurch, whilst notably by October all aircrew were Australian. The author then details the sorties, with losses, flown against the Luftwaffe and channel shipping up to the close of 1942. 1943 saw the Squadron flying from various 10 & 11 Group airfields, as well as receiving Spitfire IXs in April. The actions flown against Fw190s, Bf109s and Bf110s during 1943 are, as usual for this series of books, presented in detail enabling readers to follow events as they unfolded. 1943 closed with the squadron at Skaebrae in the Orkney Islands - almost as far away from Australia as was possible !
P. Listemann then relates the busy events of 1944 when the Squadron was allocated to 2nd TAF to take part in the operations over France leading up to and following the 6th of June. These are described fully and show the high level of involvement by the Squadron in the D-Day invasion and combats over France up to September when operations commenced from Belgian soil. In October 1944 453 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron returned to the UK and flying from Coltishall, Lympne and finally Hawkinge with Spitfire XVIs flew “diver” missions against V2 sites and facilities right up to the end of hostilities, though the final wartime mission was flying escort for the Dutch Queen’s return to the Netherlands on 3rd May. The immediate post-war period saw the squadron re-equipped with Spitfire XIVs and flying as part of the Occupation forces in Germany from Fassberg, Gatow and Wunstorf. 453 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron finally disbanded in January 1946.
Almost sixty pages of appendices present, in the usual fashion, tables and lists showing sorties flown on each aircraft type, first and last missions flown, RAF command structures, individual code letters matched to specific aircraft serial numbers, maps showing bases flown from, in the Far East, the United Kingdom and Europe. Then follows the daily operational diary for the N.W Europe campaign only (as all official records were lost for the earlier Far Eastern campaign) – with monthly totals. Tables showing a total of 79.5 probable and confirmed kill claims whilst operating Buffalos and Spitfires ; the 66 known operational losses on both types with pilots names and dates of loss ; the 21 accidental losses and a Roll of Honour for the 30 aircrew who gave their lives whilst with the squadron. A list of the 7 POWs is also presented. The last forty pages of appendices present the names, careers and in many cases photographs of all the aircrew who flew with the squadron in both theatres of war. These make most interesting reading.
As usual with P. Listemann’s books – period photographs and colour profiles abound. Ten rare b/w photographs show the Buffaloes, twenty b/w Spitfire photographs and no less than forty-three photographs of individual aircrew are supplemented by the excellent colour-profiles by Michael Laird – two Buffaloes and seven different Spitfires.
What strikes the reader who already owns the preceding books of the series – is that this one has a revised cover design – discarding the sombre (B.C.L.) style used for preceding volumes – in favour of a dramatic photo of a D-Day period Spitfire revving up
The book makes fascinating reading and is highly recommended. A small criticism is that the translation from French into English (or at least the proof reading) of descriptions of the Brewster Buffalo (p. 10) and Supermarine Spitfire (p. 21) has not been too successful – resulting in understandable but quaint texts containing curious sentences and some repetition. Other spelling mistakes are forgivable – this reviewer warms to “the first moths of the year” (p. 22)
Graham Warrener
96 pages, 17 x 24,5 cm, softcover
In English
IMPORTANT !!!
Ce livre est le sixième de la collection “Squadron” et il ne faudrait pas attendre trop longtemps avant de commander cet ouvrage car le tirage est limité à 500 exemplaires. Pour ceux qui chercheraient à être convaincus, lisez ce qui suit…
Dans ces 88 pages, ce livre couvre l’histoire du N°453 (RAAF) Squadron pendant la Seconde guerre mondiale, histoire qui s’est déroulée sur deux théâtres d’opération, l’Extrême-Orient en 1941-1942 sur Brewster Buffalo puis en Europe en 1942 après sa reconstitution et jusqu’à la fin du conflit, sur Supermarine Spitfire.
Dès le départ, le lecteur est plongé dans les combats en Asie. Le 453 est alors l’une des quelques unités de chasse de la RAF à lutter contre l’invasion japonaise de la péninsule malaise. L’escadron avait été constitué trois mois auparavant en Australie et envoyé à Singapour. Les douze premières pages du livre traitent de cet épisode dramatique qui s’achève dix mois plus tard quand de ce qu’il reste du l’escadron est dissous en Australie en mars 1942.
N’ayant reçu ses Buffalo que lors de son déploiement à Singapour en août 1941, les trois derniers mois de paix sont mis à profit pour atteindre un niveau opérationnel acceptable. L’escadron est finalement déclaré opérationnel le 19 novembre. L’auteur décrit par la suite avec beaucoup de minutie les activités du 453 de décembre 1941 à mars 1942, en passant par la mission de protection ratée des navires de lignes HMS Prince of Wales et Repulse du 10 décembre 1941, la première victoire du 13 décembre, les lourdes pertes face aux Japonais qui conduisent à la fusion avec un autre escadron de Buffalo le N°21 (RAAF) Squadron et pour finir par les dernières actions menées début février 1942 avec l’apport de pilotes néo-zélandais venus des N°243 et 488 (RNZAF) Squadron.
Les seize pages suivantes couvrent les opérations menées au-dessus de l’Europe à partir de l’été 1942. Le 453 a été reconstitué pour remplacer les deux unités de chasse australiennes, les 452 et 457 Squadrons qui avaient été envoyés en urgence défendre l’Australie. Équipés de Spitfire Mk.V, ils sont pleinement engagés dans les opérations à partir de l’automne 1942. L’escadron reçoit ensuite des Spitfire Mk.IX avec lesquels les Australiens vont participer de manière intensives aux opérations liées au Débarquement alors que l’escadron est intégré à la 2 TAF. En octobre 1944, l’unité retourne en Grande-Bretagne et troque ses Spitfire Mk.IX pour des Spitfire Mk.XVI. Les missions se concentrent alors les sites de V-2. La dernière sortie opérationnelle du 453 intervient peu de temps avant la fin de la guerre, le 3 mai 1945. Basé un temps en Allemagne, le 453 sera finalement dissous en janvier 1946.
Comme pour les titres précédents, les annexes sont nombreuses avec presque 60 pages, détaillant les sorties opérationnelles, les victoires (79.5 confirmées ou probables), les pertes y compris les pertes accidentelles (66 et 21 respectivement), les lettres individuelles connues, les cartes des bases et pour terminer la liste des morts et des prisonniers. Les dernières quarante pages sont réservées à la liste des pilotes ayant servis au 453 avec des informations aussi précises que possible concernant leur carrière pendant la guerre.
Cette collection offre aussi de nombreux profils couleur réalisés par Malcolm Laird, probablement le meilleur dessinateur des avions du Commonwealth à ce jour. Au niveau iconographique, quelques rares photos de Buffalo en action en décembre 1941 (publiées pour la première fois) viennent illustrer cet ouvrage ; la partie sur les opérations en Europe est illustrée, elle, par une vingtaine de photos de Spitfire. Pour ceux qui sont habitués à cette collection, ils pourront noter que la couverture a changé pour le mieux et le style sombre des couvertures précédentes a laissé place à une photo plus saisissante prise pendant le Débarquement.
Ce livre au récit passionnant est fortement recommandé à tous ceux qui s’intéressent à l’aviation anglo-saxonne et australienne en particulier. Comme toujours, il y a quelques critiques qui se concentrent sur quelques approximations dans la traduction de certaines légendes et quelques erreurs de typographie.
Graham Warrener
96 pages, 17 x 24,5 cm, couverture souple
En anglais
RAF Fighter Squadrons
Rechercher sur
ce site
