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by Mark Stille and John Roberts.
Softcover (7.25×9.75 inches). 96 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Halting the Last Japanese Advance
My go-to source for WWII air warfare in the South Pacific is Claringbould. His multiple volumes, infused with a significant amount of info from Japanese records, offer valuable analysis of actual records. Those wildly inflated claims from both sides receive a dose of reality as part of the explanation of the 1942-1943 see-saw battles.
Stille, himself an expert with multiple books on WWII Pacific combat, and Rogers use lots of Claringbould books as references as well as lots of official records. The result is one of the best Air Campaign books yet published — no small feat given the series’ overall excellence.
It follows the usual Air Campaign format: Chronology, both sides’ forces and capabilities, objectives, the campaign, and the aftermath. Per usual, lots of photos and illustrations accompany the text. Indeed, some of the photos are credited to Claringbould.
As for the campaign itself, the Japanese efforts were split between Port Moresby and Guadalcanal. As the months went by and the Allies built up their force with newer and better aircraft, the Japanese advantage in pilot training declined. The Allies slowly began to win the air war, which in turn helped thwart Japanese advances across the Stanley Mountains, seaborne invasions ’round the tip of Papua New Guinea, and sea-borne reinforcements.
Only one (continuing) nit about Air Campaign volumes — tiny fonts that make me squint. If Osprey wants a format that leaves 25% to 30% of each page as blank space, that’s fine, but don’t punish readers with tiny fonts. If you don’t want to trim the text, then fill the blank space with text. At least one pair of grognard eyes will be pleased.
The booklet contains 65 black and white photos, eight color maps, and three color two-page action illustrations.
An overview like Air Campaign 56 can certainly whet your appetite for more info on South Pacific WWII air warfare. In 96 pages, you get a fantastic overview. Well done.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
