by Matthew Willis.
Softcover (7.25×9.75 inches). 80 pages. 2026.
Subtitle: North Sea and Mediterranean 1941-45
While not much as a pure WWII fighter, the twin-engined Beaufighter proved better against German naval convoys operating mostly along the Dutch and Norwegian coastlines. It took time, for some strikes proved useless while others proved devastating, but air superiority allowed them the time to set up an attack. On the other side, the Germans weaponed up the ships with more AA guns, including the flak ships purely for AA.
As with other volumes in the series, the design and development of the titles weapons receive ample explanation, followed by crew training and combat deployments.
Of interest: the British calculated that one and possibly two torpedo hits were registered when 10 to 12 aircraft attacked a moving target during daylight (p16).
The booklet contains 54 black and white photos, three black and white illustrations, one color photo, one color map, one color diagram, one color cockpit diagram, one color two-page action illustration (oddly enough, this is different than the cover illustrations), and 10 color camouflage illustrations (three Beaufighter, two Sperrbracher 14 flak ship, one barrage balloon, and four weapons).
One printing glitch: Blurry text and caption (p36) looking like slightly off-kilter double printing. Don’t know if it’s only this particular booklet or endemic. The rest of the booklet is the usual quality.
It’s all well written and you can pull a few scenarios from the pages.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
