Product Description

The role of the Royal Air Force in the Far Eastern war has received much less attention from historians than its many activities in the war against Germany and Italy. Indeed, just as the Fourteenth Army was and still is referred to as the Forgotten Army, so can the airmen and airwomen who fought alongside them reasonably consider themselves the Forgotten Air Force. This book, published to mark the 50th anniversary of the defeat of Japan, recalls and explains their achievements, and pays them their rightful tribute. The history covers, among other things, the problems of the 1930s as they affected the RAF in the Far East, the sad tale of events in 1941-42 in Singapore and elsewhere, the strategic issues affecting the war in South-East Asia from then on, the contribution to the military operations in Burma, and the RAF preparations for the assault on Malaya and on Japan itself. While basing much of it on official records, the author also draws on many private accounts to illustrate the very difficult conditions under which all had to work - groud personnel, as well as aircrew. It shows how they, co-operating so closely with their Army and Navy colleagues, and with the American, helped ensure that triumph would eventually follow tragedy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #561648 in Books
• Published on: 1995-12-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 380 pages

Customer Reviews

Stark, accessible and authoritative.
A highly authoritative account of the RAF's early disasters and later achievements in the Far East in WWII. Probert, a past head of RAF Air Historical Branch, draws on both official records and personal accounts in providing the most comprehensive coverage of both action and strategic background to date. For those seeking a better understanding of this somewhat neglected theatre of aerial operations, the Source Notes and Bibliography are of the finest, while other Appendices offer strength analyses and other important paraphernalia. If such a depth of material has meant a somewhat sparse selection of photographs, few will complain (not least on account of the freshness of those that are selected).

An important book about the RAF out east in WW2
Commodore Probert has writen an important book on the history of the Royal Air Force in the Far East, its content tracks the political aspects, operations and service historis; he treats a very complex subject in a logical way and makes it easy for the reader to make sence of what happend.