Author(s): Brian Cull
The Bristol Blenheim entered Bomber Command service in 1937. In its inception, the Blenheim was fast and sleek, and at the outbreak of war, was the first British aircraft to enter German airspace. The war, however, showed the Blenheim was vulnerable to flak and Luftwaffe fighters. It suffered horrific losses during the Battle of France: No. 144 Squadron lost almost its entire bombers in one mission. The fighting in France revealed the Blenheim Mk IV to be under-armoured, under-armed and slow. Before being replaced by the de Havilland Mosquito, the Blenheim soldiered on with almost suicidal consequences for its crews.
Blenheims over Greece and Crete 1940-1941 covers their operations during the fighting over Greece and Albania. By the end of the fighting, all three squadrons had effectively been wiped out. With many new crews to replace those lost in Greece, the Blenheims later fought in Sumatra and Java in an endeavour to repel the Japanese invasion. Written by a world leading authoritarian figure on Second World War military aviation, this is a gripping account of the heroics of the small band of British and Greek airmen who flew the Blenheims against ever-increasing odds, particularly once the Luftwaffe were determined to decimate them.
BOOK ISBN | 9781781556313 |
FORMAT | 234 x 156 mm |
BINDING | hardback |
PAGES | 272 pages |
PUBLICATION DATE | 15 September 2017 |
TERRITORY | World |
ILLUSTRATIONS | 44 black-and-white photographs |
Brian Cull has been writing Second World War aviation history for the past twenty-five years and has more than twenty-five titles to his credit, many of which have been highly acclaimed. For Fonthill Media, he is the author of First of the Few: 5 June-9 July 1940, The Diary of Sonny Ormrod DFC: Malta Fighter Ace (with Frederick Galea), 249 at Malta: RAF’s Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron (with Frederick Galea), Fighters Over the Aegean: Hurricanes Over Crete, Spitfires Over Kos, Beaufighters Over the Aegean, 1943-44 and Battle for the Channel: The First Month of the Battle of Britain 10 July-10 August 1940.