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The Decisive Campaigns of the Desert Air Force, 1942–1945 Kindle Edition

by Bryn Evans (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 43 ratings
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“Absorbing . . . this is an excellent account of air operations and tactics of the air battles in North Africa, the Mediterranean, and Italy.”—Firetrench
 
Compared to the RAF’s Fighter and Bomber Commands, the Desert Air Force (DAF) is far less well known, yet its achievements were spectacular.
 
DAF led the way in North Africa and Italy in pioneering new tactics in close Army-Air Force cooperation on the battlefield; DAF and Allied air forces gave Allied armies in North Africa and Italy a decisive cutting edge.
 
While the Axis forces used the many rivers and mountains of Tunisia and Italy to slow the Allies’ advance, DAF was there to provide that extra mobile firepower—the artillery from the sky. They were the first multinational air force, and the first to introduce air controllers in the front lines of the battlefield.
 
With first-hand accounts by veteran airmen from Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, this book “tells the previously untold story of how the DAF was the most decisive single factor in winning the three battles of El Alamein, and victory in the North Africa and Italy campaigns” (Yorkshire Evening Post).
 
“A most welcome addition to the historiography of the air aspects of the war in North Africa and the wider Mediterranean . . . [it] will have considerable appeal to a wide ranging readership, but especially those interested in the tactical detail and personal experiences of the airmen involved in the various campaigns.”—British Journal for Military History
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  1. Print length
    317 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Aviation
  5. Publication date
    April 30, 2014
  6. File size
    14650 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bryn Evans is a management consultant with many years’ experience of finance and IT at boardroom level. He writes extensively across a wide range of categories, be it business management, travel, military history or fiction and his work has been widely published. His fiction work has earned him Second Prize in the Catherine Cookson Short Story Competition and other awards. He is the author of' With the East Surreys in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy 1942-45' and 'The Decisive Campaigns of the Desert Air Force', both in print with Pen and Sword. He lives with his wife, Jean, in Sydney, Australia.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00OZ3HT7U
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Aviation (April 30, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 30, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 14650 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 317 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 43 ratings

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Bryn Evans

Bryn Evans

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Author Profile - Bryn Evans:

Bryn Evans is a management consultant with many years' experience of finance and IT at boardroom level. As well as military history Bryn writes extensively across a wide range of categories, be it business management, sport, travel, or fiction, and his work has been widely published. His fiction work has earned a Second Prize in the Catherine Cookson Short Story Competition and other awards.

Bryn is the author of With the East Surreys in Tunisia, Sicily and Italy 1942 - 1945 (2012), and The Decisive Campaigns of the Desert Air Force 1942 - 1945 (2014), both published by Pen and Sword Books Ltd, UK. In his research he has interviewed veterans and their families world-wide, and visited battlefields and campaign locales in Egypt, Tunisia, Sicily and Italy.

After periods residing in UK, Zambia, and Germany, Bryn and his wife Dr Jean Evans have lived for many years in Sydney, Australia. For First Editions with signed personal message contact bryn.evans@ozemail.com.au.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
43 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Horace
5.0 out of 5 stars very interesting
Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2021
Verified Purchase
This book requires the readers complete attention to stay with it. The research required to put this massive amount of historical data is amazing. Anyone interested in the air war in the Mediterranean, Africa and Italy should read this book.
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S. Martin Shelton
4.0 out of 5 stars I rate this book four stars and a fine addition to a military historian’s library
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2016
Evans relates the large-scale accomplishments of the Royal Air Force in the Cyrenaica, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns in World War II. His matter-of-fact style, presents the Desert Air Force’s (DAF) campaigns in a chronological, military style order. I would suggest that this book is for the military aficionado—clearly not for the casual reader. It’s a dry recitation, laced with a few personal tidbits.

He offers several maps, however, not enough of them and not annotated in pertinent detail enough—making it nettlesome to follow his narrative. Such especially is the case in his narrative of the Eight Army’s campaign in southeastern Tunisia. For example, on page 73 he discusses the Army’s capture of the strategic Tebaga Gap in March 1943. Unfortunately, Tebaga Gap is not spotted on the relevant map.

The RAF’s command of the sky over Cyrenaica and its perfected close air support technique were the deciding factors in the Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery’s British Eight Army’s successful breakout at El’ Alamein in December in 1942. The key to victory was the DAF’s total quashing of supplies for Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps’ Panzeramee. In particular, it was the sinking of the two Italian supply ships in the harbor at Tobruk, Proserpina and the Tergestea that was the death knell for the retreating Afrika Korps. Allied air power had won the air war over El’ Alamein.

Following, it was the DAF’s supremacy of the air that enabled allied armies to crack the Nazi’s Gustav strategic defensive line at Monte Cassino in May 1943; and the Gothic Line in the Po Valley in April 1945.

Overall, I rate this book four stars and a fine addition to a military historian’s library.
2 people found this helpful
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Kenneth Gill
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 9, 2016
Verified Purchase
A very good read.
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Jim
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2015
An excellent and very readable summary of the activities and structure of the Desert Air Force. Recommended!
One person found this helpful
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me1
3.0 out of 5 stars Personal accounts of Mediterranean Air War Campaign
Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2018
Verified Purchase
Ok read because it's through personal accounts the author presents the air war in Mediterranean. If you're look for a strategic or operational level type book about Mediterranean air warfare, this isn't the book for you.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Billy
5.0 out of 5 stars Looks good
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 29, 2023
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Looks good
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millsup
4.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyed this well written and researched work
Reviewed in Canada on April 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
Thoroughly enjoyed this well written and researched work. A great many examples of day to day battles throughout the long desert air campaign. Well worth the read for any history buff of the Desert Air Force.
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dino
4.0 out of 5 stars buon testo
Reviewed in Italy on April 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
buon testo che in maniera selettiva, precisa e sintetica, tratta l'argomento che è poco noto in Italia. Il libro è arrivato con due giorni di anticipo sui tempi previsti e senz'alcun problema, danno o altro. Più che soddisfatto del tutto
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John Fitch
4.0 out of 5 stars A good addition to my library but the Shores 3 volume ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 13, 2017
Verified Purchase
I feel this is more akin to a "Voices...." type volume. A good addition to my library but the Shores 3 volume Mediterranean Air Wars has it all.
2 people found this helpful
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militaryman-WMAHM
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful to those who want to know more about the Desert Campaigns in WWII
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2017
Verified Purchase
Having only read a few parts of the book, due to having several large books full of information needing reading, this book seems to give a vital slant on what many people didn't realise was happening until perhaps several years after the war ended, unlike modern days with the internet and Satellite TV's allowing cameras to be in the midst of battles anywhere in the world.
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