RAF Fighters in the Far East: 1945-50
Historic Military Aircraft Series, vol 38
(Key Publishing Ltd 2024)
by Simon Gifford
96 pages w/ 192 photos - paperback
£2.99
"Despite the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the RAF was required to engage in further combat operations in the Netherlands East Indies, French Indo-China and Malaya. RAF fighters also formed an important part of the British contribution to the occupation of Japan.
This book looks at each of the aircraft used in the fighter and ground-attack role in the immediate period following the end of the war in the Far East. Of these, the Spitfire was the most numerous fighter aircraft and the only one to serve from India to Japan. Other aircraft such as the Hurricane and Mosquito were quickly replaced, in the Hurricane’s case due to obsolescence, whereas the Mosquito suffered structural failures. Also illustrated are the first RAF jets to fly in the Far East and a number of Japanese aircraft that were marked with RAF roundels and took to the skies over Malaya.
With many previously unpublished photographs illustrating all the single- and twin-engine fighters operating during the immediate post-war period, this book is of interest to both aviation enthusiasts and scale modellers."
https://shop.keypublishing.com/produ...46802232377639
Also by the author
Rapid Rundown: RAF Operations in the Middle and Far East 1945-1948
(Fonthill Media - 2015)
by Simon Gifford
320 pages - hardcover
"The immediate post-VJ-Day period of RAF history is often consigned to be little more than a footnote in most published accounts. In this first detailed look at the RAF in the Middle and Far East following the end of the war, the RAF's role in stemming the flow of immigrants into Palestine and flying while under terrorist attack is examined. Further chapters highlight the RAF's roles in Iraq, Cyprus and flying strike missions over Aden, and then look at operations over India, including some of the first humanitarian airdrops for which the RAF became famous. Attention is then turned to the RAF's return to the Malayan peninsular and how the RAF became embroiled in the beginnings of the Malayan Emergency. Finally,
Rapid Rundown: RAF Operations East of Suez 1945-1948 looks at the RAF's involvement beyond the boundaries of the Empire with Spitfires flying over Siam, French Indo-China and Japan, and how it flew combat operations in the Dutch East Indies. The book is copiously illustrated with many unpublished images and is enlivened by many RAF veterans' first-hand and eyewitness accounts."