Military Model Scene

Title: Solomons Air War Vol3
Author: Michael Claringbould & Peter Ingman
Publisher: Avonmore
ISBN: 978-0-9756423-3-7

Volume 3 in this series from Avonmore Books, covering the WW2 in the Solomons Islands. A 184-page soft-cover book.
Now at volume 3 in this series, we get to the next steps in the story of the Cactus Air Force, based on Guadalcanal, over the period of November and December 1942. The 11 chapters start with overviews of both the Allied and Japanese Air Power situations as we enter this two month period of the fighting. Then it moves on to the series of events that featured in a series of naval battles as both sides worked to bring vital supplies to their troops on the island, and including details of where each was supported from. The Shortlands along with the major base at Rabaul in the case of the Japanese, and Espiritu Santo for the allies. In the middle was the airfield at Henderson Field, home of the Cactus Air Force. There were ups and down for both sides, as Henderson Field lacked reinforcements/replacements at times, and was short of fuel after a bombardment from a Japanese battleship, so the B17s based there were withdrawn until the fuel situation was resolved. The Japanese made greater efforts by running destroyers down a route known as 'The Slot' with what was referred to as the Tokyo Express. These efforts had some success but also many failures. Japanese Navy and Army aircraft were involved in trying to support these convoys, and simply in attacking Henderson Field. The Allied forces, with US and Australian aircraft involved, made equally great efforts to support their ground forces on the island. There are plenty of neat colour artwork profiles throughout the book, along with more archive photos. There is a great variety of aircraft types involved with both sides and in this period, without the inclusion of aircraft carriers on either side. The Appendices at the back of the book have tables listing confirmed aircraft and air crew losses for both sides.
This series continues to make for fascinating reading, and is greatly helped by the authors having access to both Allied and Japanese records, which indicate where overclaiming successes was an issue, and that both sides were regularly hindered by the local weather conditions over the period. Two of the archive photos struck me in particular, as one has a de Havilland Tiger Moth being used there as one of their utility aircraft, while in another, the bomber ground crew shown playing baseball while they await the return of their aircraft are Japanese, rather than American as you might expect. By the end of December, after some periods of decline, the Cactus Air Force was back on the offensive, and rivalry between the Japanese Army and Navy was affecting their performance.
Thanks to Script Books, the importers/distributors for the Avonmore Books series for the review copy.

Robin