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Hawker Hunters At War – Iraq and Jordan, 1958-1967


Mike

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Hawker Hunters At War – Iraq and Jordan, 1958-1967

ISBN: 9781911096252

Helion & Company via Casemate UK

 

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After the Hawker Hunter was retired from RAF service with the introduction of newer, supersonic capable jets, the Hunters were taken back, refurbed and offered for sale to potential customers in the Middle East.  Iraq and Jordan were allies of Great Britain at the time, and had already taken plenty of post-war surplus off the British hands, throughout their military establishment, from tanks to aircraft and rifles.

 

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Bound in a flexible card outer sleeve in a portrait format, the book contains 104 pages, over 120 photos (some in colour), and 15 colour profiles for the aircraft discussed in the texts.  The narrative covers all aspects of the Hunter's service with the Iraqi and Jordanian Air Forces and their service with them both in the next decade or so.  It even gives the details of the fates of them all, with a few photos of extant parts that still languished in a dump at the beginning of the new millennium.  It documents the missions that the aircraft flew, the outcomes and through some dramatic gun camera shots, the fate of a few unlucky enough to be shot down during the Six Days War, by which time the Hunter was outclassed as a fighter and sometimes fell victim to the Israeli Mirages.  The book is broken into chapters as follows:

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

2

 

Abbreviations

2

 

Special Relationship

3

 

Crisis of 1958

7

 

New Start in Iraq

17

 

First Battle with Mirages

23

 

June 1967 War

31

 

Battle for H-3

46

 

Post-Scriptum

55

 

Bibliography

60

 

Notes

61

 

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The author Tom Cooper has extensive knowledge of Middle East conflicts from his time spent there, and has written many articles on the subject.  Patricia Salti is the widow of a Jordanian Hunter pilot 1st Lt Muwaffaq Salti, who is considered a national hero in Jordan and was lost in combat with Israeli forces in 1966.  She has become a leading historian of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, and due to her unique insights and her contacts, she has written numerous official publications, and has cooperated on other related projects with Tom, such as the Arab Mig books.

 

 

Conclusion

A very detailed history of the Hunter's service after it left the RAF as a fighter that will be of interest to many, although perhaps not quite mainstream due to the subject matter.  The wealth of information, data and of course the significant quantity of pictorial information held within the book will doubtless be enticing for any modellers or aviation enthusiasts that are curious as to the fate of those airframes.

 

Highly recommended.

 

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