Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea - book by AIRfile

[bootneck]

Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea

Book by AIRfile

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, on the island of O’ahu, Hawaii, by Japanese naval aircraft on the morning of December 7 1941 brought the United States into the war which, until then mainly involved the forces of Britain against Germany and Italy. Immediately following this attack, Japanese forces attacked Thailand, Malaya, the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island and Midway. These attacks brought Britain and the United States to declare war on Japan and became known as the Pacific War. Over the following weeks Japan extended its operations, invading Singapore, Sumatra, Hong Kong, Burma and New Guinea. They also mount attacks on Port Moresby which was only approximately 500 miles (800 Km) north of Australia.

The Book

This book describes the events of the first six months of the Pacific War; the Far Eastern element of World War Two, and the initial chapter covers the lead-up to and including the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the Pacific War is mentioned, the general theme points to the United States versus Japan, however many countries were involved in the fighting in that area.

Within these pages the reader will find the colour schemes and markings of the aircraft of all the main combatants that were involved in the first six months of the Pacific War; from the pre-emptive strike against Pearl Harbor at the beginning of December 1941 to the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942.

There are explanatory texts, included with colour illustrations, describing the events; development of the colour schemes and markings of the aircraft of all main combatants that were involved in the first six months of the Pacific War from Dec 7 1941 to the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. These include British; US; Japanese; French Indo-Chinese; Thai; Dutch; Chinese and Australian air forces.

Neil Robinson has set the layout in order to present the aircraft details by theatre of conflict; with encompassing sections on: Pearl Harbor; French-Indo China; Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore; the Battle for the Philippines; Guam and Wake Island; the Dutch East Indies and New Guinea; China, Burma and the American Volunteer Group (AVG); and Australia – the Darwin Raids. The book finishes with the aircraft involved in the 5 day Battle of the Coral Sea. There is also a colour profile of a civilian Douglas DC-3, of Hawaiian Airlines, which was strafed at Honolulu Airport during the Pearl Harbor attacks.

An additional chapter is incorporated within the sections above and describes the aircraft of the Doolittle Raid. This section includes a narrative, describing the reasoning and build up of the raid, plus the fates of the aircrew and aircraft. Five of the sixteen US Army’s B.25 Mitchell twin-engined bombers are shown in profile depicting their colours and markings.

Conclusion

This is a very well presented book and is designed with the modeller in mind. The subject aircraft, which are nicely illustrated by Peter Scott, are laid out in full colour profile, plus some have full 4-drawing profile and plan, and each incorporates a short history of the unit and squadron. There is also a breakdown of the colour scheme and markings included, many of them illustrated here for the first time.

There are approximately 240 colour illustrations, consisting 77 Japanese; 75 United States; 43 British (inc Australian); 10 AVG; plus various Thai; French Indo-Chinese; Philippine aircraft and also one civilian airliner.

The reference information, within the chapters and alongside the many illustrations, appears to be well researched and includes details from dozens of reference books; magazines and from private sources.

There are plenty of different types of aircraft depicted here and should be a real asset for the modeller of WW2 aircraft, especially those of the Far Eastern campaign. It is informative and colourful and I thoroughly recommend it to be held in the modeller's reference library.

Review sample courtesy of

Kindly mention Britmodeller.com to the supplier when making enquiries or orders

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[Silver Fox]

Gosh, I never thought I'd see coverage of the Franco-Thai war in a mainstream book.

[Procopius]

Does this have any profiles from the Indian Ocean Raid?

[bootneck]

Does this have any profiles from the Indian Ocean Raid?

The book mainly covers the operational areas to the east of Thailand, Malaya, Sumatra and New Guinea into the Pacific; however, the same Japanese carriers, including their aircraft, from Pearl Harbor were deployed on the Indian Ocean raid and therefore it could be expected that the profiles would still be relevant.

Having said that; one aircraft, a D3A1 VAL, flown by Lt Cdr Takashige Egusa from IJN Soryu, shows different colour markings for the Indian Ocean raid as compared to the Pearl Harbor attack. There are two colour profiles illustrated in the book for this aircraft, one depicting the colours for the Pearl Harbor attack and the other showing a complete repaint for the Indian Ocean raid in March 1942.

HTH

[stevehnz]

I'll be intersted to see what the cognescenti have to say on this but a knee jerk reaction is definitely, WANT ONE.

Steve.

Edited December 7, 2012 by stevehnz

[Scarlet]

Another book with a spelling mistake on the cover.

[Derwentsider]

Thanks for the review,it's a theme I'm currently working on and there isn't a lot readily available out there for modellers. This is on my shopping list.

[bootneck]

Another book with a spelling mistake on the cover.

Where?

I checked the book and couldn't find it.

[Paul Bradley]

He might be referring to "Harbor" but if so, he has forgotten that is how Americans spell it.

I would refer you to the spelling mistake in the review - 'tis Neil ROBINSON what wrote it.

[SkippyBing]

He might be referring to "Harbor" but if so, he has forgotten that is how Americans spell it.

Doesn't mean it's right, these new fangled ideas from the colonies are all very well but it doesn't do to encourage them.

[bootneck]

I would refer you to the spelling mistake in the review - 'tis Neil ROBINSON what wrote it.

Whoops, thanks for pointing that out, I'll get it corrected. That will teach me to rush things, I was trying to get it posted on here 7th December to coincide with the Pearl Harbor (sic) attack.

Spelling, mis-spellings, whatever; it is a nice book and I recommend it.

Mike

[Pauly Boy]

I'm still new here so am just noticing this thread about the book. From first look it seems very interesting and is one of my favorite subject, this being the first 6 months of the Pacific War. The Thai aircraft and the Villdabeast profiles are excellent!

I've always wanted to build somthing on the civil aircraft that were caught up in the conflict eg: Hawaiian Airlines DC3, KLM Fokkers, Ford Tri-motor(someone must have used them?). Not the easiest of subject!!

Thanks for the review. I think it has swayed me to make a purchase!

Paul

[Test Graham]

How much is this a simple rehash of the previous Guideline offering and how much has been improved following the criticism that engendered?

There is a thread running on here about an RAAF Ford Trimotor - but it's Vildebeest.

[bootneck]

I wouldn't know Graham and I am not going to bother to find out as it is not relevant to this review.

Mike

[Test Graham]

It is entirely relevant to the review. If it is just a repeat then buyers should be warned. If it isn't but with better information, then buyers will be encouraged. Products should be considered not in isolation but in context: being blind is not part of the job description for a reviewer. Spreading misinformation is not a GOOD THING.

[Julien]

Yet you only ask this question a full 16 months after the review came out? Perhaps if you had asked this at the time when the reviewer had the info to hand the question would have been easily asked.

To ask it so much later on and expect the review to go over everything again to to satisfy your question is a bit much. Also you are presuming the review has knowledge of the other publication, or do you expect him to go out and buy the other publication just to answer your question?

Might be you could ask the publisher?

[Test Graham]

My fault for not seeing the review earlier. Yes, I do presume a reviewer has sufficient information about a subject to present an informed view. I accept that this is not always achievable.

[mhaselden]

Like Graham, I missed this one the first time around. I can't understand why the author and illustrator decided on 2 different paint schemes for the RAF Vildebeests - that's just plain illogical (unless they're trying to show how the aircraft might appear given the 2 most popular schemes that have been theorised?). I'd be very interested to see the Buffalo schemes in case there's something new in there. IMHO, including 10 AVG schemes is a little excessive but I guess availability of source information may have played a part there.

I, too, would like to know how it compares to the Guideline publication. Not necessarily expecting the reviewer to answer the question but hoping someone may have both publications and can share some insights.