Fallschirmjager were the elite
parachute troops of the Luftwaffe during the Second World
War. Although the Americans and Italians, and to a greater
extent, the Russians had experimented with airborne troops,
it was the Germans who pioneered vertical envelopment using
parachute, glider-borne and air-landed troops. The innovator
and father of the German airborne forces was General Kurt
Student and his vision would add a new dimension to warfare
inspiring both the British and Americans to develop their
own airborne forces. The Fallschirmjager formations took
part in airborne and glider operations from April to May
1940 in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland to attack and
hold vital airfields, bridges and, in one case, an
impregnable Belgian redoubt. On 20 May 1941, Fallschirmjager
formations would take part in their largest airborne assault
of the war, Operation Mercury, the airborne invasion of
Crete.
New in d/w -
308pp, numerous b/w photos & illustrations
The Phantom was developed for the US
Navy as a long-range all-weather fighter and first flew in
May 1958, before becoming operational in 1961. The US Air
Force then realised that the Navy had an aircraft that was
far better than any tactical aircraft in their inventory and
ordered 543 F-4C variants. There then followed a spate of
orders from around the world. In Britain, it was ordered for
the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force, but was modified to take
the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan. Phantoms have excelled in
combat in many conflicts.
OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT 26:
US NAVY F-4 PHANTOM II MIG KILLERS 1965-70
by Brad Elward.
Illustrated by Jim Laurier
For every
American fighter pilot involved in the Vietnam War, the
ultimate goal was to 'kill a MiG'. In eight years of
conflict 43 Vietnamese Peoples Air Force aircraft were
claimed by US Navy and US Marine Corps Phantom II crews, and
one single ace crew produced. Navy Phantom IIs scored the
first kills of the Vietnam War, in April 1965, as well as
scoring the last in January 1973. This volume charts the
successes of the navy fighter crews as they encountered
'MiGs, Missiles and AAA' over North Vietnam.
New in card cover - A4 format, 96pp, 6
colour plates, 12 colour photos, 4 colour maps, numerous b/w
photos
OSPREY COMBAT AIRCRAFT 30:
US NAVY F-4 PHANTOM II MIG KILLERS 1972-73
by Brad Elward.
Illustrated by Jim Laurier
The second volume on the US Navy's Phantom II MiG
killers of the Vietnam War, this book covers the numerous
actions fought out over North Vietnam during the Linebacker
I and II operations of 1972-73. No fewer than 17 MiGs were
downed during this period, five of them by the Navy's sole
aces of the conflict, Lts Randy Cunningham and Willie
Driscoll of VF-96. Drawing on primary sources such as
surviving Phantom II aircrew and official navy
documentation, the author has assembled the most precise
appraisal of fighter operations involving Navy Phantom II
units and the elusive MiGs of the VPAF.
New in card cover - A4 format, 96pp,
7 colour plates, 18 colour photos, 1 colour map, numerous
b/w photos
10th May
1972 was the day of the most intense dawn-to-dusk air action
in the Vietnam War. It was the opening day of Operation
'Linebacker', the vast American air operation against Hanoi
and Haiphong when over 330 sorties were flown. One hundred
eyewitness accounts describe the action when 93 SAMs were
fired at the attackers, and 40 MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighters
were launched to combat the US F-4, F-105, A-6, and A-4
attackers.
Vey good in
d/w - 240pp, 65 photos, map, bibliography, index
