Author:
Cull, Brian, author.
Edition Statement:Paperback edition.
Imprint[Stroud, Gloucestershire] : Fonthill, 2017.
Imprint2017
Description256 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Note:First published as hardback in 2012.
Note:Includes some primary source material.
Note:Prologue: the situation in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean: mid-1943 -- Hurricanes over Crete: air attack on Crete (Operation Thesis) -- Beaufighters over the Aegean: April-September 1943 -- Operation Microbe: British occupation of the Dodecanese Islands -- German invasion and British surrender of Kos -- Beaufighters in support of Kos operations: September-October 1943 -- The battle for Leros -- Beaufighters in support of Leros operations: November 1943 -- Beaufighters over the Aegean, spitfires over Crete: 1944 -- Seafires, hellcats and wildcats over the Aegean -- "Night-hunters" over the Aegean -- Spitfires vs. the high flyers: 1942-1944 -- Luftwaffe reconnaissance operations in the eastern Mediterranean: 1943-44 -- The end in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean -- Epilogue: civil war erupts in Greece -- Appendix I. Beaufighter operational losses: 1943-44 -- Appendix II. Shot down and captured -- Appendix III. Reminiscences -- Appendix IV. Secret mission: Kommando Süd -- Appendix V. The discovery of two abandoned Ju 86Rs.
Bibliography Note:Includes bibliographical references (page 247) and index.
Note:Following the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, at which the Americans refused to back Britain's plan to invade the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean, to be followed by an invasion of the Greek mainland, a weakened British attempt was made with disastrous results. The Americans wished to concentrate all their forces in capturing Sicily and then invading southern Italy. In this first comprehensive account of aerial operations over the Eastern Mediterranean/Aegean, the first chapter covers the disastrous Hurricane attack on Crete (Operation Thesis), an attempt to divert Axis attention from Sicily; subsequent chapters deal with British landings on the islands of Kos and Leros when Spitfires vainly attempted to hold the Luftwaffe at bay. Meanwhile, Beaufighters flying from North Africa and Cyprus roamed over the Aegean attacking shipping and aerial transports with success but at a heavy cost, until the Germans withdrew from the Aegean and the Greek mainland. In addition, specially modified Spitfires are detailed to combat pressurized high-altitude Ju 87 spy planes used by the Luftwaffe based on Crete, and the Fleet Air Arm with its Seafires, Wildcats and Hellcats over the Aegean. Also, the book includes many firsthand accounts from both British and German aircrew extracted from official reports and memoirs.
