The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II

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The British Fleet Air Arm in World War II
Author: Mark Barber
Softcover - 64 pages
Publisher: Osprey
Series: Elite 165
Price: £11.99
ISBN: 9781846032837

Introduction

The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is the Royal Navy's (RN) own air force and is deployed on all of the navy's major surface vessels. The FAA can date its origins back to before the First World War. In the inter-war period the FAA was under the operational control of the Royal Air Force and this was a major source of dispute between the services. However, on 24 May 1939 the FAA, now renamed the Air Branch of the Royal Navy reverted to admiralty control.

The FAA started the war with a paltry 232 aircraft but by wars end it had grown to 3,700 aircraft. By the Second World War the Royal Navy operated 59 carriers of various sizes and was an extremely important component of the British military. They enabled power projection onshore far away from distant bases. The FAA itself was very important in this role by providing air cover and close support when needed.

The book

This book is broadly based around the research the author did for his dissertation of the FAA in the Mediterranean during the Second World War. The book is well laid out in five chapters with plenty of black and white picture and the usual colour plates.

Chapter 1 deals with the origins of the RN's air service from just before the outbreak of the First World War when it was formed as the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps. The author then deals with the origins of the idea of the use of aircraft of ships and the start of carrier aviation near the end of the conflict. The books then details the problems of the inter-war period where the aircraft intended to operate from the navy's carriers came under the operational control of the RAF but when on board ship were intended to come under naval control.

Chapter 2 gives a good outline of the procedures of recruitment and training received by various members of the service. This is split into pilot, observer, TAG, mechanic, FDO, DLCO, meteorological and WRNS training. Each of these various services were important to the running of the FAA and aircraft tend to be training intensive due to them being high grade technology when compared to ground forces. Thus, the training, as illustrated, was intensive and expensive. The author outlines the role each of the branches played in the operations of the FAA and their importance. For example, while the meteorological officers were not directly part of the service they were an extremely important part of it as their decisions affected day to day operations.

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Chapter 3 deals with the issue of command of the FAA and composition of squadrons and carrier air groups. The chapter details the structure of the various types of squadrons and how they were numbered. It also gives the composition of the command system for an embarked air group. There is also a section dealing with the systems used for aircraft markings.

Chapter 4 is the main chapter of the book, which chronicles the major campaigns that the FAA was involved with. This section is split chronologically and deals with some of the more spectacular actions of the FAA. This is by no means a campaign history, as it is too short for that, but it does give the reader a good flavour of what operations were like. Some of the notable actions that the author notes are the raid on Taranto, sinking the Bismarck, the Channel Dash, the Malta Convoys, attacks on the Tirpitz and operation in the Pacific. All of these are well detailed are portray the essence of FAA operations during the Second World War. It is interesting to note the role FAA Seafires played in Operation OVERLORD. The author draws out the example of LtCdr S L Devonald, who on 7 June fought eight Fw190's to stalemate in his Seafire, thus, showing the superiority of the aircraft and his training.

Chapter 5 deals with the tactics used by the three main categories of aircraft used by the FAA; Torpedo-Bombers, Dive- Bombers and Fighters, and their effectiveness. In this chapter one lesson that is drawn out by the author is that the key problem for the FAA was the quality of its airframes. They were often obsolescent and out-dated. However, despite this the FAA managed many major successes and fought on.

The colour plates are split between uniform plates and a couple of battle scenes. The uniform plates are by Stephen Walsh and show the evolution of the FAA uniforms during the war. The battle scenes, of which there are two, the Channel Dash and Operation PEDESTAL, are by Mark Postlethwaite. All are of a very good quality. The uniforms plates particular so for those figure modellers amongst us.

Conclusion

This is a great book. If you are interested in air power or the British armed forces during the Second World War then you will not be disappointed in this book. The illustrations are very good and if you are a figure painter then you will be grateful for them as they are very well done. Overall, it is great to see a book on the most important of subjects.

My thanks to Osprey for providing the review sample.

For full information on all Osprey Publishing titles, please see their website: Osprey publishing