When I was painting the Young Miniatures B-17 Waist Gunner this title was an invaluable source of information and I would go so far as to say that this is the best book I've encountered in the extensive range by this publisher. I've been pretty positive about a number of the other titles in the series so I'm going out on a limb here, but this is a very impressive achievement.
The book concentrates upon the uniforms and equipment of aircrew in the USAAF within the ETO and it's difficult to imagine anything more comprehensive being published for a mass audience anytime soon. Contemporary photographs feature throughout alongside colour images of surviving equipment, with an emphasis upon giving the reader an outline of the evolution of various pieces as the operational demands of the air campaign exposed problems or new requirements. Inevitably the emphasis is upon bomber crews but there is plenty here on fighters too, especially as various pieces of equipment such as parachutes, life jackets, etc, were used interchangeably.
The main sections of the book cover headwear and equipment (including hats, goggles, oxygen masks and radio equipment), flying clothing, protection and survival (such as parachutes, body armour, and survival equipment), navigation and bombing, documents and insignia, and finally a section with re-enactors reconstructing examples of equipment combinations for different scenarios. There are some anomalies, with the section on flak helmets coming under 'protection and survival' rather than 'headwear', but this does make sense within the structure of the book.
Coverage is often pretty exhaustive, so the section on garrison caps, for instance, includes 10 different examples, among them classic side caps/ garrison caps which were fashionable in multiple armies in this period, as well as wool, leather and cloth flying caps. The section on flying helmets covers 10 pages and includes a section on British helmets which were used by the USAAF. In addition there is a further six pages on goggles and sunglasses, so even when discussing headwear the individual elements are broken down into separate sections. There are even photographs of original boxes for sunglasses and replacement lenses.
The section on flying clothing also includes some anomalies which sort of make sense but which can be confusing, such as the inclusion of sheepskin jackets in the section on winter suits, with electrically heated jackets being given a separate section and flying jackets having an additional section. Again there is an internal logic to this and the level of detail is such that there is a great deal to grab the attention anyway. There is even a black and white collection of photographs which show the many ways in which illustrations were painted onto the back of leather jackets.
The author delights in the esoteric and I suspect many readers will too. So if you want to know about flying gloves, or escape kits, oxygen cylinders, survival rations, life rafts, blood chits, thermos flasks, maps and charts, navigational equipment, watches, bags and cases, and even good luck charms, this is the place.
If you're researching a figure, building a model with a USAAF theme, or simply interested in the USAAF, this book will be indispensable. This is an astonishingly rich title which is clearly a labour of love for the author.
Zigerastica
Zigerastica
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