104-A11-077 S.A Airforce Books x 3

1) African Aviation Series volume 12, The men who went to Warsaw by L Isemonger: The operational history of the Liberator in SAAF service in 31 and 34 Squadrons is covered in great depth. Containing just a few photos of SAAF Liberators and a Ron Belling painting on the cover depicting a mining drop, this book is of limited use as a photo reference. It is largely constructed around numerous personal anecdotes, detailing the trials and tribulations of the Liberator crews. From their first operations over Crete, initial operations over Italy, mining of the River Danube, participation in the famous Ploesti oil refinery raids over Romania, bombing and supply drops over the Balkans, and bomphlet drops (propaganda leaflets). Then later to shows of strength over the contested city of Trieste following the German surrender to repatriation flights following VE day and the final stand down of the squadrons at the very end of 1945. Soft cover, 240 pages
2) African Aviation Series volume 7, Passion for Flight by P Bagshawe: Peter Bagshawe chose 14 South African aviators who have distinguished themselves in various fields of aviation in both war and peace. He has interviewed them and then created a pen-picture of each, with photographs of each individual. It is A4, with 180 pages and no colour photographs, but plenty of B&W
3) African Aviation series volume 11, Springbok Fighter Victory by M Schoeman: This is a must for the serious and not-so-serious reader of SAAF history, or anybody who would like to know more about who served in the fighter squadrons of WWII. He writes in detail about the many battles fought by the SAAF in East Africa in aircraft not exactly suitable for aerial combat, such as the Gloster Gladiator, Gloster Gauntlet and early Hawker Hurricane. He covers the battles fought by well-known personalities such as SV van B Theron and Piggy Boyle, just to name a few. One appendix lists the serials of aircraft lost or damaged with their pilots and another appendix lists the names and service details of 1376 SAAF fighter pilots. There are 225 B&W photos and 7 maps