Martin B-26 Marauder
Designed as part of the same competition that produced the North American B-25 Mitchell, the Martin B-26 Marauder was quite an advanced aircraft for the time. Envisaged as a high speed bomber, the B-26 promised […]
Year: 2017
Bell P-39 Airacobra
The Bell P-39 was designed in 1937 in response to a USAAC requirement for a new fighter that could match the performance of European models that were then in development – particularly the Supermarine Spitfire […]
The Doolittle Raid
In December 1941, with the shock of Pearl Harbor still evident, many senior commanders in the United States expressed a desire to hit back directly at Japan. President Roosevelt himself was amongst the first to […]
The Royce Mission
On the 9th of April, American and Filipino soldiers on Bataan peninsula surrendered. For the last few weeks the troops had subsisted on starvation rations, despite attempt by blockade runners and submarines to bring supplies […]
North American B-25 Mitchell
In 1937, the US Army Air Corps began to look for a new twin-engine attack bomber to replace the single-engine types it had on hand. The USAAC solicited for several designs, three of which ended […]
The Indian Ocean Raid: Bay of Bengal and Trincomalee
The second force involved in the Japanese attack on Ceylon was Vice Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa’s Malay Force, centred on the light carrier Ryujo. This vessel had provided close support for the attacks on Palembang and […]
Westland Wapiti
In the mid-1920s the standard ‘general purpose’ aircraft in the RAF was the DH-9A, which had its roots in the World War I era DH-4. Interwar budget cuts meant that it was not until 1926 […]
The Indian Ocean Raid: Colombo
On March 26th, 1942, the Japanese Kido Butai departed from its anchorage at Staring Bay and set course for the Indian Ocean. Five of the six carriers under the command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo were […]
Fairey Fulmar
The Fairey Fulmar represents the philosophy of the Fleet Air Arm just prior to World War II, that navigational science was not advanced enough to allow for the creation of a single-seat naval fighter. Therefore, […]
The Lae-Salamaua Raid
After the attempted raid on Rabaul by Task Force 11 was turned back when the Lexington was spotted by Japanese patrol aircraft, Admiral Wilson Brown retired and considered his next move. He radioed Admiral Nimitz […]