Fighters Over Malta: Gladiators and Hurricanes 1940-1942 by Brian Cull and Frederick Galea

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Mark on tail foredge. Dust jacket has light creasing at edges and spine. Small tear to right top edge of front cover, now protected with book tape. Interior and binding are still very good.

A highly detailed account of the gallant band of RAF and Commonwealth pilots who flew Gladiators and Hurricanes in defence of Malta between June 1940 and April 1942, when help in the guise of Spitfires finally arrived.

Most of the Hurricanes that held this tiny outpost of the British Empire in the heart of Axis-dominated territory had been flown from the decks of aircraft carriers or from bases in North Africa, while a handful of fighter pilots arrived by Sunderland flying boats or other aircraft in transit from the UK via Gibraltar.

Many of these pilots were inexperienced and quickly paid the supreme price, particularly when the Messerschmitt pilots of the elite 7/JG26 arrived in Sicily in early 1941, and later in the year when more from JG53 made their presence felt.

A number of important personal diaries and journals have come to light, and these have been widely quoted to provide the atmospheric background, the thoughts and the hopes of some of the Hurricane pilots who defended Malta. (publisher blurb)