The Leyland Retriever was a 6x4 general utility lorry manufactured by Leyland Motors between 1939 and 1945. Roughly 6,500 were produced for the British Army during that period, and they served on all fronts and in a number of guises, one being General Montgomery’s caravan and also a fully armored version. Personally, I’ve always liked this beast, as it has a distinct WW1 feel to it and couldn’t be more basic – the cabin seats, for example, being nothing more than wooden tool boxes.

The Messerschmitt Me-309 was envisioned as a replacement for the Me-109 in late 1940. The aircraft was to feature a pressurized cockpit, a fully retractable, tricycle undercarriage and a variable geometry radiator. The Me-309 was never to become much of a priority for the powers that be owing to the success of adapting the Me-109 to larger engines and heavier armament and the Focke Wolf 190 coming into service. Four prototypes (V1-V4) were constructed with flight testing continuing into the last quarter of 1943.

“Pacific Profiles” is a series of books that covers various military aircraft serving in the Pacific during WWII. This book is volume four, Allied fighters: Vought F4U Corsair Series, Solomons Theatre 1943-1944. The book size is paperback and about 7 inches by 10 inches in color and black & white.

The book starts out with technical information, color schemes and markings as well as maps of the Solomon airfields. There are a few charts showing USN/USMC and RNZAF corsair units and their timeline when they were in service. At the end of this section are full color images of Corsair squadron and service insignia/patches featured in this book along with a glossary of terms.