The book is volume 38 of Helion & Company’s Middle East@War series and looks at the participation of RAF’s medium and heavy bombers in Operation Musketeer, the Suez War of 1956. The book includes over seventy black and white photographs and seven pages of color profiles depicting the markings of some of the Canberra and Valiant squadrons that participated in the campaign and aircraft of the Egyptian Air Force, along with several maps and order of battle charts.

John Dillon is a former Vulcan navigator and the author of several military history books.

An often-overlooked part of the Suez War of 1956 is the participation of the Royal Air Force’s Canberra medium bombers and Valiant heavy bombers in the campaign. Based in Malta and Cyprus these aircraft were tasked with neutralizing the Egyptian Air Force in order to prevent it from interfering in the eventual assault that was planned to take back control of the Suez Canal.

Auster Aircraft started in 1938 as Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) license building the eponymous US manufacturer’s light aircraft. During WWII, the company built over 1,600 high-wing Taylorcraft Auster air observation aircraft for the British armed forces, and in 1946, changed their name to Auster Aircraft. Based at Rearsby Aerodrome in Leicestershire, the company continued to develop incrementally the basic high-wing monoplane design, eventually building a total of over 3,800 aircraft for both military and civilian usage worldwide. Auster Aircraft was bought out by the new BEAGLE company in 1960.

Think SMALL. Then realize PE really does a good job of upgrading one of these kits.

Thanks to BRENGUN for providing (once again) a couple of great upgrades for our use. IPMS USA Sincerely appreciates your support!

The subject of this review is the 24 part PE upgrade set for Brengun’s own SBD-3, along with engine, main bomb, four wheel/tire assemblies, and a challenge to the small builder’s eyesight. I had the basic kit, in a moment of insanity thinking “nice size”. Then I realized it was really small. Almost too small. But Brengun, being experts at this figured out a solution.

That solution being an upgrade set for their own kit!

PE flaps/dive brakes, resin bomb body and PE details for same, Wheels and tires for both land and sea (A-24 and SBD) versions, and a detailed engine.

Casemate Publishers just released the latest Kagero Publishing Super Drawings in 3D – The Japanese Light Cruiser Oyodo – in her 1944 fit (not her 1943 as-built appearance with the long catapult). This is a single-ship class of an odd hybrid ship that did not turn out to be a success (although she survived until the war-end harbor bombings at anchor). As always, the 3D book is jammed full of CG images of the Oyodo exterior and major fittings, including below the waterline. There is also a large foldout of B&W line drawings that are very helpful for modelers. This book is ideal for building models of the Oyodo, and will not disappoint IJN fans.

The book is volume 37 of Helion & Company’s Middle East@War series. While Volume 1 examined the delivery and use of Soviet designed combat aircraft in Egypt, Iraq and Syria, Volume 2 is limited to just Egypt and Syria and covers the time period from mid-1963 through mid-1967, ending right before the 1967 war. The book includes over one hundred black and white photographs, one page of color photographs and six pages of color profiles depicting the aircraft of the two air forces and the flight gear typically worn by flight crews during this period, along with maps and order of battle charts. Unfortunately, the quality of most of the photographs are very good, but as in Volume 1, some of them are blurry or fuzzy, which is not surprising given their age. I was pleased to see that only a couple of the photographs appear to be photographs taken of photographs published in another publication as there is a prominent line down the middle of the photograph.