Dunkirk Evacuation Operation Dynamo is an excellent book that paints a vivid picture of the chaos and monumental evacuation efforts to save the British Army early in WWII. The book describes one of the most inspiring stories of World War II, the evacuation from Dunkirk, on a daily basis from Sunday, May 26, 1940 through Monday, June 3, 1940. Evacuation of Britain’s only army, the British Expeditionary Force, from Dunkirk was chaotic and rushed but miraculously saved the BEF.

Part of Pen & Swords Illustrated Series, the book is a compilation of fascinating photos. The book is organized in chapters for each of the nine days of the evacuation. Each chapter provides some text describing the major operations of the day and includes many black-and-white photographs of the rescue operations. The photographs are high-quality, quite clear, and helpful descriptions are provided in the photo captions.

Mission Models Paints has released several new colors recently for modern AFVs. This example is for modern Israeli armor, specifically the Merkava line of vehicles. This paint color is meant to cover most Israeli AFVs from the late 1970s to the present.

Like all other Mission Models water-based acrylics MMP-128 is odorless, fast drying, designed not to clog airbrush tips, and to produce a smooth, durable finish. Mission Models helpfully includes a guide on how to work with their paint on their website under the Tech Support Section. The paint is thicker than many acrylics I have worked with and it is not pre-thinned for air brushing. It does appear though that the paint particles are very fine and they have helpfully included a stainless-steel ball in every bottle to enhance mixing, which is a very nice touch.

Italeri’s 1/35 scale version of the Vosper MTB 74 which was used on the 28 March 1942 Operation Chariot Saint Nazaire raid comes in a big box. It was a specially configured boat having most of its offensive armament removed and having two torpedo tubes added to the foredeck. It also had special muffler silencers added. It successfully hit the nets which protected the docks, torpedoed the lock gates and achieved its mission, but was sunk on its way back home. Chariot achieved its goal of disabling the only dry dock in German-occupied France which could handle the Tirpitz so that forced her to return to Germany for any repairs.

The kit is molded in gray plastic and includes a fret of photoetched details, a decal sheet, a clear sheet, screw, ropes, and seven crew figures. The hull is in two pieces with just the aft transom area being separate.

Both Philip Keeble and David Gledhill have written books about their experiences as front-line RAF aircrew in the Cold War. In Per Ardua they explain the process each went through to become Phantom Phlyers. Phil reviews the fast jet training program he went through to become a RAF pilot while David discusses the navigator training that he went through to become a F-4 navigator giving he reader an insight into what it took to become RAF aircrew in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.

This edition in the “Images of War” series provides a overview of U.S Marine Corps operations in Vietnam, from the initial deployment of a Marine Hawk anti-aircraft missile battery near DaNang in February, 1965, followed a month later by elements of the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade, to the final withdrawal of Marine ground troops in June, 1971. Marine air was finally withdrawn in September of 1972, with off shore Marine aircraft and security forces participating in the evacuation of Saigon in 1975 (the book’s photo coverage ends with the withdrawal of Marine ground forces).

The limited text is arranged chronologically in four chapters: