July-August - Air Defense Artillery School

No Phoney W'ae
LDCATS OVER CASABLANCA. By M. T. Wordell
1lldE. N. Seiler, with Keith Ayling. Boston: Little, Brown
nd Company, 1943. 309 Pages; $2.50.
The French fought at Casablanca, and most of them fought
courage and purpose, even though many did not believe
. were doing the right thing by fighting the Americans.
. French pilots who opposed the American naval fighters
the carrier Lieutenants \Vordell and Seiler were assigned
died bravely. Their ships were obsolete and undergunned,
the air battles were no walkaway for the Americans. The
French ships (some of them of American manufacture)
make tighter turns, even though they were slower.
in the air, the French pilots were skilled and dangerous
nents, although many of them refused to take to the air.
e story the pilots of the "Red Ripper" \Vildcat squadron
to t\Ir. Ayling is straightforward and vivid-and more than
resting when compared to newspaper reports of the fighting.
Avlina deserves commendation-the book is a runnin!l ac-
• b ~
t of the pilots' stories, rather than a vehicle on which the
e er hung his own version.
l Nothin: Tri:ial, ~e Hope
E LUFTWAFFE: ITs RISE AND FALL. By Hauptmann
IHermann. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1943. 294
It Paoes; $3.00.
"
t is always difficult to evaluate the authenticity of a book
n the author is not known; Hauptmann Hermann is the
donym of a man who claims to be a German aviator in
Id \Var II, and an executive in the German aircraft inrv
after the war.
i~ story of the personalities and events that built the
l'affe until it was almost, but not quite, good enough to
the present war is interesting, even important. The Lllfte,
he says, was built primarily for bluff, and secondarily
a quick, devastating stroke like the 1940 break-through. It
not meant for a long war, and the British air thrusts at
kirk, and the later defense during the Battle of Britain,
the heart out of the prime Nazi tool. The Lllftwaffe is the
. arm, as differentiated from the army and navy, which
German, rather than Nazi. Like the Nazis, the Luftwaffe
ilt for lightning strokes, and a long war with no periods of
peration have sounded its death knell.
:\ccording to the author, the Luftwaffe is short on engineerskill,
since engineering is "not soldier's work"; and abso-
Iv lacking in the planning and staff work necessary to keep
tly damaged planes in operation, because none of the top
's in the air force were competent to develop the systems
procedures necessary to keep the planes Bying. The British
940, and the Russian drain since, with the added plastering
Germany by bombers, have all contributed to the decline
force that was never designed to encounter opposition.
Action Pictures
ERICA'S FIGHTING PLANES IN ACTION. By Reed
'nert. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1943. 143
ages;Index. $2.50.
r. Kinert is a primary Bight instructor at Ryan Field, an
, and a writer. He has combined his talents to produce a
full of drawings and paintings of American fighting, trainand
transport planes, with a page of descriptive material
HUUK HEVIEWS
Popular Technical
Books
Electricity
ELEMENTSOF ELECTRIOTY.By Timbie.
This text is used at the Coast Artillery School at Fort
Monroe. $3.00
FUNDAMENTALSOF ELECTRIOTY.By Lester 1. \'V'illiard.
Designed for use with wartime courses and for selfstudy.
$1.24
COURSEIN ELECTRICALENGINEERING(Vol. I),
DIRECTCURRENTS.By C. 1. Dawes.
The 3rd edition; by a Harvard faculty member. $4.00
COURSEIN ELECTRICALENGINEERING(Vol. II),
ALTERNATINGCURRENTS. By C. 1. Dawes.
Companion book; also 3rd edition. $4.00
Science
INTRODUCTIONTO METEOROLOGY.By Sverre Peterson.
Used at the Naval Academy; 236 paRes. $2.50
A STARTIN METEOROLOGY.By Armand N. Spitz.
Easy to read; written in simple language. $1.50
FUNDAMENTALSOF MACHINES. By Burton 1. Cushing.
How they operate; with military applications. $1.24
ELEMENTSOF PHYSICS. By A. W. Smith.
790 Pages; 4th edition; used at the Military Academy,
West Point. $3.75
Radio
ELEMENTS OF RADIO. By Abraham and William
Marcus.
A basic book; for study without an instructor. $4.00
FUNDAMENTALSOF RADIO.By W. 1. Everitt.
For classroom use. $5.00
RADIOAMATEUR'SHANDBOOK.(Standard Edition.)
Electrlcal and ra~io fundamentals through design, constructIOn,
operatIOn of amateur equipment.
Booklist No. 215 $1.00
RADIOAMATEUR'SHANDBOOK.(Defense Edition.)
For special use in radio training courses. Includes elementary
mathematics necessary for solution of formulas
and interpretation of graphs, log tables.
Booklist No. 216 $1.00
MODERNRADIOSERVIONG. By Alfred A. Ghirardi.
1,276 pages of information, tips, and instruction for
radio servicemen. WelI presented, complete and welI
ilIustrated. $5.00
Surveying
SHORTCOURSEIN SURVEYING.By Davis and Kelly.
A compact volume, almost pocket-size, convenient for
the traveling Coast Artilleryman. Well-illustrated with
diagrams and pictures; six-place logs of numbers and
trigonometric functions; five-place logs of natural functions.
Booklist No. 214
$2.50
MILITARYAND NAVALMAps AND GRIDS. By Flexner
and Walker.
The construction and use of maps, for the student with
some, but not necessarily extensive, background in
mathematics. $1.00
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