Military Modelling - July 2013

BooksConsolidated B-24 Liberator1939 onwards (all marks)Owners’ Workshop Manualby Graeme Douglas. HaynesPublishing, Sparkford, Yeovil,Somerset BA22 7JJ.ISBN 978-0-85733-159-5.Price £21.99.sales@haynes.co.ukwww.haynes.co.ukHaynes are known for theirOwners’ Workshop Manualson cars that for many yearswere very popular for motoristsdoing their own servicing andlight repairs at home. Haynesexpanded their portfoliosometime ago to cover differentand diversified subjects farremoved from DIY manuals forhome servicing when ‘family’cars were much simpler. Withinthis venture the Haynes’ aviationseries is developing apace, andI have those particular Owners’Workshop Manuals on Spitfire,Hurricane and F-86 Sabre …and now the Consolidated B-24Liberator has arrived for review.The Manual is based aroundthe Collings Foundation’saircraft, Witchcraft, an 8thAir Force veteran, that alsoserved with 99 Squadron RAFin the Pacific Theatre. Dividedinto a dozen parts includingthe Introduction, these cover:Development of the B-24; TheB-24 at war; B-24 production;Anatomy of the B-24; Pratt& Whitney R-1830-65 TwinWasp engine; Arming theB-24 (defence and offensiveweapons); Flying the B-24; Theengineer’s view; Appendices;Sources and an Index to locateitems in the book.Illustrated throughout, thebook is packed with illustrations– colour and black and whitephotos and drawings – scaledrawings and illustrationsfrom wartime handbooks. Ifyou are a modeller or aircraftenthusiast you will find thisbook a very handy reference onthe B-24 with lots of ‘hands-on’information.Pages 139 – 141 coverpilot’s pre-flight checks andstart up procedure, which wasinteresting, for me. Starting afour-engined American WW2heavy bomber like the B-24 wasa complicated sequence and Iwas able to compare this withConsolidated’s wartime colourfilm showing the pilot and copilotstarting this multi-enginedbomber. It was engrossing tocompare the Company’s film,which covers preparation ofthe aircraft for flight and startup step-by-step on a verycomplicated sequence carriedout by pilot and co-pilot, andjust to prove I wasn’t asleepregarding either the book orwatching the film a “difference”popped up. After “walking”the blades through six times,prior to starting No.3 engine,operating the switches - “accel”– “prime” – “crank” – then setmixture to “auto lean”, whereasthe book says “auto rich” – butthe film emphasises “autolean” because it lessens thechance of fouling the plugs…I’m not a pilot, but can comparesequences and those particularterms highlighted “auto lean”and “auto rich!” It makes mewonder if the “manufacturer’ssettings” changed later on – ormodified in service?It’s a fascinating book – verythought provoking and highlyrecommended.Ken JonesFlying Scot - An Airman’sStory by Air CommodoreAlastair Mackie CBE DFC.Pen & Sword Military,47 Church Street, Barnsley,South Yorkshire S70 2AS.ISBN 978-1-84884-756-9.Price £19.99.enquiries@pen-and-sword.co.ukwww.pen-and-sword.co.ukAutobiographies are as varied asthe people who choose to writethem. They do, however, havecertain things in common. Theyreveal not only what the writer hasdone in life but also - and oftenmore interestingly - the beliefs andpersonal characteristics that liebeneath their public persona.Rarely has this been moreevident than in the case of thispublication. Alastair Mackiehas waited until his 90th yearto inform us of his life as anofficer in the RAF and later asa Whitehall civil servant. Giventhe lengthy perspective he hasallowed himself it is fair to saythat this book contains all theevidence the reader needs toform a rounded opinion of theman and his life.This book is on one level anot unfamiliar recounting ofthe military life of a Scotsmanwho was 17-years-old whenWorld War Two broke out andwho remained in the RAF until1968. Indeed all but two ofits 177-pages are devoted tothe author’s 29-year militarycareer. The reader is toldabout the various air actionsin which he featured up to1945 in North Africa, Europe,the Middle and Far East. Afterthe war he had a deskboundspell on the Cabinet OfficeJoint Intelligence Committee,which he intensely disliked.Further flying experience camehis way in the form of theCanberra and Vulcan bombers,before taking the decisionto leave military life after alargely successful, though notexceptional, career.What stood out aboutthis book is not the careerprogression of a particularRAF officer, but the lightit sheds - intentionally orotherwise – on the personalitybehind the uniform. For amilitary man Alastair Mackiepossesses strong viewsagainst the usefulness ofBritain’s nuclear deterrentand is not afraid to say so.Indeed, he is contemptuousof anyone - such as Tom King,one-time Conservative DefenceMinister who lost an OxfordUniversity debate against himon this subject – who posits anopposite opinion. He is equallydismissive of the qualities ofmany of his superior officerswhen in uniform and of thecapabilities of his civilianbosses in Whitehall. He refersto the one-time head of theJIB (Joint Intelligence Bureau)Major-General Sir KennethStrong in the most derogatorypersonal terms as “ugly andwell past his best.”It is when the author talksabout himself, however, thathe is most revelatory. Havingnurtured hopes in mid-careerof being awarded the Air ForceCross, he is disappointedto receive only “this lousyQueen’s Commendation forValuable Service in the Air”!He describes himself as earlyas page 6 as “one of a verysmall minority of so-callednatural pilots”. One suspectshe regards his ultimate receiptof the DFC and CBE as noless than his due. (He alsomakes sure the reader knowsthat one of his two sons isalso a recipient of the CBE). Aself-confessed ‘lifelong showoff’,the author is also quickto attribute self-praise whenclaiming that an intervention ofhis in the late 1960s saved theRed Arrows from disbandmenton cost grounds. “My advancewarning almost certainly savedthe day” is his recollection ofthe situation.As a record of militaryservice and of Britain’s mid20th century military history,this book has a certain merit.What it reveals of the manhimself, I will leave to readersto decide for themselves.Fred Leddenwww.militarymodelling.com63