IPMS Book Review: Flight Recorder Publications Rise and Defend The USAF at Manston 1950-1958

Flight Recorder Publications

Rise and Defend
The USAF at Manston 1950-1958

by Duncan Curtis

Reviewed By John Ratzenberger, IPMS# 40196

MSRP: $53.95
ISBN: 0954560558
Format: Hardcover, 8-1/2"x11", 192 pages, glossy.
Contents: over 230 photos (26 in color), 34 color profiles, serial number list, bibliography, index.
Publishers Website: www.flight-recorder.com .
Available from Specialty Press, www.specialtypress.com, 1-800-895-4585, ($4.95 S/H fee).

As you can tell from the title, this is a very narrowly focused book. It covers specifically the preparation for and the deployment to Manston (vicinity the town of Thanet in the County of Kent), the operations while at Manston, and the return to CONUS or transfer to another base of the following USAF units:
· 20th Fighter Bomber Group, F-84D, July - December 1950
· 31st Fighter Escort Wing, F-84E, December 1950 - July 1951
· 12th Fighter Escort Wing, F-84E, July - November 1951
· 123rd Fighter Bomber Wing, F-84E, November 1951 - July 1952
· 406th Fighter Bomber Wing and Fighter Escort Wing, F-84E, F-86F, F-86D, July 1952 - June 1958
· 92nd Fighter Bomber Squadron, F-84F, March 1955 - April 1958
· 9th and 66th Air Rescue Squadrons, Albatross, H-19, etc

The 123rd was a mix of Air National Guard squadrons, hastily retrained from their F-47 and F-51 aircraft! The 406th was a USAF unit activated at Manston to take the equipment and facilities from the departing 123rd. As you can see the first few units were there in a Temporary Duty (TDY) status, with families at home -- some of us know the 1-day less than 180 screwing err, policy, I'm sure. The author does as a good job describing the train-ups, the preparation for deployment, and the problems arriving at and operating from a base with few facilities. I'm sure some of us deployed somewhere after finding out we could only bring part of our stuff because there wasn't enough transportation. Something we are not used to these days is movement of personnel by troop ship. And of course, over on the other side of the world, a little place called Korea was getting most of the attention and resources. Of interest is that the transportation requirements were reduced by swapping equipment in place after the first couple rotations, now an almost standard policy in all services.

The USAF left Manston because of rising noise complaints by the townsfolk - this issue is covered in several places starting from about 1955 onwards and finally in June 1958 they got the quiet they wanted. In the be careful for what you wish for department,

"... an average of £125,000/month would be lost to the local area ... 1000 properties would become vacant ... 420 locals would lose their jobs ... Thanet would take years to recover ... some say the area never did ...".

Speaking semi-locally, this would be a good book for the noise-abaters around Oceana to read, but of course they won't.

The text pages are divided into two-and-one-half columns, with the half-column adjacent the spine and generally only containing a broad gray stripe. Once in a while a footnote or caption appears there but mostly it is just a broad gray stripe. The two text columns are close together and separated by a line. In a larger format book, this might have worked, but with only 6-8 words per line, you are in back-and-forth scan mode in a close space. It wasn't easy to read and I found myself losing my place or reading right over.

While there are many personal anecdotes to illustrate operations, accidents, and incidents parts of the book read like the annual historical reports of the units involved. The author has a good style, but my interest level waned whenever I thought I was reading a rewrite. The text has a few "odd" English-English phrases and words, but nothing to get in the way of understanding. I did not find any spelling, grammar, or editing errors. I did a double take when I found someone with the rank of Lt. Commander flying the F-84 but when I went back over the text, I found I had wandered right over the phrase "...seconded from the Navy ...".

I am not really interested in jets, thus I have little with which to evaluate the accuracy of information in the book. Nonetheless, I did find the discussions of aircraft history, performance, reliability, etc, to be interesting - in particular the F-84 ThunderJet. I particularly enjoyed the quote "If we build a runway around the world, Republic will build an aircraft that needs all of it." Also, I think at one time I might have known the F-84 Thunderstreak carried a nuke, but had certainly forgotten it until this book reminded me -- scary thought actually.

On the plus side, the book is amply illustrated with photos of aircraft and personnel, so if you are a modeler of the F-84 or, to a lesser extent, the F-86, you have a wealth of period photos to work from. And although most are black and white, the author fully describes the unit colors and markings. Exceptions are noted in the text and in the picture captions. I particularly liked the very informative picture captions - they complement the text, not repeat it. A 16-page color section provides photos and profiles. A complete serial number list, by unit, of every Manston-based aircraft is included. So, for a modeler, this is a good resource.

There is an Index, usefully organized several different ways. There are no footnotes in the text, but there is an extensive Bibliography, including base and local newspapers. I would have liked to see airfield layouts over time and a few maps, particularly one showing the relationship of the town and the base, just to put things in perspective.

Summary:
I hesitate to unreservedly recommend this book because of the narrow focus and cost. On the other hand, if you are an F-84 modeler, a USAF history buff, or you or friends/relatives served at Manston during this period, then this book probably should be high on your list.

I would like to thank Specialty Press and IPMS for providing the review sample.

About the Reviewer: John Ratzenberger is a member of, and Webmaster for, the Eastern Carolina Plastic Modelers of New Bern, NC (www.ecpmod.com), not to mention being the IPMS Associate Webmaster for Reviews.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site
are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA Ž.