Casemate Publishing

9th Air Force - American Tactical Aviation in the ETO, 1942-1945

by Gregory Pons

Reviewed By Floyd S. Werner, Jr., IPMS #26266

MSRP: $59.95 ISBN: 978-2-35250-077-3 Website: www.casematepublishing.com This hardback book is a beautiful compliment to Casemate's and Gregory Pons excellent 8th Air Force book. Focusing on the Tactical Air Force element, the Ninth Air Force was tasked with taking the fight to the enemy on the ground in close combat. There are 196 pages all printed on high quality gloss paper. The photos are of such good quality and with so many previously unpublished you will wonder where they got such photos. The book is broken down into each squadron. You are treated to some excellent photos all of clear quality, many are very large and full of valuable information. Each group covered has its history included from inception to the end of the war. There are plenty of color, as well as, black and white photos. The photos are large and present a lot of information for the modeler. Some of the photos are a full page and this is just fine with me as they are beautiful. We are all used to the excellent nose art from the Eighth Air Force aircraft but they have nothing compared to the nose art of the Ninth. Within the first few pages there is a beautiful P-51D, "Diablo" with nose art that has to be seen to be believed. The Ninth used P-47s and the B-26s to great effect and they didn't shy away from marking them up. Some of my favorite markings are from the Ninth, such as "Raid Hot Mama", "Five by Five", "Eight Nifties" and "Valkyrie". The photos show the weathering to great effect. The 405th Fighter Group displays some of the finest nose art ever to grace an airplane and there are plenty of photos to prove it. This isn't your typical reference book. Besides the great photos there are real people dressed in period garb. This will appeal to the figure modeler and the airplane modeler. This book is the perfect compliment for those new Tamiya airfield accessories sets. To lend a personal touch to the book there are logbook entries, personal photos, GAO cards and the likes. Each chapter is actually written based on accounts from individuals that were there. Their heirlooms are what punctuate the book and their diaries provide a brief look into the missions. The side drawings are in keeping with the style of Historie & Collections. For me that means a little overdone on the panel lines but the look is certainly not objectionable. The aircraft drawings are very colorful though. It is the artist interpretation and certainly better than I could do. The text is well written if somewhat brief. Each unit's brief history is adequate but the best is in the captions for the photos and the uniform descriptions, perfect for a reference book such as this. Not only are P-47s and B-26s highlighted but also lesser known aircraft such as the L-5 Sentinel, P-61s, C-47s and A-20s. There are some really nice German aircraft included that should appeal to the Luftwaffe buff, like myself. Heck even Hans Ulrich Rudel's Stuka is shown along with some others from his squadron. So you get close to 200 high quality pages filled with lots of photos, both color and black and white, nice drawings and figure references, along with personal accounts, I can't think of much more to add. This is an excellent reference book for the both the figure and aircraft modeler, as well as, the historian. I think this book, and the companion 8th Air Force volume, are some exceptional value for the money. You will want to add it to your collection. I'm certainly happy that it is now in mine. Highly recommended. Thanks to Casemate for the review copy. You can obtain your copy directly from Casemate at www.casematepublishing.com. Be sure to tell them that you heard about it from IPMS/USA.