Osprey Publishing

P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2

by Lionel Persyn, Kari Stenman, & Andrew Thomas

Reviewed By Rob Folden, IPMS #45545

MSRP: $22.95 ISBN: 978-1-8460-3409-1 Publishing date: February 2009 Website: www.ospreypublishing.com Osprey introduces the 86th book in their "Aircraft of the Aces" series. Dedicated to the aces that flew the P-36/ Hawk 75, the book has 96 pages, featuring 87 black and white photos, 2 pages of scale plans, and 8 pages of color plates. The cover features a beautiful painting of a USAAF P-36 on 7 Dec 1941 [also featured in the color plates]. The book is broken into 5 chapters. Each chapter chronicles the battles of aces from the different nations that flew the Hawk 75, the export of the P-36. Chapter 1 details the development of the P-36 and its eventual export to the French, British, and Norwegians. It is noted here, that the only P-36s to see combat in US markings were those stationed in Hawaii on Dec 7th, 1941. Chapter 2 follows the French l'Armée de Air in their battle against the German Luftwaffe over the skies of France. Several battles are noted, in particular the German Blitzkrieg, which was responsible for boosting many French P-36 pilots to "Ace" status. Although most of the photos in this section are of the pilots themselves, there are some great reference photos, including shots of captured Hawk 75s from Avord. An amazing picture of a Hawk 75A-1 flown by ace Adj Jean Paulhan, taken minutes after he made a forced landing, shows the damage these planes took at the hands of the Luftwaffe. Chapter 3 [my personal favorite] follows the l'Armée de Air to Africa where they no longer faced the Germans, but were now fighting for them. Following the German occupation of France, the l'Armée de Air was ordered to disarm their Hawk 75s in North Africa. When French pilots refused, they found themselves on the receiving end of the Fleet Air Arm. This chapter also covers Operation Torch where French pilots suffered great loses against Wildcats flown by the US Navy. The skies over Africa also saw the first P-36s flown by the South Africa Air Force under the name Mohawk IV's. Chapter 4 once again finds the P-36 fighting the allies on the Eastern Front. After the fall of France, the Finnish Air Force found themselves without a major military supplier. Likewise, Britain, who had also supplied the Finns, also found themselves unable to support their ally after the Germans invaded Scandinavia. As a result, Finland was forced to seek military support from Germany. German lent their support by providing the Finns with captured Hawk 75s from France and Norway. The Finns flew the Hawk 75 against the Russians with great success. With few losses, many of the Finnish pilots were able to attain "ace" status in the P-36. Slightly out of order, chapter 5 finds us back at the beginning of the war for the Hawk, December 7th, 1941. This is the only time during the war, that American P-36 Hawks saw combat. The chapter also covers the RAF's use of the P-36 in India. This chapter is followed up by appendices listing all pilots who attained ace status in the P-36. Also included are several 1/72 scale drawings of the different variants of the P-36 / Hawk 75. In total, over fifty pilots attained the total of Ace using the P-36. Other notable pilots attained the status of Ace, capturing part of their kills using the P-36. And Osprey's P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2 provides great information on those pilots who managed to take an obsolete, under-powered and under-gunned plane and turn it into a feared fighter. The stories of these men provide for great reading, and the scale drawings and color plates combined with some rather interesting and rare photographs makes for a great reference for modelers. Highly recommended reading for any WWII fan, especially any Hawk fans out there. Now, where did I put that P-36 kit? Here's one color scheme I'm dying to tackle. My thanks to Osprey and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book!