Drawing on an extremely rare collection of photographs taken by the
camera guns of Bristol Beaufighters deployed on ground-attack and
anti-shipping operations, this book will form a rare indeed unique view
of what it was like to fly dangerous strike missions against German and
Italian forces over North Africa and the Mediterranean between 1942 and
1945.
Despite being reformed in the UK in November 1940 as Coastal Commands
first Beaufighter squadron, 252 Squadron, which also operated Bristol
Blenheims until April 1941, was destined to spend most of its service in
North Africa and the Mediterranean before being disbanded in Greece in
December 1946.
One of the squadrons commanding officers, Wing Commander DOB Butler,
DFC, had the foresight to keep perfect examples of the many thousands of
gun camera stills taken by the Beaufighter pilots under his command. As
a result, he has preserved a remarkable history of the air and sea war
in the Mediterranean from October 1942 to May 1945. These dramatic
stills show attacks against German and Italian aircraft, Axis warships
and merchant men, harbors and other targets on what are now popular
holiday destinations such as Rhodes, Naxos and Kos and across the Greek
Islands, the Aegean and Ionian Seas.
This book will be based around these remarkable and spectacular
photographs and will include full details of key missions and the crews
who participated, with information drawn from Squadron records and
combat reports.
