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PART ONE (1st JANUARY – 22nd JUNE 1943) in a book series that will prove essential for not only Luftwaffe historians but also anyone with an interest in RAF Bomber Command. Johnson grew up and was educated in the East Midlands, where he qualified as an engineer. He served as an Assistant Engineer at Ilkeston and latterly to the Chigwell Urban District Council at Loughton. A sportsman, Johnson broke his collarbone while playing rugby, an injury that later complicated his ambitions of becoming a fighter pilot. Johnson had been interested in aviation since his youth and applied to join the RAF. He was initially rejected, first on social, and then on medical grounds; he was eventually accepted in August 1939. The injury problems, however, returned during his early training and flying career, resulting in him missing the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain between May and October 1940. Having covered the wartime Mk.I and III in the previous two books, this third book completes the Lancaster’s wartime career* by looking at the other Mks that flew with RAF Bomber Command. These other Mks are the radial engined Mk.II, the Canadian built Mk.X, the experimental Mk.VI, the Dambusters’ Type 464 and the Grand Slam carrying B.I (Special). Produced in smaller numbers for various reasons, these Mks rarely get a lot of coverage in mainstream books so we’ve tried to do them justice in this volume. Specially commissioned combat scenes by Piotr Forkasiewicz, one of the world’s leading digital aviation artists.

When Spitfire Mk V pilots first met the FW190s of JG26 in August 1941, it immediately became apparent their old Spitfires were completely outclassed by the Luftwaffe’s new fighter. Losses rose rapidly as more Spitfires fell to the guns of the FW190 pilots until, on 13 November 1941, all but essential fighter operations over Europe were halted.After five years with SAM Publications he temporarily re-joined The Aviation Workshop, in April 2010, as Book Production Editor for their range of ‘On Target’ books, before joining forces with a local printer and starting the AIRfile range of camouflage and markings books. When we suggested having a go at the Spitfire V for his first book, I don’t think either of us quite grasped what a huge challenge that would be. Produced in greater numbers than any other Mark of Spitfire, the Mk V was flown by countless squadrons and units, manned by dozens of nationalities in all theatres of war. Where to start?! Simon is now one of Britain’s leading aviation historians, but his roots are in Surrey where he began his research into the battles and aircraft crashes in the county 30 years ago, a time it was possible to interview many witnesses to the events. His interest in the air war lead him to become a professional researcher at the National Archives, undertaking a variety of assignments for those not able to conduct their own investigations. Since the publication of his first book in 1987 he has focused his attentions on the editing and production of over 40 aviation books for publishers. He is also one of Europe’s most experienced aviation archaeologists, contributing to and appearing in several TV documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and others. Following our first volume on the Beaufighter which covered the early Mks and was predominantly about the night fighter versions, this volume covers the later wartime Mks and is mainly concerned therefore with the strike fighter versions.

Red Kite are delighted to introduce a major new landmark series of books on the Battle of Britain. The Battle of Britain Combat Archive Series forms the most comprehensive account ever of The Few’s gallant efforts. Focusing solely on RAF Fighter Command’s clashes with the Luftwaffe, the series covers every combat that took place on every day of the Battle of Britain. Using contemporary accounts such as combat reports, rarely seen squadron intelligence summaries and the newly released casualty reports, the author and his team of experts have broken down each day into its individual combats and assembled the claims, losses and first-hand accounts into a highly accessible format. These combats are illustrated with specially designed maps showing the amount of aircraft involved, the area that the engagement took place and the location of where the casualties came to earth. Each combat and casualty report is illustrated with a photo of the pilot wherever possible. Wing Leader Ltd was set up by Red Kite founders Simon W Parry and Mark Postlethwaite to act as an online retail business for their Red Kite publishing titles. RZM Imports, Inc. is proud to offer their publications here in North America. Volume Eleven covers 7-8 September the tipping point of the Battle where the Luftwaffe changed tactics and started bombing London. In this volume we uncover the minutes of a secret meeting held on 7 September in which the senior officers of RAF Fighter Command discussed the best way to ‘go downhill’ as it was clear that the Luftwaffe was winning. At that very moment, on the other side of the Channel, German bomber crews were being briefed on the change of tactic that would ultimately prove to be RAF Fighter Command’s saviour. Again it’s our absolute pleasure to introduce a new author to the series. A professional aircraft engineer and the son of a wartime Lancaster pilot, Peter Allam is a Lancaster expert in every sense of the word, and his in-depth knowledge was really needed with this one to pull out details on these lesser known examples. Holding its advantage over the Me 109F during the summer, the operational debut of the FW 190A in September 1941, found the Mk V somewhat outclassed, but despite this, it remained the main RAF fighter until the summer of 1942, when the Mk IX was introduced, but low level LF Mk Vb and Vcs remained in use into 1944.In this book, renowned Beaufighter expert Terry Higgins and modelling legend Neil Robinson share their deep knowledge of the subject and identify the various modifications, paint schemes and upgrades that were applied to the Beau during this period. It was a very complicated task which took them over a year to complete. Ontario-based designer, illustrator, andwriter Terry Higgins is a native of Norris Arm, Newfoundland, who has had a lifelong fascination with all things aviation-history related. After the usual high school era Royal Canadian Air Cadets stint and subsequent interests in both gliding and powered flight, Terry realized that he was drawn more towards the technical and operational history aspects of aviation. This led, in a roundabout way,to careers in photo-processing technology and print/digital reprographics. Throughout, Terry kept up his childhood hobbies of model building and (mostly aviation related) illustration. In 1940 Johnson had an operation to reset his collarbone, and began flying regularly. He took part in the offensive sweeps over German-occupied Europe from 1941 to 1944, almost without rest. Johnson was involved in heavy aerial fighting during this period. His combat tour included participation in the Dieppe Raid, Combined Bomber Offensive, Battle of Normandy, Operation Market Garden,the Battle of the Bulge and the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Johnson progressed to the rank of group captain by the end of the war.