Gustavsson, Hakan and Ludovico Slongo. Desert Prelude: Early Clashes, June - November 1940. Petersfield, Hamps: MMP Books, 2010
ISBN 978-83-8945-0-52-4
224 pages
Acknowledgments; Introduction; maps; photos; Index; Color profiles of aircraft
In 1969, the release of Fighters over the Desert by Christopher Shores marked a new level of detail and precision in chronicling air operations in the Second World War. That book went on to become a highly regarded classic and the first of many similar day-by-day accounts of air action written by Shores. Back in those olden days, it seemed likely Fighters over the Desert would not ever be surpassed in its coverage of air ops in North Africa.
With publication of Desert Prelude, it might be time to reconsider that assessment.
Although the title and sub-title generate a little ambiguity, the new book from Gustavsson and Slongo focuses on air operations. The theater is mostly Libya and Egypt, but also includes action above Tunisia and the western Mediterranean prior to French capitulation. The chapters encompass the full spectrum of aircraft at war, such as transport missions and air-sea patrols.
The opening section of the book describes the state of the Italian, Commonwealth, and French air forces in the theater in mid-1940. This includes fairly comprehensive OB material with types and numbers of aircraft. For the Italians in particular, the authors identify many individual pilots. This section also explains some of the last-minute shuffling that occurred immediately prior to the outbreak of hostilities in Africa. Here's a brief example:
The 50th Stormo Assalto was based in Libya from the summer of 1939 and equipped with Breda Ba.65/A80s. The aircraft were worn out even before the beginning of the war, and because of this serviceability was down to very low levels, sometimes only 18% of the flight line. Apart from this, the Bredas were considered unsafe because of a string of accidents (sometimes fatal).
The HQ in Rome took the decision to replace the Bredas of the 50th Stormo with a new plane, and the choice fell on the Caproni Ca.310B Libeccio.
During the second half of May 1940, the Bredas based in Libya were discharged (83 planes in various degrees of efficiency and not all in charge of the 50th Stormo; there were also some Breda Ba.65/K14s which had been left behind by the 2nd Stormo after an unsuccessful attempt to use them in the dual role of fighter/fighter-bomber).
After a brief period of training in Northern Italy, some pilots of the Stormo came back to Libya with the first examples (nine) of the new aircraft....
Following that introductory section, the book divides into six chapters, one for each month of the period June through November 1940. Each chapter is organized in identical fashion, beginning with a short overview of progress of the campaign on the ground. The authors then review changes to the organization, command, location, equipment, and strength of units for each air force, including Italian, Commonwealth, and French. The small Egyptian air force (REAF) isn't ignored. For example, the overview of June 1940 includes this paragraph:
After the first raid on Alexandria during the night of 21-22 June both REAF Gladiator squadrons were placed under command of 252 Fighter Wing RAF. 2 Sqn was based at Helwan under command of S/Ldr Muhammed Ibrahim Abu Rabia, while 5 Sqn was based at Dekhalia.
Notes for other air forces in the overviews are rather more extensive.
Within each of the six chapters, following the overview for that chapter, the authors proceed to deliver a day-by-day chronology of operations on each front within the theater. This is the real meat of each chapter and the book as a whole.
With the Italian declaration of war against France and the UK on 10 June 1940, the war in the skies above Africa began. Here's how the authors report the first action.
10 June 1940: British-Italian Front
It has often been reported that during the night of 10 and 11 June, Air Commodore Collishaw undertook an unofficial bombing mission accompanied by a volunteer crew in a Vickers Valentia nicknamed 'Bessie.' They took off from Ma'aten Bagush with a crate of hand-grenades stowed on board, with which they attacked an Italian camp. Collishaw's second pilot was F/O Harvey. After the 'attack' the aircraft returned to Ma'aten Bagush.
The authors haven't so far been able to find corroboration of this action in the official documents of 70 and 216 Sqns, the two units that operated the Valentia in Egypt.
That's the only record of action for 10 June. For 11 June 1940, however, operations on the British-Italian front in the Desert encompass three pages, while aerial operations on the Franco-Italian front in Africa and the Med comprise an additional five paragraphs.
As the authors zero in on the battle in the sky, along the way they address a variety of related issues. For example, the entry for 11 June discusses the Italian system for classifying lost/damaged aircraft ("Fuori Uso," "Riparabile in Ditta," and "Riparabile in Squadriglia") and what that actually meant to units in the field. They also discuss the difference between the Italian and British reckoning of time, which in some cases meant the opponents were recording the identical clock time, but mostly they were operating with a one-hour difference of GMT+1 versus GMT+2. This represents part of a larger discussion of occasional difficulties reconciling Italian and British accounts of what happened and exactly when it occurred.
In that regard, it's interesting to consult another book on air ops in the Desert, Royal Air Force Bomber Losses in the Middle East and Mediterranean, volume 1: 1939-1942 by David Gunby and Pelham Temple, which lists these RAF bomber losses on 11 June 1940:
45 Sqn: Blenheim I L8476 -- Sgt P. Bower -- Damaged by flak near El Adem, crashed into sea, crew killed
45 Sqn: Blenheim I L8519 -- Sgt M. C. Thurlow -- Damaged by flak near El Adem, force-landed, crew killed
47 Sqn: Wellesley I K7730 -- P/O B. K. C. Fuge -- Damaged by ground fire, force-landed, crew captured
113 Sqn: Blenheim I L4823 -- F/Lt D. A. Beauclair -- Shot down in flames by three Italian fighters after attacking El Adem, crew captured
By comparison, Gustavsson and Slongo, in their three pages dealing with 11 June 1940, note the following Italian claims and RAF losses.
[Against RAF bombers attacking El Adem, CR.32]...pilots claimed two [Blenheim] bombers shot down (one into the sea and one from which the crew was seen to bale out) and four damaged....
...Bissoli shot down a Blenheim that fell down close to T3 [airfield near El Adem] (nobody was seen to jump from the aircraft), while his wingmen claimed damage to two others....
...Blenheim Mk. I L8476 was reportedly hit by light flak shortly after the last attack, caught fire, and crashed into the sea killing the crew—Sgt Peter Bower....
...Blenheim Mk. I L8519 was damaged during the raid and crash-landed at Sidi Barrani, where it burst into flames killing its crew—Sgt Maurice Cresswell Thurlow....
...Blenheim Mk. I L8466 [F/O A. Finch and crew] suffered an engine failure over the target (possibly hit by Italian fire), the other engine failed...and the aircraft made a wheels-up forced landing near Buq Buq [and was later repaired]
...one Blenheim Mk. IV of 113 Sqn was admitted lost to [Italian fighters] when L4823 [F/Lt D. Beauclair] was shot down....
As with all pilots of all air forces, the Italians seem to have over-claimed RAF losses on 11 June, and there's also some disagreement about which losses were caused by fighters and which by flak. On the other hand, Gustavsson and Slongo make no mention of the Wellesley I recorded as lost by Gunby and Temple.
The "Operations" section of the chapter for June continues in this manner with daily entries—some lengthy, some shorter—for each date through the end of the month. In total, the chapter on June 1940 amounts to almost forty pages.
The chapter for July 1940 picks up in exactly the same fashion. A paragraph about the ground campaign during the month. Roughly five pages concerning changes to the Regia Aeronautica during July. (For example: "On 1 July the 13th Gr. moved to El Adem T3 airfield with the 18 CR.42s left and was still there at the end of the month.") Two pages concerning changes to the Royal Air Force. (For example: "In the beginning of July two French Martin 167Fs from GB I/39 (Nos 82 and 102) escaped to Egypt. On 13 July, they were attached to 8 Sqn at Khormaksar (Aden), and flown by their French pilots in RAF uniforms.") The log of daily operations in July amounts to about thirty pages and includes, for example, material regarding aerial ops during Operation Catapult (the British attack on French warships at Mers el Kebir) and French attacks on Gibraltar.
Chapters for August, September, October, and November are organized in the same manner.
So how does Christopher Shores stack up against Gustavsson and Slongo? Using 11 June, the first day of battle, makes a reasonable comparison. Here's what Shores reports for that date:
11 June 1940
As has already been noted, the RAF were quick off the mark on the declaration of war, twenty-six Blenheims from 45, 55, and 113 Squadrons attacking Italian aircraft on the ground at El Adem during the early morning of 11 June. No enemy fighters were reported met, but 55 Squadron encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire; one Blenheim crashed into the sea in flames, one crash-landed, and a third was so badly damaged that it was forced to make a crash-landing at Sidi Barrani, where it burst into flames. However, at this time seven CR 42s of 8th Gruppo, 2nd Stormo, reported attacking nine Blenheims near El Adem and claimed two of these, one crew becoming POWs. It is possible that the bomber crews were so intent on their first attack of the war that they did not see the attacking fighters. A second raid was made during the day, and eighteen aircraft were claimed as having been damaged or destroyed. In the early afternoon two CR 42s of 2nd Stormo reported intercepting three Blenheims, one being shot down by Ten. Bussoli, who had already claimed one of these aircraft during the morning. Italian losses were reported as three Ro 37s and two Ghiblis badly damaged, two Ro 37s, five SM 79s and six SM 81s slightly damaged.
That's the full extent of the entry for 11 June activities in Fighters over the Desert. On the other hand, Desert Prelude, as noted above, measures approximately three pages for that date, including information about other RAF operations (such as patrols by Sunderlands and Lysanders) and other RAF movements (including those by some Gladiators and Bombays), as well as considerably more about the Regia Aeronautica and a bit about French aircraft on the 11th. Shores appears to misspell Gioacchino Bissoli as "Bussoli." Gustavsson and Slongo quote Italian reports that their AA defenses were practically non-existent, and credit victories to CR 32 fighters, although Shores calls them CR 42s. Desert Prelude also gives slightly different figures for Italian losses on the ground: "The 44th Gr. lost one completely burnt out SM 79, two more lightly damaged (RS) and two more seriously damaged (they had to be repaired in the local S.R.A.M.) The Gruppo also suffered three dead and twenty-four wounded. Three Ro.37s of the 137th Sq were also destroyed and two Ca.309s were also heavily damaged and two Ro.37s and six S.81s more lightly damaged. Ten more soldiers were wounded."
These sorts of niggling contradictions might never be fully resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Although Shores provides plenty of detail (and sometimes gives a better overall summary of the daily action), for the most part Gustavsson and Slongo offer substantially more information about more operations over the Western Desert each and every day. And they include material about the Franco-Italian front in Africa, which Shores leaves out. Consequently, anyone who has enjoyed Fighters over the Desert will almost certainly find even more to like in Desert Prelude. Keep in mind, however, this is only the first volume of Desert Prelude. MMP's publication schedule shows the second volume, extending through arrival of the Luftwaffe, due for release in November.
The authors illustrate all their chapters with black-and-white photographs of planes, pilots, aerial views of targets, and other images. They also include several pages of color profiles of aircraft. The index seems to be missing geographical names, mostly being limited to the names of airmen. The book contains no bibliography, but the authors promise one for the second volume. It would have been nice to see for each day (and perhaps for each month) a table comparing aggregate losses and claims for each side, but no tabulations of that nature appear.
Overall, however, this is a very satisfying book. The text occasionally stumbles slightly (perhaps due to translations from Italian sources) but that's a minor point that never really interferes with the content. The authors have done a commendable job compiling and presenting so much information, and MMP Books, previously specializing in material about aircraft modeling, continues moving in a new direction with some strong offerings.
It took forty years for Gustavsson and Slongo to unseat Fighters over the Desert at the top of the heap of books about air ops in North Africa. It will likely be at least that long until something more impressive than Desert Prelude comes along—and maybe never.
Highly recommended.
Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from MMP's US distributor, Casemate.
Thanks to Casemate for providing this review copy.
Reviewed 1 August 2010
Copyright © 2010 by Bill Stone
May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Stone & Stone
