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(More customer reviews)My initial thought when I saw the Osprey adverts for P-36 HAWK ACES OF WORLD WAR 2 was: WHAT P-36 Aces!?! Then the attic light went on and I realized P-36 = Hawk 75 = French aces. And, as chronicled in this interesting 'Osprey Aircraft of the Aces' book, some 39 l'Armee de l'Air pilots made ace in the aircraft. Finnish pilots likewise made good use of Hawk 75s against Russian aircraft, some 15 aces being produced. Along with the odd USAAF and RAF kill, Curtiss' scrappy little fighter compiled quite a combat record.
Lest the reader think the P-36 was a second-stringer warbird, consider these facts. The FIRST Luftwaffe pilot downed by l'Armee de l'Air Hawks was Werner Molders! French Hawks were credited with 234 kills in the 1939/40 fighting with Vichy Hawks later adding a few more victories over RAF and USN aircraft. Aces like Camille Plubeau, Georges Baptizet, Edouard Sales, Maurice Tallent, Michel Dorance and Georges Lefol used the highly maneuverable, heavily armed Curtiss fighter to deadly effect. Finnish aces like Eino Koskinen, Aaro Kiljunen and Kalevi Tervoa likewise exploited the Hawk 75's strengths to help down 190 Russian aircraft between 1941 and 1944. Interestingly enough the P-36 Hawk was one of the few warbirds to fly for AND against the Allies in WWII!
Authors Persyn, Stenman and Thomas do a nice of tracing the Hawk's combat career in various air forces and conflicts. Many first-hand combat accounts liven up the text as do some 80 photographs and eight pages of color profiles of P-36s/Hawk 75s/Mohawks by Mark Styling.
P-36 HAWK ACES OF WORLD WAR 2 is a wonderful addition to the 'Aircraft of the Aces' series. It sheds light on a little-known but very effective warbird that saw service around the global in various air forces and is a good read to boot. Recommended.
*****
NB. If several pilots helped down an e/a, the l'Armee de l'Air did not divide the credit for the kill but gave a full victory credit to each pilot!
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The Curtiss P-36 began its life in the US where it was considered a revolution in performance design in comparison to other US fighters. Its pilots achieved some of the first American victories of the war and many went on to become aces. One P-36 pilot, Frances Gabreski, became the leading US ace in the European Theater. Yet by the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the P-40 was increasingly supplanting the P-36, which the US then exported to France under the guise of the Hawk 75. Flown by the French, captured by the Germans, sold to the Finns, transferred to India and Africa, and even incorporated into the RAF, the Hawk 75 saw service in every theater of operations and in a variety of combat environments. This book depicts the fascinating life of an aircraft that fought on both sides in the war, including the oft-overlooked Vichy French Air Force, with color artwork and photographs illustrating just how many national P-36 variants there were. First hand accounts recreate many of the conflicts that gave rise to over 60 pilots from several nations who became aces flying P-36 variants. This volume completes the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces coverage of the Curtiss Hawk family.
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