Hawker Typhoon (2e GM) : livres - histoire et déploiement

With the technology of the Hurricane being at the end of the biplane combat aircraft era, there was an urgent requirement for a modern fighter with a capability ahead of the anticipated German fighter development for the Luftwaffe.
The Hawker design team lead by Sydney Camm created the all-metal stressed skin structure Typhoon powered by the revolutionary Napier Sabre engine. Whereas the Hurricane had been developed in peacetime, the Typhoon was designed in wartime, when the urgency of the programme caused the development of both the airframe and engine to be accelerated, resulting in teething troubles not being fully solved when the aircraft entered service with the RAF.

The much improved Tempest used the same engine and basic fuselage with thinner lamina flow wings, giving improved performance at altitude, and allowing the destruction of the V1s at low altitude.
Both aircraft made a significant impact on the victory by the Allies in WW2, although their low level ground attack missions were extremely hazardous, and resulted in high pilot losses.

Although first designed as a fighter, during the fighting in and over Europe during 1944 and 1945 the Hawker Typhoon gained a tremendous reputation and true fame as a ground-attack aircraft and tank-buster. This was a remarkable achievement because, during its development and early career, the Typhoon had experienced severe problems with its Napier Sabre engine and catastrophic failures of its airframe.

The Typhoon's offensive ground-attack work is well known, but that tends to overshadow the type's successes operating from 1942 as a true fighter based in the UK. Nevertheless, during the final year of World War Two, following the D-Day landings in June 1944, the Typhoon performed a crucial role in the European theatre.

After May 1945 it disappeared from RAF squadrons very quickly, so to leave such a record of success over such a short time is nothing short of outstanding! It was not a world-beater, but the Typhoon was perfect for the job that was required of it.
Many books that document the Typhoon cover it in conjunction with its successor, the Hawker Tempest. However, this work, fully illustrated with over 180 photographs, gives this heavyweight machine a well-deserved volume of its own.

The Typhoon was the RAF's heavyweight fighter-bomber of choice to support the British and Canadian armies during the invasion of northwest Europe.

In this book Chris Thomas extols the great importance of the Typhoon wings in the ultimate Allied victory in Europe. He describes their destruction of German radar in the lead-up to D-Day, the use of large-scale rocket projectiles in land battles and pinpoint attacks on German command and control centres, which crippled the Wehrmacht's ability to respond quickly to Allied troop movements.
But not everything went smoothly for the Typhoon wings. Their epic battle with highly effective German flak installations prompted Air Chief Marshal Sir Harry Broadhurst to remark 'I suppose that flying one of these aircraft was the most dangerous task the Air Force has ever asked anybody to do'.

Contents: Early Deployment - Into Action - Rolling Thunder - 'Doom Pussy' - Patricia Lynn - Aussie Canberras - B-57G - End Game - Appendices and plate commentaries

Hawker Typhoon and Tempest - two aircraft types with widely differing reputations. The former was a technical nightmare redeemed as a ground attack machine, whilst the latter proved to be the most superlative low and medium level fighter to see service with the RAF, and arguably any air force, during the latter stages of World War 2.
With 246 enemy aircraft destroyed by the Typhoon and 239 by the Tempest, over 40 aces flew one or both types in combat, and men like 'Foob' Fairbanks and Johnny Baldwin attained double-figure scores with the Hawker fighters.

Son of a Typhoon pilot, Chris Thomas is arguably Britain's best authority on the Typhoon/Tempest family, having served as Air Britain's specialist on the type for over two decades.
Contents: Introduction - Into Service and Out? - Jabo Hunters - 'Rhubarbs' and 'Rangers' - D-Day and 'Divers' - Holland - Final Battles - Top Scorers - Appendices.