Airfields of the Ninth Then and Now, by Roger Freeman. Published by Battle of Britain Prints International, Ltd., London. Available to U.S. readers via the worldwide web at www.afterthebattle.mcmail.com. 240 pages. $49.95 hardcover. Add $5 postage and handling.

AIRFIELDS OF THE NINTH THEN AND NOW parallels Airfields of the Eighth in retracing the operations and revisiting the bases of the USAAF Ninth Air Force. Whereas the Eighth Air Force, in co-operation with the RAF Bomber Command, conducted the Allies’ strategic air campaign against Germany, the Ninth served in a tactical role, providing air support to the Normandy invasion. Instead of the more famous B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, the Ninth flew the smaller B-26 Marauders and a variety of other light bombers. Other airfields of the Ninth provided homes for the fighter and reconnaissance units that supported the bombers.

This volume also looks at the bases of an under-appreciated group of fliers who were as much a part of the Allied air offensive as the bombers crews–the pilots of the air transport commands who ferried parachute and glider troops to the Continent during the invasions of France and Holland.

Other “After the Battle” titles include D-Day Then and Now, The War in the Channel Islands Then and Now, and Glenn Miller in Britain Then and Now. Additional volumes deal with the war in France, the Ardennes, Berlin, and campaigns of the First World War. For a complete list of After the Battle books, see the publisher’s website at www.afterthebattle.mcmail.com or contact RZM Imports at P.O. Box 995 Southbury, CT 06488. Tel: 203-264-0774; web: www.rzm.com.

Bruce Heydt

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