Warriors of the Sky, Springbok Air Heroes in Combat

Title: Warriors of the Sky, Springbok Air Heroes in Combat. 2006
Author: Peter Bagshawe
Length: 272 Pages


This is a reprint of the book of the same name in the South Africans at War series from the 1990's. It tells us of the heroism and adventures, as well as some lighter moments, of the South African Air Force in WWII, Korea, and the Border War along the Angola-South West Africa border in the 1970's and 80's.

These were the real stories from the men themselves. They talk about fighter missions, South Africa's part in the Empire Training Scheme, bombing attacks in Liberators, air drops to the Home Army during the Warsaw Uprising, as well as being rescued at sea. They also mention missions of pilots attached to the RAF, ranging from North Africa to Burma.

The only real problem that I have with this book is that they bounce from WWII, to the Border War, back to WWII, then Korea and back. I wish they'd stayed with a chronological sequence and gotten the WWII stories into the beginning.

The stories from these men who risked their lives to defeat their enemies make for instructive reading, and are backed up with action pictures showing them attack enemy ships and planes. This is worth your time.

 

One of my first models was a SA P-40...