No.168 Squadron 1942-1945 Book Review

By Michael Benolkin

Review

RAF-in-Combat has released another installment in their RAF, Dominion & Allied Squadrons at War: Study, History and Statistics series. This series is similar to their Famous Squadrons series but these new titles are published in A4 format where Famous Squadrons were published in a smaller booklet format. In addition, it looks like this publisher has departed from the ISBN book catalog numbering system as many small companies have to save cost and hassle given that most of their titles are sold directly from the website rather than through bookstores and other stockists where the ISBN would be needed. This all means that the these new titles cost less!

In this title, the author takes a look at the operations of 168 Squadron, a unit that was first formed in 1942 to serve in the tactical reconnaissance (armed recon) role. First equipped with the Tomahawk (early P-40), the squadron transitioned to the Mustang Mk.I prior to the invasion of Europe. By October 1944, 168 Sqn had transitioned into the Typhoon and became the only Typhoon unit not to carry bombs or rockets into combat due to their reconnaissance role. 168 Sqn flew around 3200 sorties and had even shot down four Luftwaffe aircraft, but the squadron lost 19 pilots in combat, 2 in non-combat circumstances, and 3 became prisoners or war. Because of their high losses, 168 Sqn was disbanded in February 1945 becoming the only Typhoon unit to be shut down before the end of the war.

Coverage in this title includes:

• Squadron History
• Appendix I: Squadron Commanders and Flight Commanders
• Appendix II: Major awards
• Appendix III: Operational diary (number of sorties per month)
• Appendix IV: Victory list
• Appendix V: Details of aircraft losses on operations
• Appendix VI: Details of Aircraft losses in accidents
• Appendix VII: Aircraft Serial Numbers & Letter Codes
• Appendix VIII: Nominal roll
• Appendix IX: Roll of Honour
• Color Profiles

The title is nicely illustrated with color profiles of representative aircraft from the squadron, photos of many of the pilots and men assigned to 168 Sqn, as well as period photographs of squadron aircraft.

The format of this title is very well done and provides the aviation historian and modeler alike with excellent information to answer questions or as a starting point for further research. This title is highly recommended and I certainly hope to see many more in this format in the future!

My sincere thanks to Phil H. Listemann for the review sample.