North American Mustang IV in Western Europe Book Review
By Michael Benolkin
| Date of Review | August 2015 | Title | North American Mustang IV in Western Europe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Phil Listemann | Publisher | Philedition |
| Published | 2015 | ISBN | 9782918590705 |
| Format | 40 pages, softbound | MSRP (USD) | $13.95 |
Review
Phil Listemann is a publisher from southwestern France that specializes in interesting historical monographs examining individual RAF squadrons during World War II. These titles are extremely well done and come from a direction that is overlooked by similar publishers these days, from the aspect of the people involved.
In this title, the authors take a look at the Mustang IV (P-51D) and Mustang IVA (P-51K) in RAF service. The author looks at the combat records of each RAF squadron that was issued the Mustang IV/IVA in western Europe unit by unit. While it was the RAF that 'fixed' the early Mustang by replacing the Allison engine with the Rolls Royce Merlin, the vast majority of Mustang production was directed at USAAF units and the RAF wouldn't receive the Mustang IV/IVA until very late in the war and under the terms of Lend-Lease, the Mustangs were released from service soon after VE Day.
The author uses his existing format for providing a concise combat history for each unit followed by data tables listing the combat victories and losses by unit. The title is illustrated with period photography of men and machines and supplemented with five color profiles of these Mustangs in squadron colors and markings.
This is another useful title for the aviation historian and modeler alike.
My sincere thanks to Phil H. Listemann for the review sample.