SPITFIRE ACE OVER MALTA: A Personal Account of Ten Weeks of War, April-June 1942 [Hardcover]

Denis Barnham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2011

'The Germans had watched our arrival on radar and that afternoon all Hell broke loose over the Maltese airfields. In spite of strenuous efforts by the fighters and anti-aircraft gun defences, the Ju 87 and Ju 88 dive-bombers and strafing Messerschmitts managed to damage and destroy several of the newly delivered aircraft on the ground.'

One Man's Window is the journal of Flight Lieutenant Denis Barnham, who arrived on Malta as an inexperienced pilot, but grew into a battle-hardened Spitfire ace over his grueling two hundred operational hours between 13 April and 21 June 1942.

Malta was of great strategic importance to the Allies, and was pivotal to their success in North Africa as it provided the perfect launching pad for aircraft to attack Axis supply ships in the Mediterranean. the island in turn suffered intensive bombing by the German and Italian air forces as a direct result.

This memoir was written by the author as he and his fellow pilots battled against terrible odds and under constant attack. His words reflect honestly the sheer terror of flying from Malta.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Frontline Books (March 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848325606
• ISBN-13: 978-1848325609
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,094,292 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #82 in Books > History > Europe > Malta

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Customer Reviews

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars GRAPPLING ABOVE THE MEDITERRANEAN BLUE, June 5, 2011

By 

MONTGOMERY (WASHINGTON, DC - U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SPITFIRE ACE OVER MALTA: A Personal Account of Ten Weeks of War, April-June 1942 (Hardcover)

This book is, in a larger sense, the author's distillation of his experiences as an RAF Flight Lieutenant in 601 Squadron during his tour of duty on the island of Malta in the Spring of 1942.

Barnham was newly married and in his early 20s when he volunteered for service in Malta, which at the time of his arrival, was on the point of starvation. (Malta was key, at this stage of the Second World War, to Britain maintaining a foothold in the Mediterranean and North Africa. Hence, the efforts made by the Axis Powers to neutralize it.)

Through his diary entries and the sketches and paintings he made, Barnham speaks honestly about his struggles to take to the skies that were overwhelmingly dominated by the Axis Powers, overcoming his qualms about war's utter brutality, and simply coping with what seemed at the time to be the likelihood of a joint Italo-German invasion of the island. This book is also a testament to the ability of the human spirit, under the pressures of war, to endure and prevail against overwhelming odds.