Vichy Air Force at War

Today I finished this short work on the Vichy French Air Force and I have mixed emotions on it. The topic it should cover is the pilots, aircraft (possibly bases) and actions they fought. Instead we receive only a 30,000-foot version of the history of the Armée de l'air de Vichy. Decent material on the pilots but little on the actions.

Nothing is written on the organization or the nomenclature of the squadrons. A subject that I found confusing. What aircraft that are covered is done so in a scattered fashion. It was surprising to find the Curtis H75 missing as well as all of the bombers.

It appears that this book was written quickly with no primary sources. The bibliography
has books that are dated and not really sources for the book’s subject. There are also no notes in the text telling were the source material came from.

The one saying grace is for those in the wargaming community. There are dozens of possible aviation battles waiting to be used with the Fighting Wings Series or Bag the Hun. None of the write ups are long but they are useful for creating a campaign. Maybe of use in a Lardy special.

It has me wanting something better. I am thinking of look at TRADITIONAL ENEMIES: Britain's War With Vichy France 1940-42.

Overall I go with 2★ unless you are a gamer and than it is a 3★ book (maybe).