The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939 – 1945. By David Hobbs. Seaforth Publishing, Barnsley, Yorkshire, 2022
Reviewed by Tim Coyle
The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939 – 1945 is the latest in David Hobbs’ suite of histories of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.
The book joins earlier works including The Royal Navy’s Air Service in the Great War, documenting the RNAS until its absorption, together with the Royal Flying Corps, into the Royal Air Force in April 1918, The Dawn of Carrier Strike, covering the interwar period leading to the Norwegian campaign of 1940, Taranto, and Naval Air Warfare in the Mediterranean, 1940 to 1945 and the British Pacific Fleet of 1945.
David Hobbs is eminently qualified to write FAA history; he enjoyed a 30-year Royal Navy career as a FAA fixed and rotary wing pilot, served in naval aviation staff appointments and was Curator of the FAA museum for five years.
The book follows Hobbs’ established format of a chronological narrative from September 1939 to August 1945. The Introduction describes the state of the FAA in 1939, drawing on the unhappy interwar history in which the FAA was under the administrative and technical oversight of the Air Ministry, although operational control remained with the Admiralty. This dismal period is more widely covered in The Dawn of Carrier Strike. While full Admiralty control was restored in 1937 the FAA had to operate with sub-standard aircraft such as the Roc and the Skua. Due to the Air Ministry’s obsession with bombing (a trait shared with other air forces at the time), naval aircraft development was a low priority. One outstanding exception was the Fairey Swordfish and its close cousin, the Albacore, decried as obsolete in 1939, but providing extraordinary service, notably in the Taranto attack.
The courageous FAA sorties against the battleship Bismarck, which fatally crippled it, and the impossible odds met by Lieutenant Commander Esmonde VC, in leading the strike against the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the ‘Channel Dash’, are covered in absorbing detail. While much has been written of these incidents, Hobbs embeds the missions in the wholesale narrative as he addresses the FAA’s operational and tactical aspects evolution with the absorption of US-supplied aircraft such as the Martlet/Wildcat, Hellcat, Corsair and Avenger. These robust naval aircraft progressively operated from US-supplied escort carriers (CVE), as well as newly commissioned British fleet carriers, and were particularly noteworthy in supporting Russian convoys. As the war progressed the British-designed Barracuda and Firefly entered service, the recalcitrant Ministry of Aircraft Production having finally acceded to home-grown naval aircraft development.
As a career naval aviator and historian, Hobbs does not spare the Air Ministry or the RAF from criticism; however, this is carefully considered. He points out the interwar policy and force structure inadequacies, deficient overwater navigation capability by Bomber Command, when required to support maritime strike operations, and the lack of fighter cover for Esmonde’s doomed sortie. Although eight RAF fighter squadrons were assigned to support the mission, they failed to rendezvous; the subsequent enquiry, withheld until 1946, delivered an excuse-heavy finding (RAF Coastal Command, of course, was a dedicated maritime reconnaissance and strike command, under Admiralty operational contro,l which developed advanced long range overwater navigation techniques; early attempts for its incorporation into the FAA were unsuccessful).
As with most World War Two allied military forces, the FAA was largely manned by ‘temporary’ volunteer reserve officers and sailors. Hobbs records aircrew lost as part of the operational narrative and the number of RNZVR aircrew is noteworthy. As the war progressed, temporary officers attained senior appointments in operational squadrons. As the European war wound down, many Commonwealth air force aircrew transferred to the FAA for service against Japan.
As with Hobbs’ previous works, The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939-1945 bibliography cites extensive Admiralty files and publications as primary sources, and the rich field of secondary sources written by historians and veterans. Hobbs uses his FAA background to add a professional assessment to the narrative. Most of the book’s illustrations are from Hobbs’ personal collection and its overall presentation is of high quality. The narrative style is disciplined with due regard to the valour, hardship and professionalism of the FAA aircrew and supporting services.
The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe 1939 – 1945 is a necessary addition to any serious aviation history library. While it may stand alone, it ideally should share the bookshelf with Hobbs’ above-mentioned previous works to complete an unexcelled history of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm in World War Two.
