No.162 Squadron (RCAF)

No.162 Squadron (RCAF) was a Canadian flying boat squadron that was formed on the Canadian east coast in 1942 as a long range anti-submarine warfare squadron, and that spent most of 1944 and the first half of 1945 operating with RAF Coastal Command in Iceland and Scotland, where it was credited with sinking five U-boats and a share in a sixth.

Great Naval Battles of the Ancient Greek World, Owen Rees

A look at a selection of the most important naval battles from the heyday of Classical Greece, covering the Persian Wars, the Great Peloponnesian War and the Corinthian War, a period dominated by the rise, fall, and partial rise of Athenian naval power. Demonstrates nicely the importance of naval power in all of these wars, as well as the wide variety of naval tactics in use during this period, with some decided by skilful seamanship and the ram, others by boarding actions, while some were effectively won before the first blow was struck 

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Sydney Camm – Hurricane and Harrier Designer – Saviour of Britain, John Sweetman

A useful biography of Sydney Camm, the chief design at Hawker during their period of dominance in the 1930s and into the jet age, but who is most famous for the Hawker Hurricane, the most numerous British fighter during the Battle of Britain. Camm comes across as a somewhat divisive figure in the workplace, with an abrasive management style, but also someone who could be won over by a good argument, and with a impressive grasp of the technical aspects of aircraft design, at least until the post-war jet age 

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Images of War - China & Japan at War 1937-1945, Philip Jowett

A look at the long brutal war between China and Japan, with a good range of pictures from both sides, covering the entire course of the war from the initial incidents in the north of China, through the brutal battles that destroyed the better part of the Nationalist army and through the long brutal years of Japanese occupation on to the eventual Allied victory. A well chosen selection of pictures, supported by good captions and a useful introduction to the course of the war.
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HMS Sheldrake (1911)

HMS Sheldrake (1911) was an Acorn class destroyer that served with the Second Destroyer Flotilla with the Grand Fleet in 1914-15 and at Devonport late in 1915, before moving the Mediterranean, where she was based at Malta from December 1915-June 1918 then with the main Fifth Destroyer Flotilla for the rest of the war.

USS Wasmuth (DD-338)

USS Wasmuth (DD-338) was a Clemson class destroyer that was converted into a minesweeper in 1940, but was lost late in 1942 after two of her own depth charges were swept overboard and detonated close to her stern.

Curtiss XBT2C

The Curtiss XBT2C was a one or two seat torpedo and dive bomber developed from the SB2C Helldiver, but which only reached the prototype stage.

No.112 Squadron, RCAF

No.112 Squadron, RCAF, was an army co-operation squadron that moved to Britain in the summer of 1940 and was largely engaged in training, before becoming No.2 Squadron, RCAF in December 1940.

The Rise of the Hellenistic Kingdoms 336-250 BC, Philip Matyszak

Looks at the first period in the history of the Hellenistic kingdoms, looking at the conquests of Alexander the Great, the wars of the successors that created the three main Hellenistic kingdoms, and the prime years of those kingdoms, when they were the dominant powers of the eastern Mediterranean. Perhaps inevitably focuses largely on the wars that created the empire then broke it apart, but also looks at the wider Hellenistic world, a period of some scientific progress, as well as the creation of the famous Library of Alexandria 

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Battlecruiser Repulse: detailed in the original builder’s plans, John Roberts

A fascinating set of details plans of the battlecruiser Repulse, looking at her when newly completed in 1916 and after her major modification of 1933-36. Reveals the complexity of these major warships, as well as the small scale domestic details needed to maintain their crew, so we get to see the massive structures associated with the main guns, details of the armour protection, the layout of the engine rooms, but also the location of the bread cooling room, book stall and soda siphon!

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