Michael Claringbould, softcover, 250 x 176mm, full colour, fully illustrated, 148 pages, Avonmore Books, 2024. ISBN 9780975642344 $39.95 DUE LATE 2024
This volume presents the most detailed history and accurate profiles to date of the Douglas Boston light bomber (DB-7B and A-20 models) in RAAF Pacific service. Unusually just one unit, No. 22 Squadron, operated the type in New Guinea throughout late 1942 to mid-1944 where it flew daring low-level attack missions, before advancing to the Netherlands East Indies.
This volume illustrates and explains the development of the type in RAAF service, and for the first time closely aligns its Japanese belligerents, both in the air, ground and sea. It also explains combat and other losses contrasted against the unique operational environment. A wide range of primary source material has been drawn upon including official records, diaries, rare photos, captured documents and operational logs of relevant Japanese units.
The author is world-renown for his expertise on the aerial war in the Pacific, while his passion for the Douglas light bomber stems from assisting with the 1984 salvage of an RAAF Boston from New Guinea.