wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (03/11/85)
In the light of the recent discussion of the operational use of rotorcraft during WWII, I found and read a book which covered the subject to some degree. The book is HELICOPTERS AT WAR, A Pictorial History, by David Wragg (St. Martin's Press, 1983, ISBN 0-312-36690-6, $16.95 -- first published in Great Britain by Robert Hale Ltd.). Since the book was originally published in Britain, this means that the emphasis is on European use, which limits some of the coverage an American reader might desire to see of US developments & history. Also, even though the subtitle emphasizes the "pictorial" aspects of the book, I found the number and variety of the pictures included to be sadly lacking. For example, there are NO pictures of the early German Focke-Achgelis craft. The only pictures of German WWII rotorcraft are two of the Fa.330 rotating- wing observation kite used on U-boats. Anyway, on p. 36 is the info about the single WWII helicopter use: "It was in Burma that the helicopter was used on its one and only World War II operational role when, in March 1944, Lt. Carter Harman flew an R-4B from India, over a 5000-foot mountain range, to the Allied base at 'Aberdeen', in Burma and behind Japanese lines. The trip itself was an achievement, without the added danger of being in a war zone, being flown with extra fuel tanks strapped to the machine above the head of the pilot to increase the range by an extra ten miles beyond the R-4B's usual 120 miles. 'Aberdeen' was a secret base occupied by Allied bomber and transport units, and by the British 1st Commando Group, and it was from here that the little R-4B was to rescue three British soldiers and a downed pilot, flying them out one at a time from a paddy-field." That's it. Hope it is of interest. Guess we'll never see a helicopter in a WWII movie, unless it is about behind-the-scenes aircraft development... Regards, Will Martin USENET: seismo!brl-bmd!wmartin or ARPA/MILNET: wmartin@almsa-1.ARPA