Griffon Spitfire Aces

Aircraft of the Aces #81
By Andrew Thomas
Osprey Publishing, ©2008
ISBN 978-1-84603-298-1
Softbound, 96 Pages

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British icon of World War Two, one whose shape is instantly recognizable. In order for this fighter to last throughout the war, though, it had to undergo dramatic changes in powerplant and armament. By mid-war, the Griffon-engined Spitires began to make their presence known, and the more powerful engine gave the Spitfire back its edge over the Luftwaffe. The latest Osprey Aces title examines those pilots of the Griffon-engined Spitfires and their operational history.

The first Griffon-engined Spitfire, the Mk. XII, took to the air in 1943, but it was not until the definitive Mk. XIV that the Griffon Spitfire truly came into its own. The combination of the Spitfire airframe with the 2000hp Griffon engine resulted in what many consider to be the best low level fighter of the war. The performance of the Mk XIV was good enough to do intercept missions against the V-1s launched from France, with a great many falling into the channel after encountering Mk. XIV Spitfires.

While the majority of Spitfire aces reached their ace-hood in earlier marks, there were fourteen pilots who became aces in Griffon-engined Spitfires, and another thirteen who claimed at least part of their totals as well. Of course, this does not necessarily count the V-1 intercepts, as those could easily run into the double digits. This book details those aces in the usual Osprey manner, with lots of personal accounts to go along with the chronological history. There are plenty of photos to complement the text, and the color profile illustrations highlight the colors and markings of various ace’s aircraft.

With other titles in the Osprey series covering the earlier Spitfire types, this is a welcome addition to the Aircraft of the Aces series. My thanks to Osprey for the review copy.