Bomber Aircraft of 305 Squadron
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Author: Lechoslaw Musialkowski
Publisher: Mushroom Model Publications
ISBN: 978-83-61421-80-1
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 192
The RAF had several units during the Second World War that were operated by foreign nationals from countries occupied by Germany. These included several Czech and Polish fighter squadrons, which have been well documented in literature. Lesser well known are the bomber squadrons, and this title in the Mushroom Model Publications' White Series helps shed some light on one of those bomber units. The Polish 305 Squadron started out as a night bomber unit, then transitioned into daylight operations before ending as a low-level bomber unit at the end of the war.
The Mushroom White Series provides an illustrated history of the subject, and for this book that means a great combination of text, photos, and color profile illustrations. As you'll note in the title, this book is not a history of the squadron, but rather a history of the aircraft themselves. Thus the book is broken up into specific section on each aircraft, following a chronological approach. The aircraft covered include the Fairey Battle, the Vickers Wellington, the North American Mitchell, and the de Havilland Mosquito. While this seems like a short list for such a large book, take note that the Wellington is actually broken up into multiple variants: IA/IC, II, IV, and X.
The vast majority of this book is in photographs, and these do an amazing job of illustrating the aircraft, standard markings, and the interesting personalization that went on in 305 Squadron. Artwork ranging from simple line drawings to more detailed nose art can be found across many of these aircraft types, with many further illustrated in the color profiles. An interesting side point, the profile artist provided a useful portrayal of the Fairey Battle. As photos of 305 Squadron Battles are few, his illustrations show both what can be seen in photos, and a full reconstruction based on common camouflage practices.
This is a nice collection of RAF bomber aircraft photos, and having them all tied to a specific unit opens up some great modeling collection potential. My thanks to Mushroom Model Publications for the review copy.