Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces of World War 2
By Chris Banyai-Riepl
Aircraft of the Aces 91
Author: Kari Stenman & Andrew Thomas
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-84603-481-7
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 96
When one thinks of aces of the Second World War, many aircraft come to mind. One aircraft that generally doesn't come to mind is the Brewster Buffalo, but it managed to eke out a decent record for itself in the skies over Finland. This latest title from Osprey examines the Buffalo in the hands of those aces, as well as those few British, Dutch, and American pilots who flew the Buffalo and later became aces in other aircraft (although nine British pilots did achieve ace status in the Buffalo in the Far East).
As the Buffalo served mainly with the Finnish Air Force, at least in combat, roughly half of the book covers those far north operations. The Buffalo quickly became a favorite with the pilots over Finland, and no less than 37 pilots achieved ace status in the type. The leading Buffalo ace, Hans Wind, managed to down 39 aircraft while flying the F2A, an impressive tally no matter what aircraft flown.
The rest of the book covers the Buffalo in the Pacific, including the Far East. The US combat operations with the Buffalo is constricted to just a single battle, that of Midway. Largely outperformed by the Japanese, the Buffalo did manage to shoot down two Japanese aircraft during that battle. The Dutch had a bit more combat experience with the type, but no Dutch pilot managed to achieve ace status in the type.
The British Buffalo operations in the Far East were more involved, and this book does a good job in describing the conditions encountered. The enemy encountered by the British was very different than that of the Finns, but the skilled British pilots managed to do fairly well before being overrun by the Japanese.
While not as glamorous as the Bf 109 or Spitfire, the Brewster Buffalo deserves its place in aviation history, and this latest title in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces series does a good job of introducing this aircraft to a wider audience. My thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy.