Brewster F2A Buffalo Aces of World War 2 [Paperback]

The book is nothing short of excellent.

Kari Stenman has done a number of superb books in the series and his knowledge of the Finnish Air Force pilots, aircraft, records is unmatched. His collection on the Finnish Air Force is a model for historians of other countries.

This book covers the development and early deployment of the Brewster Buffalo, from concept to winning a competition against what became its replacement, the USN/USMC F4F Wildcat. Of interest to the curious was the proposal that the Buffalo equip the RAF Eagle Squadrons and the flight results and then the recommendations that led to the assignment of the equipment the Far East with some strays assigned to the FAA.

After explaining the development and sales of the Buffalo overseas, the authors smoothly transition to the performance of Buffaloes in Finnish Service. Their record there, flying mostly with LeLv 24 (an earlier book in the Aces Series) was remarkable, amassing a victory ratio with that squadron of 459 aircraft shot down, for 15 combat losses. Outnumbered, and flying against increasing superior quality aircraft (Russian and Lend-lease) the Finns showed what could be done with the aircraft and superb tactics and training. They kept the most of the 44 aircraft they received operational under constant combat conditions for three years while cut of from parts and replacements, a feat in itself.

The authors then cover RAAF/RAF/Dutch use of the Buffalo in the Far East, and the fighting retreat they had against the Japanese. Many good anecdotes are included that are not commonly found in histories of the kind. Backgrounds on the aces (and pilots who were or would become aces) are integrated into the book (some other books have profiles at the end).

Having covered the retreats from Malaya, Java, and Burma, the authors return to Buffalos ending up in the hands of VMF-221 on Midway Island, attacking Japanese planes attempting to survey the island, and later and famously attacking the large carrier based strike launched by the Japanese as part of the Battle of MIdway. The very high losses sustained and the comments of one of the pilots, "It is my belief that any commander who orders pilots out for combat in a F2A-3 (Buffalo) should consider the pilot lost before leaving the ground". This was widely quoted and is one of the reason the Buffalo is often on various Worst Fighters Lists.

The book then returns to the end of the Buffalo, as a USN trainer, and its finale, shooting down German aircraft in the brief Finnish-German conflict in 1944 after the Finns had signed a peace treaty with the USSR. It scored the final Finnish (or any Buffalo) victory of the war.

The book also includes a number of excellent plates listing of aces and famous pilots who flew the Buffalo.

The book is balanced, not claiming the Buffalo was terrible or great, but pointing out some good qualities, and shortcomings. Given its small numbers and isolation from parts and supplies, and age (fighting against much newer, modern aircraft) its Finnish record is remarkable.

Referenced, and not to be forgotten, the Finnish Buffalo was much, much lighter than the USMC/RAAF/RAF/Dutch Buffalos and having flown fighters heavily laden and light in the same version, this plus the veteran quality of the Finns may account for its spotty record across different nations.

Dear fellow Amazon.com reader and buyer, this book delivers and is another fine job proves that Osprey is an excellent military book publisher. You will not be unhappy with this purchase.
The book covers the development of the Brewster, it's operational life with the RAF, Dutch, USN and the Finnish AF. It's a pretty well known fact the Finnish did a fantastic job flying the Brewster. This book give good reasons for the fact. First, the Finns were able to beat LaGGs and Spitfires with it and that is no mean feat. It comes down to training and - simply - the pilots who received the Buffalos had already seen combat with Fokker or other mid-1930s designs. Conversely, lets take the US Marines who flew the -3 Buffalo. The problems with the Brewster in Marine service was the -3 was far too heavy. Indeed, the -2 Buffalo was nearly as good as the Japanese "Nate" fighter (both were underpowered) but the -3 was overloaded with armor and extra gear. Ergo, the Marines at Midway had a slower and less maneuverable aircraft than what the Finns flew against the Russians. Second, the US Marines at Midway were not as well trained as the Finnish Air Force pilots. Indeed, most of the Marines had been flying for hardly less than half a year and their time in the Brewster was less than one week. Still, the -3 aircraft was so underpowered that it's doubtful a good pilots would have done well against the Zero.

This book is necessary if a person is going to build a scale model of the Brewster Buffalo. The color plates are second to none and the author and his artist really do a good job showing the colors of the Brewster in British, Dutch, and American service. Weirdly, I didn't see in the book where an explanation is given for the half black/half grey paint job on the bottom of some of the British Brewsters. But I will not knock off a star for that mistake.

I liked this book. This gives a casual WWII historian a good snap shot into the workings of an aircraft that has a worse than deserved reputation for a WWII fighter.

One British pilot summed up the whole problem with the Buffalo, "it needed more power." If a better engine had been put on the Buffalo it would have been the equal of any of the F4F models. But by mid-1942 the usefulness of the Buffalo had long since passed and it was regulated to training in US service and none saw the end of WWII.

The book is quite enjoyable and you'll like it.

On thing that bothers me about the Ospery series is that they do not have specifications and performance figures for the aircraft the aces flew. The Buffalo was a much maligned fighter flown by several nations with the Finns having much success with it. The reasons for why the Finns were so successful while the British and Dutch were not is possibly because of the opposition they encountered. Were the Russians less skillful than the Japanese and did the Japanese have superior aircraft? But the Finns used it throughout much of the war with great success and had an outstanding kill ratio. The book is well documented with considerable attention given to the individuals who flew the Buffalo. It is a typical Ospery book. Well written and researched. It is interesting to wonder what success the Buffalo would have had with a more powerful engine.

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