AEREI ITALIANI
NEWS LIBRI
Peter Haining
The Chianti Raiders
ISBN: 1861058292
pp.224 - 2005 £ 16,99
Editore: Robson Books
'Haining's Rommels Gold leaves you gasping for breath'
The Good Hook Guide
To most people, The Battle of Britain was a violent and bloody duel between
the RAF and the Luftwaffe that played a pivotal role in the course of
the Second World War.
Yet sixty-five years ago on the night of Thursday 24 October 1940 the
stillness
of the major east coast port of Harwich was shattered by the sound of
exploding bombs. On this particular evening, however, there was something
quite different from previous attacks - the aircraft engines' sounding
like rattling tin cans' were quite unlike the usual German planes and
the bombs fell with far less accuracy than usual.
The Harwich raiders were, in fact, part of Mussolini's Corpo Aereo Italiano
(CAI), who had recently arrived at bases in Belgium to fly in partnership
with the Luftwaffe on raids on England during the autumn of 1940 to the
spring of 1941. In this gripping account of one of the most intriguing
episodes of the Second World War, Haining presents a fascinating cast
of characters from Italo Balbo, the
pioneer aviator, fascist leader and possible successor to Il Duce, to
Enzio Squazzini, a bomber pilot shot down off the coast of Suffolk, who
later attempted to run an Italian prisoner of war camp like a Mafia don.
Eyewitness testimonials from civilians across eastern England, along with
the dramatic stories of Italian and British pilots, plus accounts of crashes,
imprisonments and escapes make up this well--researched and engrossing
book.
It adds a unique new chapter to the enduring legend of The Battle of Britain.
Peter Hainin in a former journalist, magazine editor and publishing executive, who has written extensively on unique and little-know aspects of the Second World War. He is the author of The Jail That Went to Sea, The Mystery of Rommel's GOld and Where the Eagle Londed, also published by Robson Books.