[Anzac Battles Series 01] • Dogfight

In the summer of 1940 the Luftwaffe locked horns with the RAF in a life-and-death struggle for mastery of the skies over southern England. Success for Germany would knock Britain out of the war and give Adolf Hitler a free hand for his assault on the Soviet Union. Success for the RAF would bring an end to the German advance to the west and ultimately facilitate the D-Day landings four years in the future.

Thus the fate of the Allied war effort lay in the hands of those whom Winston Churchill dubbed ‘The Few’. What is less well known is that the second-largest foreign contingent in Fighter Command was drawn from the British Commonwealth’s southernmost Dominions: New Zealand and Australia. One hundred and seventy-one Anzac airmen were thrust headlong into a ferocious air battle that would put their skills, resolve and character to the ultimate test. The tale of their place in the Battle of Britain, along with their personal stories, friendships, successes, losses and fears are told in detail for the first time in ‘Dogfight’.

Dr Adam Claasen is a senior lecturer in modern history and international relations at Massey University. He has a doctorate from the University of Canterbury, is a Smithsonian Institution fellowship recipient, and in 2006 was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. He teaches and researches primarily on the Second World War and the role of air power in war, and is the author of ‘Hitler’s Northern War’.

The Anzac Battles Series is a collection of books describing the great military battles fought by Australian and New Zealand soldiers during the wars of the twentieth century. Each title in the series focuses on one battle, describing the background to the action, the combat itself, the strategy employed and the outcome. The story is told through the actions of the main protagonists and the individuals who distinguished themselves in the battle. The authors are all respected military historians with specialist knowledge of the battles described.