This book, the 304th title in Osprey Publishing's Campaign Series, is dedicated to documenting the 19 February 1942 Japanese air raids on the northern Australian port of Darwin. I normally do not review the various Osprey series book--their non-series publications are worthwhile review subjects, while the series publications include too many constraints (format, book length, artwork, etc.) to fairly judge an author's work. The purpose of my review of this 2017 volume is to compare and contrast with a 2012 work, "Carrier Attack- Darwin 1942" by Tom Lewis and Peter Ingman which extensively cites Bob Alford's previous work.

As an Osprey Campaign title, "Darwin 1942" follows the same format as other books in the series. A brief Origins and Background chapter is followed by a campaign chronology, which is quite short as this campaign lasted but a single day. The chronology is followed by a chapter on the Opposing Commanders, followed by Opposing Forces, and then by Opposing Plans. The meat of the text is to be found in the chapter on The Battle. after describing The Battle, the author writes about the Aftermath, and then, finally, there is a short chapter on Darwin Today, which makes this publication series a popular item in local bookstores and museum gift shops. The book ends with a two-page bibliography and an index.

Bob Alford is a well-known Australian historian who focuses on Australian aviation history and the 19 February raid in particular. As he mentions in his Author's Note up front, this book takes a particularly narrow perspective about the raid, focusing solely on the aviation aspects of the day. Outside some general comments about Allied and Japanese strategy, Alford does not dive into details. The same could be said about the coverage of the extensive damage caused by the raid on the harbor, the ships in it, and on the town and military installations. Within these limitations, Alford does a great job, especially investigating the questionable actions of an American P-40 pilot on that day and at other points in his U.S. Army Air Forces career. The accompanying photos and graphics depict the raid well and give the reader as much detail as is possible in this format.

So how do the two volumes compare? Given that Alford had less than a third of the pages that Lewis/Ingman had for their book, it is unsurprising that the earlier book contains much more detail for the reader. I find that Osprey series books are like a small bag of potato chips; they taste great, but only for a very short time. One can move quickly through these Osprey volumes, but at $24.00 U.S. MSRP, that can be a lot more expensive than buying bags of potato chips. If one is looking for just the essentials of this significant Austalian event, then Alford is the way to go. However, if one wants to truly understand the Darwin raid in its proper contex, I would recommend the Lewis/Ingman work. ( )

When I read a number in the "Campaign" series I usually come away feeling that I've received a good overview, but not so much here. The subtitle suggests that the author isn't especially interested in revisiting Australian embarrassment over this event, but in looking at the Japanese side of the equation, and at the only effective resistance to that attack; the scratch force of American fighter pilots on the scene. If you want to know more about why an American fighter squadron was present, you should be reading the works of William H. Bartsch; particularly "Every Day a Nightmare." ( )