Alae Supra Canalem: Wings Over the Canal

Ask questions before purchase, as the binding of mine was acknowledged as poor, and priced accordingly. Terribly interesting subject.

A very thorough review of a part of the WW II air war that few people know anything about. I came across the book while researching my father's role as a B-24 Liberator pilot based in the Galapagos Islands from 1943 to 1945. There were listings of the planes he flew and photos of several of them, as the author has provided a very complete inventory. I recommend this rare book for anyone interested in a neglected part of our country's efforts at protecting our way of life.

Military historians are notorious for being poor writers; they seem to have a quota on the amount of howevers, moreovers and indeeds they must put into a book. This reference sets the bar, I scanned the book to my computer and did a count of the historians use of the words however, moreover and indeed; 322 howevers, 297 moreovers, and 244 indeeds. The writer had one more extremely annoying habit, for some reason he loves to use the phrase "none other than." For example the pilot was none other than the squadron commander; or the passenger was none other than the president. The book is very difficult to read because of the writers frequent use of writer's crutches. If the reader can ignore that, this book is still quite interesting.

An excellent summary of a subject that has had virtually no public coverage. Book is mostly hard data, serial numbers, and subject-specific facts, with no padding and no waffle. Outstanding! (Review by an old coot with 55 years warbird involvement).

It seems odd that the major campaigns of World War II which were fought in the Americas should be neglected by historians, but this is certainly the case. Laudably, in recent years somewhat more attention has been paid to the war in Alaska and the Aleutians, but both the defense of the Panama Canal and the intense antisubmarine campaign in the Caribbean are still little-known. Mr. Hagedorn's book goes a long way toward filling this vacuum. Particularly striking is the case he makes for the "useless" Douglas B-18, "the bomber the Air Corps bought when it should have bought the B-17," to paraphrase popular sentiment. In fact the B-18 met the Air Corps specification for which it was designed, and gave yeoman service in a role for which it wasn't: antisubmarine warfare. Its crews dealt with such physical hazards as the fickle Caribbean and Central American weather (without weather radar) and a tropical climate (without air conditioning), and the keenly felt frustration of a low priority for personnel, equipment and supplies. Mr. Hagedorn's account of how they overcame these obstacles and prevailed makes for an absorbing read. I recommend this book highly.

Dan's book is a worthy attempt to record this under-researched area. The 6th Air Force and the Caribbean theatre is not as well known as are the exploits of the 8th and 9th Air Force, etc., but the war against the U-boats was just as important in 1942. Many of the events take place before the USAAF units recorded their history adequately and as such the research for this volume must have been a mammoth undertaking. I can highly recommend this book.