| Reviews Pacific Aircraft Wrecks... |
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Price $15.95
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And Where to Find Them This is a classic source book of WWII Pacific Wrecks. An famous book full of mystery, intriguing photographs, and all the lore and mystique of rusting Japanese and Allied relics. It is arguably the first book published specificially on the topic of Pacific war wrecks. Previously, it was almost impossible to obtain, as it was originally published in 1979. A new 1999 reprint once again makes this book avaliable from its original publisher, Kookaburra Press in Australia. An antique book dealer on the internet is offering a first edition copy of the book for over $200. So, perhaps, this book also has the distinction of being the most collectable on the topic to! The book begins with Darby's introduction titled "Aircraft Relics Today - Fact and Fiction" is as classic as texts get for the field of Pacific Wrecks. Although it was written in 1979, and sadly many of the wreck described have since been removed, destroyed, scrapped or have unknown fates, or are now the possession of unknown millionaires, it is still fun to read. The photographic survey is from 1973 - 1976, and many of the pictures are reproduced in color most wrecks are from Papua New Guinea, Irian Jaya or the Solomon Islands. The author chooses wisely to be vague about the locations of many of the wrecks, referring to most as B-17 in grassy swamp, or G4M in the Solomons. The book has wonderful images of the famous New Guinea B-17 "Swamp Ghost", that, sadly since has been stripped of all the equipment that are shown in in the pictures, including its oxygen tanks, instruments, guns and ammunition. Or the Ki-61 640 that set down on a grassy plane, completely intact damage! Although most of the complete aircraft have been salvaged since the photos were taken it is an amazing legacy of what remained decades after the war. Darby himself has been involved with the recovery of many of these airframes himeself. The issue of salvage vs. preservation aside, he was undoubtedly a major post war force in wreck knowledge and has published the most widely reproduced photographs of many of these now classic Pacific warbirds. Interview with author Charles Darby
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