Despite the Japanese surrender in August 1945, the RAF was required to engage in further combat operations in the Netherlands East Indies, French Indo-China and Malaya. RAF fighters also formed an important part of the British contribution to the occupation of Japan. This book looks at each of the aircraft used in the fighter and ground-attack role in the immediate period following the end of the war in the Far East. Of these, the Spitfire was the most numerous fighter aircraft and the only one to serve from India to Japan. Other aircraft such as the Hurricane and Mosquito were quickly replaced, in the Hurricane's case due to obsolescence, whereas the Mosquito suffered structural failures. Also illustrated are the first RAF jets to fly in the Far East and a number of Japanese aircraft that were marked with RAF roundels and took to the skies over Malaya. With many previously unpublished photographs illustrating all the single- and twin-engine fighters operating during the immediate post-war period, this book is of interest to both aviation enthusiasts and scale modellers.
