Curtiss Hawk H-75 in French Service
By Matt Bittner
Curtiss Hawk H-75 in French Service
Author: Lionel Persyn
Publisher: Mushroom Model Publications
ISBN: 978-83-61421-07-8
Binding: Softcover
Pages: 144
The primary user of the Curtiss P-36 – known by other countries as the Hawk 75 – was actually France. Finland used some, as did the British, but most of the aircraft those two countries used were originally either French to begin with, or were slated to be sent to France before World War 2 broke out. Since France was the leading user of the Hawk 75, a book primarily on French use was inevitable.
The Mushroom Model Publications (MMP) book on the Hawk 75 is broken out into the following sections:
- Purchasing the Curtiss H-75 in the USA, dealing with how France purchased the aircraft and how they were delivered
- Curtiss H-75 Units and their Badges, which I think could have included a color chart detailing the units with their badges
- The Phoney War, which provides quite detailed information on the different actions taken prior to the Battle of France
- The Battle of France, detailing the use of the aircraft during this battle and the subsequent fall of France
- Under the Vichy Government, going into the use by French pilots as they flew from Africa
- End of Career
- Czech Pilots, which lists all the Czech pilots that flew under the French flag while flying the H-75
- GC I/4 in colour during the winter of 1939-1940
- Curtiss Hawk H-75 in colour, which is the section for the color plates
Speaking of color plates, they're very well done and show the aircraft to good advantage. If you're a modeler it's important to know that even though the colors were standard for painting French Hawk 75s, the layout of those colors was not. Each aircraft is unique in its camouflage application, so a study of color plates and/or photographs is mandatory when deciding which Hawk 75 to build. It is this reason that it's disappointing only two of the 44 color plates are four-views.
There are also color photos. Some were taken during the war so will prove valuable to color students. The other color photos are of the "walk-around" variety, taken of a preserved example. To top it all off are cockpit photos – plenty to keep the super-detailer modeler happy.
Unfortunately there are grammatical errors within the text. I understand the author's primary language is not English, but a book being published in any language should be edited with that language in mind. Not only are there not-used-often words, but there are also sections of text that just do not make sense. There are also errors with some of the photo's captions. For example, a caption will talk about a specific aircraft and list its "serial number" as well as the "aircraft number" within the squadron. But looking at the photo you can tell the caption is wrong in regards to one or the other numbers. Sure, a small error, but one that should have been caught during editing. Thankfully there is only one error in the color plates – again, in regards to the "serial" and/or aircraft number listed in the caption that doesn't match what's being shown in the color plate.
The author's name looked familiar. Sure enough, he's part of the "triumvirate" that wrote the Osprey book "P-36 Hawk Aces of World War 2". If you guessed correctly, you would have said the section Mr. Persyn wrote in the Osprey book was on French use of the P-36/Hawk 75. So, another thing you may be asking yourself: if I already have the Osprey book, do I need the MMP book? That depends. If you're either a serious student of the Curtiss P-36/Hawk 75, or a serious student of French aviation, then the obvious answer is "yes!" There is a lot more detail on French use in the MMP book, since the Osprey book only has 26 pages of French use. Couple that with the period color photos, the walk-around color photos, and the photos of the cockpit, then it's also a definite "Yes!". If you only have a passing interest in French use of the Hawk 75 and you already own the Osprey book, then you probably have all you would want.
Don't get me wrong. Even with the problems I brought up in this review, it's an excellent book, one worth tracking down if you like the subject matter.
My thanks to MMP for the review book.