Gannet From The Cockpit by Simon Askins

ISBN 978-0-946958-63-4

Published by Ad Hoc Publications

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In common with other books in this series, this is a weighty softback biased towards large photos interspersed with stories from those who flew the type, and brief development and service history sections. Each squadron gets brief coverage with a selection of photos and colour profiles. Some of the photos you will have seen in other Gannet books - but at least these familiar faces are reproduced well, and often in page-filling size! The only criticism I could offer is that the layout is a bit chaotic, with stories and photos appearing in somewhat random fashion (certainly no chronological ordering). In general though an excellent volume and thoroughly recommended.

Submarine Hunter by Ben Patynowski

ISBN 8389450577

Published by Mushroom Model Publications

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A strange one, this. Basically a book full of reminiscences from RAN veterans who worked on or flew in Gannets (plus several who did not - quite why they are in the book I don't know), with lots and lots of photos fairly evenly split between shots of Gannets and shots of people (often as they are now rather than when they were in the RAN), plus a selection of colour profile drawings. Many of the stories told are duplicated; many of the anecdotes clearly need editing, and come across as 'copy and paste' jobs from emails or letters. As a collection of memories for the ex-RAN personnel involved to enjoy, it's a great book. As a general reference on the Gannet, it's pretty weak - the photo selection is excellent but most are reproduced quite small; the colour profiles are nicely done but exhibit various minor errors (and one big one, on every single profile - compare the exhaust location with photos!). Given the publisher's name you'd expect it to be more aimed at modellers than any other market, but there's really nothing in here other than the photos and profiles to help modellers - no detail shots, no plans, no colour scheme details or histories, etc. Finally, and most oddly, for a book titled 'Submarine Hunter' there is is absolutely nothing on the tactics or procedures involved in this particular task - it is just a collection of relatively shallow anecdotes. Accidents and problems obviously stand out clearly in people's memories so the accounts are weighted towards that sort of story. Hard to recommend as a reference work - however, if you were in the RAN at the time, definitely worth a read, and as a collection of photos of RAN Gannets in a single publication it cannot be beaten.

Fairey Gannet - Anti-submarine and Strike variants AS Mk.1, AS Mk.4 by Martin Velek, Michal Ovcacik, Karel Susa

ISBN 978-80-86637-04-4

Published by 4+

Absolutely superb monograph for modellers - a detailed history, loads of photos (mostly monochrome), accurate 1/72 scale plans and lots of colour profiles. Good coverage of German and Australian Gannets as well as British ones. Highly recommended.

Warpaint No. 23 - Fairey Gannet by Steve Hazell

ISSN 1361-0369

Published by Hall Park Books Ltd.

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Up to the usual standard of Warpaint volumes, with good history and selection of photos (worth getting for these alone), scale plans (but you can't really rely on them - several errors evident) and basic colour profiles (watch out for the errors in these too - use photos as reference). Out of print but can be had second hand.

Gannet by Brian Fiddler

ISBN 0 948251 46 8

Published by Picton Publishing (Chippenham) Ltd.

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Brief development and service history, but mostly this book is dedicated to listing the squadrons that operated the Gannet (including RAAN and Indonesian examples), with lots of monochrome pictures. Finishes with many annotated pictures of the cockpit, closeup pictures, scale plans and profile drawings for modellers. Worth getting hold of if you can find a cheap copy.