Marked for Death: The First War in the Air

Marked for Death: The First War in the Air PDF Author: James Hamilton-Paterson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681771977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 416

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Book Description
A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air. Little more than ten years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war's massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations' fledgling air forces. The romance of aviation had a remarkable grip on the public imagination, propaganda focusing on gallant air 'aces' who become national heroes. The reality was horribly different. Marked for Death debunks popular myth to explore the brutal truths of wartime aviation: of flimsy planes and unprotected pilots; of burning nineteen-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots blinded by the entrails of their observers. James Hamilton-Paterson also reveals how four years of war produced profound changes both in the aircraft themselves and in military attitudes and strategy. By 1918 it was widely accepted that domination of the air above the battlefield was crucial to military success, a realization that would change the nature of warfare forever.

Marked for Death: The First War in the Air

Marked for Death: The First War in the Air PDF Author: James Hamilton-Paterson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1681771977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 416

Get Book

Book Description
A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air. Little more than ten years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war's massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations' fledgling air forces. The romance of aviation had a remarkable grip on the public imagination, propaganda focusing on gallant air 'aces' who become national heroes. The reality was horribly different. Marked for Death debunks popular myth to explore the brutal truths of wartime aviation: of flimsy planes and unprotected pilots; of burning nineteen-year-olds falling screaming to their deaths; of pilots blinded by the entrails of their observers. James Hamilton-Paterson also reveals how four years of war produced profound changes both in the aircraft themselves and in military attitudes and strategy. By 1918 it was widely accepted that domination of the air above the battlefield was crucial to military success, a realization that would change the nature of warfare forever.

The War in the Air

The War in the Air PDF Author: Herbert George Wells
Publisher: Boni and Liveright, Incorporated
ISBN:
Category : Imaginary wars and battles
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description


The Coming of the Aerial War

The Coming of the Aerial War PDF Author: Michele Haapamäki
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857735845
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
In the first half of the 20th century the possibility of flight opened up entirely new avenues of thought and exploration. In the age of H.G. Wells and Biggles, the opening up of the air to balloons and planes- the Royal Flying Corps was founded in 1912 - appealed to concepts of courage and bravery which would be both encouraged and undermined by the experiences of World War I. The sky also held new terrors for everyday people who were now within reach of an airborne enemy- these fears included the possibilities of bombing, poison gas, surveillance and social contol. This duality of fear and enthusiasm drove the Air Raid Precaution movement, while vocal elements in the press and in parliament called for radical plans to cope with apocalyptic scenarios. Here, Michele Haapamaki charts the history of flight and of war in the air in the early twentieth century, addressing the key issues of interwar historiography such as patriotism, fear, masculinity and propaganda.

Air War on the Edge

Air War on the Edge PDF Author: Bill Norton
Publisher: Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 440

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Book Description
Never before has there been a book published on the aircraft, units and exploits of the Israel Air Force in such depth. Interest in the IAF has always been high and seldom are its aircrew and aircraft out of the world's headlines. Previous books have failed to satisfy, either being sensationalist and low on factual content, or lacking in fundamental research. Bill Norton has trawled through thousands of documents, reports, and illustrations to produce a work that is staggering in its depth and knowledge. Those that think they know the IAF will find a wealth of new material and countless previously published 'facts' re-evaluated and righted. Detailed type-by-type coverage supported by a barrage of photographs of the IAF from the mixed bag of aircraft of its formative days, through the Suez Campaign, the Six Day War, Yom Kippur and on to be a sophisticated, well-equipped force, arguably the most experienced in the world. Included for the first time are all of the badges and heraldry of the units of the IAF, in full color.

Command Of The Air

Command Of The Air PDF Author: General Giulio Douhet
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782898522
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 327

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Book Description
In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

The Early Air War in the Pacific

The Early Air War in the Pacific PDF Author: Ralph F. Wetterhahn
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 147666997X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
 During the first 10 months of the war in the Pacific, Japan achieved air supremacy with its carrier and land-based forces. But after major setbacks at Midway and Guadalcanal, the empire's expansion stalled, in part due to flaws in aircraft design, strategy and command. This book offers a fresh analysis of the air war in the Pacific during the early phases of World War II. Details are included from two expeditions conducted by the author that reveal the location of an American pilot missing in the Philippines since 1942 and clear up a controversial account involving famed Japanese ace Saburo Sakai and U.S. Navy pilot James "Pug" Southerland.

War in the Air 1914-45 (Smithsonian History of Warfare)

War in the Air 1914-45 (Smithsonian History of Warfare) PDF Author: Williamson Murray
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
ISBN: 9780060838560
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
The first aircraft flew in 1903 and within ten years had been developed into military weapons.From World War I to World War II, pilots became exalted national heroes, gallant knights astride their iron steeds high above the skies of Europe. Far from the heroic fantasy, however, most pilots and aircrews struggled against grim odds, fighting out their frequently short lives with bravado and recklessness. This vivid account explores the conditions in which these pilots fought and the rise of air warfare to preeminence, culminating in the Enola Gay's fateful drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The early flying machines of World War I and the pilots who braved hostile skies The rise of airplane technology in the 1930s -- radar, blind-bombing devices, radio control, and the increased speed of new monoplane designs The contribution of Allied air power to the defeat of Nazi Germany, Raids on Japan, the drop of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the beginning of a new era of warfare

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2 PDF Author: Christopher Shores
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 191069097X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
This second volume in the seminal series on aerial combat, pilots, and tactics in Libya and Egypt in the middle of World War II. In volume two of this series, historian Christopher Shores begins by exploring the 8th Army’s movements after Operation Crusader when they were forced back to the Gazala area in northeastern Libya, as well as their defeat in June, 1942, the loss of Tobruk, and the efforts of Allied air forces to protect their retreating troops. Shores continues with the heavy fighting that followed in the El Alamein region. This features the Western Desert Air Force and the arrival of the first Spitfires. The buildup of both army and air forces and the addition of new commanders on the ground aided the defeat of Rommel’s Deutsche Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa, after which came the Second Battle of El Alamein. With the arrival of the United States Army Air Force, the Allied air forces gained dominance over the Axis. Shores recounts the lengthy pursuit of the Italo-German forces right across Libya, including the capture of Tripoli and the breakthrough into Southern Tunisia. This allowed a linkup with other Allied forces in Tunisia (whose story appears in Volume 3). Included with the action are stories of some of the great fighter aces of the Desert campaign such as Jochen Marseille and Otto Schulz of the Luftwaffe, Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the Regia Aeronautica and Neville Duke, Billy Drake, and “Eddie” Edwards of the Commonwealth air forces. Finally, Shores touches on the Allied and Axis night bombing offensives and the activities of the squadrons cooperating with the naval forces in the Mediterranean.

The First Air War

The First Air War PDF Author: Lee Kennett
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439105456
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Historian Lee Kennett takes on the vital task of detailing the World War I aviator in this complete overview of the first air war, that Richard P. Hallion calls, "A welcome and long overdue addition to the literature of military aviation." "The whole subject of the first air war is like some imperfectly explored country: there are areas that have been crisscrossed by several generations of historians; there are regions where only writers of dissertations and abstruse monographs have ventured, and others yet that remain terra incognita," historian Lee Kennett tells his readers. There are very few books that explore military avition and its history to the fullest extent as Kennett has done in First Air War. The purpose of this book is to act as a complete overview on topics and histories that have previously gone unexplored. He tells of World War I fliers and their experiences "on all fronts and skillfully places them in proper context" (Edward M. Coffman, author of The Old Army). In considerate detail, Kennett tells the full story on how a few planes became the armies of the sky.

Courage and Air Warfare

Courage and Air Warfare PDF Author: Mark K. Wells
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135204829
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
Colonel Wells investigates the nature of aerial warfare and the men who took part. The book analyzes aircrew selection, reaction to combat, adaptability to stress, morale, leadership and combat effectiveness, and compares the efforts of the US Eighth Air Force and RAF Bomber Command.