Voices In The Air 1939-1945

Voices In The Air 1939-1945 PDF Author: Laddie Lucas
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 144647271X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
A unique and enthralling anthology compiled by WWII flying ace, Laddie Lucas, Voices in the Air tells the story of the air battles of the Second World War in the voices of those who took part. Drawn largely on the writings of the combatants themselves from all sides of the conflict, this book offers a vivid and highly individual account of the great aerial campaigns of WWII. From a thrilling account of the first sustained dogfight between Spitfire and Messerschmitt in 1940, to an eighteen-year-old Japanese suicide pilot's last letter home and the Luftwaffe leaders' analysis of 'what went wrong' after the Battle of Britain, the book dramatically deals with every aspect of the war. Full of stories of astonishing escapades, incredible bravery, dogged persistence and moving feats of arms, Voices in the Air honours both the sung and the unsung heroes of the war.

Voices In The Air 1939-1945

Voices In The Air 1939-1945 PDF Author: Laddie Lucas
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 144647271X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
A unique and enthralling anthology compiled by WWII flying ace, Laddie Lucas, Voices in the Air tells the story of the air battles of the Second World War in the voices of those who took part. Drawn largely on the writings of the combatants themselves from all sides of the conflict, this book offers a vivid and highly individual account of the great aerial campaigns of WWII. From a thrilling account of the first sustained dogfight between Spitfire and Messerschmitt in 1940, to an eighteen-year-old Japanese suicide pilot's last letter home and the Luftwaffe leaders' analysis of 'what went wrong' after the Battle of Britain, the book dramatically deals with every aspect of the war. Full of stories of astonishing escapades, incredible bravery, dogged persistence and moving feats of arms, Voices in the Air honours both the sung and the unsung heroes of the war.

Voices in the Air, 1939-1945

Voices in the Air, 1939-1945 PDF Author: Laddie Lucas
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780091901332
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
This title tells the story of the air battles of World War Two in the voices of those who took part. Drawn largely on the writings of the combatants themselves from all sides of the conflict, the book offers a vivid and highly individual account of the great aerial campaigns of World War Two.

The Royal Auxiliary Air Force

The Royal Auxiliary Air Force PDF Author: Frances Louise Wilkinson
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399062220
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
Owing its origins to Lord Trenchard’s desire to establish an elite corps of civilians who would serve their country in flying squadrons during their spare time, the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF) was first formed in October 1924. Today, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) is the primary reinforcement capability for the regular RAF. It consists of paid volunteers who, at weekends, evenings and holidays, train to support the RAF, particularly in times of national emergency and conflict. This has seen the AAF play important roles in the Battle of Britain, its squadrons claiming 30 per cent of enemy ‘kills’. Other notable achievements by AAF pilots include the first German aircraft destroyed over the British mainland and its territorial waters, the first U-boat to be destroyed with the aid of airborne radar, the first destruction of a V-1 flying bomb, and an AAF squadron claimed the highest score of any British night fighter squadron. It was an AAF squadron which was the first to be equipped with jet-powered aircraft. Receiving ‘Royal’ status in 1947 in recognition of its contribution to victory in the Second World War, the RAuxAF also came to the fore during the Cold War providing home defense as the regular squadrons were shipped to hotspots around the world. In more recent times, squadrons and personnel of the RAuxAF have seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan This book presents, for the first time, the history and development of all the squadrons and units that made up the Auxiliary and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, including the Balloon Squadrons, the Maritime Headquarters Units, Fighter Control and Radar Reporting Units, Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiments and of course the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. These devoted warriors continue to serve alongside the regular forces in defense of the United Kingdom, ready to be called into action whenever their country is in time of need.

Wings

Wings PDF Author: Patrick Bishop
Publisher: Atlantic Books
ISBN: 0857899813
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
The Royal Air Force is synonymous with its heroic achievements in the summer of 1940, when Winston Churchill's "famous few"—the Hurricane and Spitfire pilots of RAF Fighter Command—held G&öering's Luftwaffe at bay in the Battle of Britain, thereby changing the course of the war. For much of the 20th century, warplanes were fixed in the world's imagination, a symbol of the perils and excitements of the modern era. But within the space of 100 years, military aviation has morphed from the exotic to the mundane. An activity which was charged with danger—the domain of the daring—is now carried out by computers and pilotless drones. Aviators have always seemed different to soldiers and sailors—more adventurous, questing and imaginative. Their stories gripped the public and in both wars and air aces dominated each side's propaganda, capturing hearts and dreams. Writing with the verve, passion and the sheer narrative aplomb familiar to many thousands of readers from his bestselling World War II aerial histories, Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, Patrick Bishop's Wings is a rich and compelling account of military flying from its heroic early days to the present.

The Territorial Air Force

The Territorial Air Force PDF Author: Frances Louise Wilkinson
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526751046
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
“What is almost certainly the definitive account of the Auxiliary Air Force, the Special Reserve and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.” —Paul Nixon, Army Ancestry Research To date, little has been written about the Territorial Air Force as a voluntary military organization and no sustained analysis of its recruitment and social composition undertaken. Made up of three different parts, the Auxiliary Air Force, the Special Reserve and the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, these three separate and different groups have not featured significantly in existing literature. Along with a history of the Territorial Air Force, this book includes an analysis of how the volunteers joined, and what kinds of men were accepted into the organizations as both pilots and officers. The influences class and social status had on recruitment in the run up to the Second World War are also discussed. There is an exploration of the key differences between the Auxiliary squadrons and the SR squadrons, as well as the main reasons for the idea of merging the SR squadrons into the AAF squadrons. Briefly discussed are the newly formed University Air Squadrons that were set up to promote “air mindedness” and to stimulate an interest and research on matters aeronautical. Military voluntarism continued to play a key role in the defense of twentieth-century Britain, and class ceased to be the key determining factor in the recruitment of officers as the organizations faced new challenges. Within both the AAF and the RAFVR the pre-war impression of a gentlemen’s flying club finally gave way to a more meritocratic culture in the post-war world.

Great Escaper

Great Escaper PDF Author: Louise Williams
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445654059
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 363

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Book Description
He survived the air war and broke out of Germany’s toughest POW camp. Now his fate lies in Hitler’s hands.

Hitler's Last Christmas

Hitler's Last Christmas PDF Author: Donald F. Kilburg, Jr
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 1977206395
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The events of World War II have been studied, analyzed and documented extensively. Yet, one of the greatest feats of aerial bombing warfare has been all but ignored. In Hitler’s Last Christmas, we revisit the Second World War and specifically Sunday, December 24, 1944—when the 8th Air Force launched the largest air armada in the history of warfare. It was a desperate effort by the Allies to support the troops hopelessly hunkered down in the frigid weather of the Battle of the Bulge. The eventual success of those beleaguered troops was to some great measure due to the success of that Christmas Eve air mission. The details of the 8th Air Force mission #760 were mis-filed shortly after the war and the magnitude of that day in December 1944 overlooked—until now. Hitler’s Last Christmas shares the accounts of the event both from the Air Force Archives and the memories of those brave flyers who participated in it.

Fly Boy Heroes

Fly Boy Heroes PDF Author: James H. Hallas
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811771326
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 455

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Book Description
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn, though suffering multiple wounds, continued to man his machine gun against waves of Japanese aircraft attacking the Kaneohe Bay Naval Station during the infamous Pearl Harbor raid. Just over three years later, as World War II struggled into its final months, a B-29 radioman named Red Erwin lingered near death after suffering horrific burns to save his air crew in the skies off Japan. They were the first and last of thirty U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine Corps aviation personnel awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions against the Japanese during World War II. They included pilots and crewmen manning fighters and dive bombers and flying boats and bombers. One was a general. Another was a sergeant. Some shot down large numbers of enemy aircraft in aerial combat. Others sacrificed themselves for their friends or risked everything for complete strangers. Who were these now largely forgotten men? Where did they come from? What inspired them to rise “above and beyond”? What, if anything, made them different? Virtually all had one thing in common: they always wanted to fly. They came from a generation that revered the aces of World War I, like Eddie Rickenbacker, the civilian flyer Charles Lindbergh, and the lost aviator Amelia Earhart—and then they blazed their own trail during World War II.

Flying into the Storm

Flying into the Storm PDF Author: Chris Sams
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


The Kipper Patrol

The Kipper Patrol PDF Author: Louise Wilkinson
Publisher: Pneuma Springs Publishing
ISBN: 190580945X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 180

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Book Description
Thornaby, 1930, saw the formation of 608 squadron Auxiliary Air Force. Remembered by some veterans as ¿the kipper patrol,¿ their job as part of Coastal Command, involved protecting shipping convoys, looking for submarines and defending the northern supply routes. Although their role was never seen as glamorous and never received national glory, nonetheless, they played a significant part in the defence of the United Kingdom. This book tells the story of young pilots such as Geoffrey Ambler, Geoffrey Shaw, William Appleby-Brown and Peter Vaux, and airmen such as Albert Guy, Harold Coppick and Syd Buckle, and considers how their lives were dramatically changed with the onset of the Second World War, which saw them cease to be part-timers and become full time members of the Royal Air Force.The book serves as an insight into the history of this squadron, as well as the history of Thornaby Aerodrome itself. It uses as its basis, a series of interviews with veterans from the squadron and presents their memories of squadron life, along with many of their personal photographs. The Kipper Patrol provides a long awaited history of a squadron remembered by many local people, and recognised by both the Airman Memorial and the replica Spitfire. It serves as a lasting memory to both the squadron and the aerodrome, and in particular, to the many veterans who so willingly gave up their time to share their memories.