Download or read book The RAF and Aircraft Design written by Colin S Sinnott and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-05-22 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work examines the evolution of the RAF's operational requirements for its home defence air force - for bombers to mount a deterrent counter offensive and for fighters to provide direct defence of Britain. It discusses the management processes, policies and decisions relevant to operational requirements on the basis of a detailed study of Air Ministry papers of the time. By tracing the development of operational requirements, the author exposes the thinking behind the RAF's quest for effective fighter and bomber aircraft. He describes the ideas and concepts of air warfare that were adopted in the 1920s, and shows how these evolved into the Air Staff's requirements for the aircraft which the RAF entered and fought in World War II.

Download or read book The RAF and Aircraft Design 1923 1939 written by Colin Sinnott and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work describes the vitl role of the Air Ministry in the development of the RAF's fighters and bombers before WWII.

Download or read book Unflinching Zeal written by Robin Higham and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2012-09-15 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This consequential work by a pioneer aviation historian fills a significant lacuna in the story of the defeat of France in May-June 1940 and more fully explains the Battle of Britain of July–October of that year and the influence it had on the Luftwaffe in the 1941 invasion of the USSR. Robin Higham approaches the subject by sketching the story and status of the three air forces--the Armée de l’Air, the Luftwaffe, and the Royal Air Force--their organization and preparation for their battles. He then dissects the the campaigns, their losses and replacement policies and abilities. He paints the struggles of France and Britain from both the background provided by his recent Two Roads to War: From Versailles to Dunkirk (NIP, 2012) and from the details of losses tabulated by After the Battle’s The Battle of Britain (1982, 2nd ed.) and Peter Cornwell’s The Battle of France Then and Now (2007), as well as in Paul Martin’s Invisible Vainqueurs (1990) and from the Luftwaffe summaries in the British National Archives Cabinet papers. One important finding is that the consumption and wastage was not nearly as high as claimed. The three air forces actually shot down only 19 percent of the number claimed. In the RAF case, in the summer of 1940, 44 percent of those shot down were readily repairable thanks to the salvage and repair organizations. This contrasted with the much lower 8 percent for the Germans and zero for the French. Brave as the aircrews may have been, the inescapable conclusion is that awareness of consumption, wastage, and sustainability were intimately connected to survival.

Download or read book Sustaining Air Power written by Trevor Stone and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 531 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Draws on 25 years of original and exhaustive researchRichly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographsContent and style will appeal to a wide readership The Royal Air Force is the world’s oldest independent air arm, yet little has been written about its logistics. This ground-breaking book, which draws on 25 years of original archival research, opens the hangar door on this highly important discipline that has been at the forefront of supporting British air power since 1918. Written by a former senior RAF logistics officer and supplemented by material from veterans and currently serving military personnel, Sustaining Air Power: Royal Air Force Logistics since 1918 explores the fascinating development of RAF logistics. This journey, just short of a century, explores the inter-war years, Second World War, Cold War and the major campaigns the service has been involved in since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. The main narrative ends in 2014 with the RAF’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Dedicated chapters consider the more specialist aspects of logistics such as tactical and expeditionary logistics, fuels and explosives, transport, training, information technology and how the RAF has managed its extensive supply chain. Richly illustrated, its content and style will appeal to a wide readership.

Download or read book Rearming the RAF for the Second World War written by Adrian Phillips and published by Pen and Sword History. This book was released on 2022-07-28 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the RAF rearmed to meet the growing threat from Nazi Germany's remorseless expansion in the late 1930s, it faced immense challenges. It had to manage a huge increase in size as well as mastering rapid advances in aviation technology. To protect Britain from attack, the RAF's commanders had to choose the right strategy and the right balance in its forces. The choices had to be made in peacetime with no guidance from combat experience. These visions then had to be translated into practical reality. A shifting cast of government ministers, civil servants and industrialists with their own financial, political and military agendas brought further dynamics into play. The RAF's readiness for war was crucial to Britain's ability to respond to Nazi aggression before war broke out and when it did, the RAF's rearmament was put to the acid test of battle. Adrian Phillips uses the penetrating grasp of how top level decisions are made that he honed in his inside accounts of the abdication crisis and appeasement, to dissect the process which shaped the RAF of 1940. He looks beyond the familiar legends of the Battle of Britain and explores in depth the successes and failures of a vital element in British preparations for war.

Download or read book Why Air Forces Fail written by Robin Higham and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2006-02-17 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes two new chapters! “One of the more interesting and better books on military aviation to appear in the last few years.”—Journal of Military History Since the publication of the first edition of Why Air Forces Fail, the debate over airpower’s role in military operations has only intensified. Here, eminent historians Robin Higham and Stephen J. Harris assemble a team of experts to add essential new details to their cautionary tale for current practitioners of aerial warfare. Together, the contributors examine the complex, often deep-seated, reasons for the catastrophic failures of the Russian, Polish, French, British, Italian, German, Argentine, and American air services. Complemented by reading lists and suggestions for further research, this seminal study with two new chapters provides an essential and detailed analysis of defeat. “Contains many interesting insights and interpretations . . . an excellent introduction to the study of military failure in general and air forces in particular.”—Journal of America’s Military Past “I recommend this book to those who are interested in air forces and air power, whether amateur or professional, past, present and future.”—Richard Cobbold, Bryanston: The Yearbook “Provides an excellent analysis of the root causes of failure; this engaging study goes far beyond the aerial battlefield to examine the circumstances leading to defeat.”—Dennis Drew, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)

Download or read book RAF Operational Requirements 1923 1939 written by Colin Sydney Sinnott and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Transforming the Skies written by Peter Reese and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2018-02-16 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the Armistice of 1918, the British Air Industry and the newly founded RAF held a low place in national priorities. The RAF was rapidly run down, with the infant airlines being given the least possible help, and this neglect continued during the 1920s. The RAF's role was questioned and civilian air travel remained a dream for most and the province of the well-heeled few. But the breakdown of the Geneva Disarmament Talks led to renewed interest in the National Air Force, and the rise of the European dictators brought calls for rapid modernisation and interceptor aircraft, together with the development of further European civilian air routes. Here, Peter Reese charts the dramatic changes that swept aviation across the dynamic interwar period, revealing the transformative last-minute preparations for defence in a world where much depended on the contributions of some outstanding individuals.

Download or read book The RAF in the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain written by Greg Baughen and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May 1940, the opposing German and Allied forces seemed reasonably well matched. On the ground, the four allied nations had more troops, artillery and tanks. Even in the air, the German advantage in numbers was slight. Yet two months later, the Allied armies had been crushed. The Netherlands, Belgium and France had all surrendered and Britain stood on her own, facing imminent defeat. Subsequent accounts of the campaign have tended to see this outcome as predetermined, with the seeds of defeat sown long before the fighting began. Was it so inevitable? Should the RAF have done more to help the Allied armies? Why was such a small proportion of the RAF's frontline strength committed to the crucial battle on the ground? Could Fighter Command have done more to protect the British and French troops being evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk? This study looks at the operations flown and takes a fresh look at the fatal decisions made behind the scenes, decisions that unnecessarily condemned RAF aircrews to an unequal struggle and ultimately ensured Allied defeat. What followed became the RAF's finest hour with victory achieved by the narrowest of margins. Or was it, as some now suggest, a victory that was always inevitable? If so, how was the German military juggernaut that had conquered most of Europe so suddenly halted? This study looks at the decisions and mistakes made by both sides. It explains how the British obsession with bomber attacks on cities had led to the development of the wrong type of fighter force and how only a fortuitous sequence of events enabled Fighter Command to prevail. It also looks at how ready the RAF was to deal with an invasion. How much air support could the British Army have expected? Why were hundreds of American combat planes and experienced Polish and Czech pilots left on the sidelines? And when the Blitz began, and Britain finally got the war it was expecting, what did this campaign tell us about the theories on air power that had so dominated pre-war air policy? All these questions and more are answered in Greg Baughen's third book. Baughen describes the furious battles between the RAF and the Luftwaffe and the equally bitter struggle between the Air Ministry and the War Office - and explains how close Britain really came to defeat in the summer of 1940.

Download or read book Air Warfare written by Peter Gray and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Air Warfare provides an introduction to the subject's theory, history and practice. As well as delivering an up to date look at the strategy, and historiography of air power, Peter Gray explores the theories behind air power and looks at the political, legal and moral dimensions of the application of air power. Topics covered include: - Key military strategists and their legacy - Air power's strategic effects - Leadership, management and command - Tactics, technology and operations The book draws on primary sources including official narratives and published reports, examines key thinkers in the study of air power, and discusses topics such as concepts of warfare as an art or science, cultural perceptions of air power, and the experience of being an airman. With its broad scope and thorough coverage of a range of key topics, Air Warfare takes air power beyond the study of individual campaigns, or controversies, providing a multi-disciplinary approach to air power studies.

Download or read book The World at War 1914 1945 written by Jeremy Black and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-04-03 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text provides an innovative global military history that joins three periods—World War I, the interwar years, and World War II. Jeremy Black offers a comprehensive survey of both wars, comparing continuities and differences. He traces the causes of each war and assesses land, sea, and air warfare as separate dimensions. He argues that the unprecedented nature of the two wars owed much to the demographic and industrial strength of the states involved and their ability and determination to mobilize vast resources. Yet the demands of the world wars also posed major difficulties, not simply in sustaining the struggle but also in conceiving of practical strategies and operational methods in the heat and competition of ever-evolving conflict. In this process, resources, skills, leadership, morale, and alliance cohesion all proved significant. In addition to his military focus, Black considers other key dimensions of the conflicts, especially political and social influences and impacts. He thoroughly integrates the interwar years, tracing the significant continuities between the two world wars. He emphasizes how essential American financial, industrial, agricultural, and energy resources were to the Allies—both before and after the United States entered each war. Bringing the two world wars to life, Black sheds light not only on both as individual conflicts but also on the interwoven relationships between the two.

Download or read book Targeting the Third Reich written by Robert S. Ehlers, Jr. and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2015-04-15 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When large formations of Allied four-engine bombers finally flew over Europe, it marked the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. Their relentless hammering of Germany-totaling more than 1.4 million missions-took out oil refineries, industries, and transportation infrastructures vital to the Reich's war effort. While other accounts have focused on operational details, this is the first book to reveal the crucial role of air intelligence in these dramatic campaigns. Robert Ehlers reexamines these bombings through the lens of both air intelligence and operations, a dual approach that shows how the former was so vital to the latter's success. Air intelligence was essential to both targeting and damage assessment, and by demonstrating its contributions to the Combined Bomber Offensive of 1943-1945, Ehlers provides a wealth of new insight into the war. Ehlers describes the close ties that developed between the Royal Air Force's "precision intelligence" arm and the U.S. Army Air Force's "precision bombardment" forces, telling how the RAF's photographic reconnaissance and signals intelligence steered both British and American bombers to the right targets at the right intervals with the right munitions. He shows that the greatest strength of this partnership was its ability to orchestrate all aspects of damage assessment within an effective organizational structure, so that by 1944 senior air commanders-like the RAF's Arthur "Bomber" Harris and the AAF's Carl "Tooey" Spaatz-could gauge the accuracy of bombing with a high degree of precision, analyze its effects on the German war effort, and determine its effectiveness in helping the Allies achieve strategic objectives. Ehlers focuses on three key offensives in 1944-against French and Belgian rail supply lines delivering German troops and supplies to Normandy, against German oil refineries, and against railroads and waterways inside the Reich-that had a disastrous effect on the Nazi war effort. In the process, he underscores the degree to which bombers constituted part of a highly effective combined-arms force, giving Allied armies crucial advantages on the battlefield. Drawing on a huge collection of bomb-damage assessment photographs and a wealth of other archival sources, he shows that the success of these and other efforts can be traced directly to the success of air intelligence. Providing a deeper and more accurate understanding of the bomber campaigns' role in the Allied victory, Ehlers's study testifies to the strategic importance of these efforts in that war and provides a tool for understanding the importance of intelligence operations in future conflicts.

Download or read book Air Power and the Evacuation of Dunkirk written by Harry Raffal and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-07-15 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The evacuation of Dunkirk has been immortalised in books, prints and films, narrated as a story of an outnumbered, inexperienced RAF defeating the battle-hardened Luftwaffe and protecting the evacuation. This book revives the historiography by analysing the air operations during the evacuation. Raffal draws from German and English sources, many for the first time in the context of Operation DYNAMO, to argue that both sides suffered a defeat over Dunkirk. . This work examines the resources and tactics of both sides during DYNAMO and challenges the traditional view that the Luftwaffe held the advantage. The success that the Luftwaffe achieved during DYNAMO, including halting daylight evacuations on 1 June, is evaluated and the supporting role of RAF Bomber and Coastal Command is explored in detail for the first time. Concluding that the RAF was not responsible for the Luftwaffe's failure to prevent the evacuation, Raffal demonstrates that the reasons lay elsewhere.

Download or read book The Good Fight written by G. Campion and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-01-08 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Propaganda during the Battle of Britain contributed to high national morale and optimism, with 'The 'Few's' prowess and valour projected through Air Ministry communiqués and daily claims 'scores'. The media was a willing partner in portraying their heroism, also later consolidated in wartime publications, films and historiography.

Download or read book The Rise of the Bombe written by Greg Baughen and published by Fonthill Media. This book was released on 2017-05-03 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Rise of the Bomber: RAF-Army Planning 1919 to Munich 1938, the second book in the series, author Greg Baughen uses archive material to reassess British air policy in the inter-war years. Gone is the image of a Royal Air Force starved of funds and struggling for survival against a bullying Army and Navy. Instead, Baughen describes how the Air Force set out to replace both the Army and Navy. It blocked the development of a modern air/tank strategy and won government backing for a defence policy built around the bomber the first weapon of mass destruction. Yet the time and money invested in the policy achieved nothing. When put to the test in 1938, the equipment proved inadequate and the strategy flawed. The Air Staff had misled the government, deceived itself and left the country defenceless. Yet, all was not lost. Unintentionally, the Air Ministry had been creating the aircraft that might still save the country...

Download or read book Winston s Bandits written by Adrian Phillips and published by Biteback Publishing. This book was released on 2024-08-29 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: T Though today he is hailed as one of Britain's greatest leaders, throughout his career, Winston Churchill was an outsider, accumulating a reputation for bad judgement and untrustworthiness. Only risk-takers and fellow outsiders would back him – but these strong and often feuding personalities proved to be vital to his decision-making in war and peace alike. Winston's Bandits provides, for the first time, a detailed account of his greatest friendships. These friends were Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, a press baron who craved power but only on his own terms; Frederick Lindemann, later Lord Cherwell, an ascetic and quarrelsome scientist who believed in Churchill's intellectual genius; Brendan Bracken, an Irishman from a humble background who reinvented himself as a major force in financial publishing and gave Churchill unconditional support; the young Bob Boothby, who would earn notoriety for adventurous sexual conduct and dubious financial dealings; Randolph Churchill, who was often a disappointment and burden to his father; and Duncan Sandys, who reaped the full benefits of being Churchill's son-in-law in his political career. Together, they were Winston's bandits. This remarkable book explores how Churchill's relationships with these forceful and intriguing sparring partners provide the key to understanding his greatest triumphs and disasters.

Download or read book From Nighthawk to Spitfire written by John K. Shelton and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-07-06 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: R.J. Mitchell was virtually self-taught and almost all his aircraft were slow-flying seaplanes. The story of how this man from the land-locked Midlands, apprenticed to a locomotive works, became responsible for the Spitfire is a great tale in itself. This detailed book tells us how Mitchell learned his trade – contributing to the production of the cumbersome Nighthawk (designed to combat the German Zeppelin threat) and gradually coming to produce record-breaking racing floatplanes that won outright the prestigious international Schneider Trophy. Mitchell was thus well placed to design a high-speed aircraft when war was imminent; however, as John K. Shelton reveals, the production of the famous fighter was by no means a certainty and its vital contribution to winning the Battle of Britain was 'a very close run thing'.