Download or read book What the RAF Airman Took to War written by Bill Howard and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-10 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between July and October 1940, in what became known as the Battle of Britain, a nation held its breath while the pilots of the Royal Air Force battled Hitler's Luftwaffe in the skies above England. A huge number of airmen lost their lives in this hard-fought episode and in the four years of air campaigns that followed, and those who survived faced terrifying risks; as Prime Minister Winston Churchill put it, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few'. In this beautifully illustrated tribute to 'The Few', Bill Howard catalogues the objects which were essential to every wartime pilot, from the superstitious good-luck charm to the parachute on which his life might have depended and a wealth of other poignant items relating to his day-to-day existence during the air war against the Nazis.
Download or read book What the RAF Airman Took to War written by Bill Howard and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-05-10 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between July and October 1940, in what became known as the Battle of Britain, a nation held its breath while the pilots of the Royal Air Force battled Hitler's Luftwaffe in the skies above England. A huge number of airmen lost their lives in this hard-fought episode and in the four years of air campaigns that followed, and those who survived faced terrifying risks; as Prime Minister Winston Churchill put it, 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few'. In this beautifully illustrated tribute to 'The Few', Bill Howard catalogues the objects which were essential to every wartime pilot, from the superstitious good-luck charm to the parachute on which his life might have depended and a wealth of other poignant items relating to his day-to-day existence during the air war against the Nazis.
Download or read book The RAF Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot s Kitbag written by Mark Hillier and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-03-30 with total page 215 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The scenes are familiar ones; the young Brylcream Boys sat at dispersal waiting for the haunting call of Scramble, lounging in their shirt sleeves and fur-lined boots, their leather flying helmets lying limp by their side. But what did the RAF fighter pilots of the Battle of Britain really wear, and what vital items would their kitbags have held?The casual air of the dashing pilots of Fighter Command in the Spitfire Summer of 1940 conceals a necessarily professional approach to their task of holding Hitlers Luftwaffe at bay. Therefore, each item of clothing and equipment they wore and carried had a role and a function, be it for warmth and comfort, communication, or for fighting and survival.All the objects that an RAF fighter pilot was issued with during the Battle of Britain are explored in this book in high-definition color photographs, showing everything from the differing uniforms, to headgear, personal weapons, gloves, goggles, parachute packs and the essential Mae West life jacket. Each item is fully described and its purpose and use explained.Relive Britains finest hour as never before through the actually clothing and accouterments of The Few.
Download or read book Warden s War written by Nigel Cushion and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Flying against Fate written by S. P. MacKenzie and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-08-04 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were high. Of the roughly 125,000 who served as aircrew with Bomber Command, 59,423 were killed or missing and presumed killed—a fatality rate of 45.5%. With odds like that, it would be no surprise if there were as few atheists in cockpits as there were in foxholes; and indeed, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in Flying against Fate, a pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II. Mining a wealth of documents as well as a trove of published and unpublished memoirs and diaries, MacKenzie examines the myriad forms combat fliers' superstitions assumed, from jinxes to premonitions. Most commonly, airmen carried amulets or talismans—lucky boots or a stuffed toy; a coin whose year numbers added up to thirteen; counterintuitively, a boomerang. Some performed rituals or avoided other acts, e.g., having a photo taken before a flight. Whatever seemed to work was worth sticking with, and a heightened risk often meant an upsurge in superstitious thought and behavior. MacKenzie delves into behavior analysis studies to help explain the psychology behind much of the behavior he documents—not slighting the large cohort of crew members and commanders who demurred. He also looks into the ways in which superstitious behavior was tolerated or even encouraged by those in command who saw it as a means of buttressing morale. The first in-depth exploration of just how varied and deeply felt superstitious beliefs were to tens of thousands of combat fliers, Flying against Fate expands our understanding of a major aspect of the psychology of war in the air and of World War II.
Download or read book Destined to Live written by Kristin Gilpatrick and published by Badger Books Inc.. This book was released on 2001 with total page 156 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book From Airbus to Zeppelin written by Norman Ferguson and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2016-10-06 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A must-have A–Z guide with fascinating facts, figures, quotes and statistics from the high-flying world of aviation, From Airbus to Zeppelin has it all. D is for Desert Island Discs: just what would Dambuster Guy Gibson have liked while marooned on his desert island? E is for Everest: did you know that two Scotsmen were the first to fly over the magnificent mountain? F is for Faster than the sun: which aircraft was the first to fly faster than the Earth's rotation? A must-read for anyone interested in the world of aviation – and may win the reader a pub quiz or two!
Download or read book Shot Down and on the Run written by Graham Pitchfork and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-07-27 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thousands of airmen shot down over enemy soil between 1940 and 1945 miraculously escaped capture. This compelling narrative reveals their stories, based on first-hand interviews, photographs and official documents, featuring heroes from Britain, Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth countries. These men knew extreme adversity: hunger, thirst, injury, isolation and the constant fear of capture. They also knew great kindness from the local people who risked everything to help them. Their journeys to safety – often across savage terrain – tested human endurance and ingenuity to the very limit.
Download or read book Caribbean Volunteers at War written by Mark Johnson and published by Pen and Sword Aviation. This book was released on 2021-06-30 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All of a sudden there was the rush of an immense shadow coming towards him at terrific speed. It was the ground reaching up to gather him. The date was 26 June, 1943 and Cy Grant was the rarest of things - a black West Indian RAF crew member, blown out of his exploding Lancaster bomber. The heroic exploits of the Caribbean men and women who volunteered their services to the Allied effort during the Second World War have, until now, passed by with little fanfare or attention. Indeed, whilst many people are aware of the contribution that the various Bomber Command units paid in securing ultimate victory, little is said or understood of the achievements and sacrifices of the heroic Caribbean volunteers who contributed to some of their greatest victories. Mark Johnson presents us here with an engrossing and humane account of the exploits of such individuals. Including a great number of insights and fascinating details taken from conversations with his uncle, John Blair, the book illuminates the day-to-day reality of life as a Caribbean volunteer during the Second World War and the kind of culture-clash experiences that characterized their wartime careers. John Blair is a particularly important member within the context of this history and within the wider context of Bomber Command history. He served a full and distinguished tour with Bomber Command in the skies over Germany and was present at some of the most pivotal moments, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross in the process. The author has utilized transcripts of conversations with his uncle and a host of other Caribbean volunteers to create a dramatic and well written account of the proceedings. An important book, offering a platform upon which to appreciate the true extent of the Caribbean contribution to the Allied war effort, the work offers a new slant on the popular Bomber Command theme; one that looks set to intrigue a number of readers yet to be acquainted with this facet of the units history.
Download or read book Escape from Germany the Methods of Escape Used by RAF Airmen During the Second World War written by Aidan Merivale Crawley and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Last of the Few written by Max Arthur and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the fall of France in May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force was miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk. Britain now stood alone to face Hitler’s inevitable invasion attempt. For the German army to land across the channel, Hitler needed mastery of the skies—the Royal Air Force would have to be broken. So every day throughout the summer, German bombers pounded the RAF air bases in the southern counties. Greatly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command scrambled as many as five times a day, and civilians watched skies crisscrossed with the contrails from the constant dogfights between Spitfires and Me-109s. Britain’s very freedom depended on the outcome of that summer’s battle: Its air defenses were badly battered and nearly broken, but against all odds, “The Few,” as they came to be known, bought Britain’s freedom—many with their lives. More than a fifth of the British and Allied pilots died during the Battle of Britain. These are the personal accounts of the pilots who fought and survived that battle. Their stories are as riveting, as vivid, and as poignant as they were seventy years ago. We will not see their like again.
Download or read book Footprints on the Sands of Time written by Oliver Clutton-Brock and published by Grub Street Publishing. This book was released on 2003-08-19 with total page 561 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of RAF Evaders provides a comprehensive reference of the airmen of Bomber Command who were held in German captivity during WWII. This extensive book is divided into two part. The first, which has eighteen chapters, deals with German POW camps as they were opened, in chronological order and to which the Bomber Command POWs were sent. Each chapter includes anecdotes and stories of the men in the camps—capture, escape, illness, and murder—and illustrates the awfulness of captivity even in German hands. Roughly one in every twenty captured airmen never returned home. The first part also covers subjects such as how the POWs were repatriated during the war; how they returned at war’s end; the RAF traitors; the war crimes; and the vital importance of the Red Cross. The style is part reference, part gripping narrative, and the book will correct many historical inaccuracies, and includes previously unpublished photographs. The second part comprises an annotated list of ALL 10, 995 RAF Bomber Command airmen who were taken prisoner, together with an extended introduction. The two parts together are the fruit of exhaustive research and provide an important contribution to our knowledge of the war and a unique reference work not only for the serious RAF historian but for the ex-POWs themselves and their families and anyone with an interest in the RAF in general and captivity in particular.
Download or read book Boldness Be My Friend written by Richard Pape and published by Review. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Escape... escape... escape... by God!"' was his constant exhortation. "Never mind hunger pains, discomfort, or any other agony. Let escape become your passion, your one and only obsession until you finally reach home."' Shot down over Berlin in 1941, Richard Pape's saga of captivity is a story of courage unmatched in the annals of escape. Four escapes took him across the breadth of German-occupied Europe; to Poland and Czechoslovakia; to Austria and Hungary. Aggressive and impetuous, his adventures sweep the reader along on a torrent of excitement.
Download or read book Escape from Germany 1939 45 written by Aidan Crawley and published by Stationery Office Books (TSO). This book was released on 2001 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the ten thousand prisoners of war held by the Germans during World War II only 30 successfully managed their way to Britain or a neutral country. After 1945, many escapees and PoW's were interviewed by the government and a file built up of their experiences and their efforts. These files were kept secret for nearly 40 years, during the Korean War and Cold War, as they contained evidence of enterprise and resilience that could still be useful to the enemy. This book contains extracts from that evidence as it was compiled by the author Aidan Crawley, himself a PoW, RAF officer and MP.
Download or read book Home Run written by Richard Townshend Bickers and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 1992-08-01 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the Second World War, the first duty of Allied airman brought down in enemy territory was to evade capture and make good their return to Britain. Preventing this was a major preoccupation of the Germans-both sides new that it took too much time and expense to train pilots and aircrew. Home Run collects the dramatic stories of some of those who succeeded in evading their hunters. They are stories of great courage and endurance, not only of the escapers, but also those who helped them; the penalty for those who hid, succoured and guided downed airman, if they were caught, was death. Inevitably, there were rotten apples among the helpers; one of the most fascinating pieces in this book tells of a British confidence trickster who, while he certainly helped some of the evaders on their way, equally certainly betrayed others- and many of his collogues- to the enemy. Here, too, is the engaging story of another confidence trickster, this time a Luftwaffe officer, who conned his way to freedom- and decoration by Adolf Hitler for deeds he had done. Richard Townshend Bicker's latest book is a very readable collection of accounts which, if we did not know them to be true, would be almost impossible to believe. It is also a tribute not only to the triumph of the human spirit over every kind of adversity, but also to the almost limitless extent of human ingenuity and daring.
Download or read book The RAF Air Sea Rescue Service in the Second World War written by Norman Franks and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the Second World War began in 1939 it was thought that it would be fought along the same lines as the First World War, with the Allied air forces operating from both Britain and France. With the fall of Britains Northern European Allies in May 1940, all that changed. From then onwards, RAF aircraft operating over enemy and enemy-held territory necessitated flights across both the North Sea and the English Channel. This meant that aircrew in difficulties would be forced to come down in both of these bodies of water. Therefore it was essential that some form of rescue service be made available to fish these airman from the water. But there were no aircraft in existence at that time that were designed for such a task: initially all that could be done was to use land planes to help locate anyone in the water, drop a dinghy to them, and then guide a boat to their position. Obviously a quicker and more reliable means of rescue was needed, and this came in the shape of the Supermarine Walrus, an amphibian airplane that could land on both sea and land. Several Flights of these airplanes were set up around the coast of Britain, concentrated mainly around the south and southeast of England. The Air Sea Rescue airmen did a magnificent job from 1941-45, rescuing hundreds of downed RAF and USAAF aircrew. It took a special type of airman to undertake these rescues and another kind of courage. As the war in North Africa developed, Walrus aircraft were needed in the Mediterranean, and later on either side of the Italian coast. Walrus squadrons operated just as successfully in this theater as around Britain. Aircrew operating over any stretch of water could always count on the ASR boys coming to their aid. This is their story.
Download or read book Scramble written by J.R.D Braham and published by Greenhill Books. This book was released on 2021-12-03 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: J. R. D. ‘Bob’ Braham was Britain’s most-decorated fighter pilot and one of the most successful fighter pilots of World War II. Joining the RAF in 1938 at the age of 18, he was posted to No. 29 Squadron at Debdon, where he learned to fly the Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim. By 1939, the squadron had become a specialised night fighting unit and Braham gained his first victory in August 1940. From that point on, he was constantly in action. Famed for his individual night-time intruder sorties, he also took part in the Peenemiinde raid, the Battle of Britain, and the fight against the V1s and V2s during the Blitz. In 1943, battle fatigued, he moved into an operational role but continued to fly operations until June 1944 when he was shot down and captured. Having completed 316 missions, he spent the next eleven months as a Prisoner of War, and was finally liberated in May 1945. With 29 confirmed combat victories, Braham achieved more success in night fighting than almost any other RAF pilot and was awarded the triple Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), the triple Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Air Force Cross (AFC). Told in his own words, with all the spirit and dynamism for which he was known as a pilot, this is Braham’s extraordinary story.
