Download or read book Spitfire Pilot written by David Crook and published by Grub Street Publishers. This book was released on 2008-06-30 with total page 111 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot” in World War II (The Spectator). Spitfire Pilot was written in 1940 in the heat of battle, when the RAF stood alone against the might of Hitler’s Third Reich. It is a tremendous personal account of one of the fiercest and most idealized air conflicts—the Battle of Britain—seen through the eyes of a pilot of the famous 609 Squadron, which shot down over one hundred planes in that epic contest. Often hopelessly outnumbered, David Crook and his colleagues, in their state-of-the-art Spitfires, committed acts of unimaginable bravery against the Messerschmitts and the Junkers. Many did not make it—and Crook describes the absence they leave in the squadron with great poignancy. Includes an introduction by historian Richard Overy

Download or read book Fighter Pilot written by Helen Doe and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2015-05-15 with total page 347 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A family-authorised biography of one of the top-scoring aces of the Battle of Britain.

Download or read book Fighter Pilot written by George Barclay and published by Crecy Pub. This book was released on 1994 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Battle of Britain Pilot written by George Barclay and published by Haynes Publishing UK. This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: RAF fighter pilot George Barclay kept a personal diary of his time flying Hurricanes and Spitfires in 1940–41, including his rare contemporary account of flying Hurricanes with 249 Squadron in the Battle of Britain. This revised and re-illustrated edition of a book originally published in 1976 features previously unseen photographs and ephemera from Barclay’s personal albums, as well as offering new insights into his evasion in France and Spain in 1941. Barclay was later killed over El Alamein in 1942, shot down by German fighter ace Lt Werner Schröer. This diary is a rare, descriptive and articulate chronicle of the life of an RAF front-line fighter pilot in 1940–1.

Download or read book Sailor Malan Freedom Fighter written by Dilip Sarkar MBE and published by Air World. This book was released on 2021-06-09 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adolph Gysbert Malan was born in Wellington, South Africa. A natural leader and driven individual with a totally positive outlook, aged fourteen Malan became an officer cadet in the South African Merchant Navy, before being commissioned into the Royal Navy Reserve. Well-travelled and worldly-wise, aged twenty-five the intrepid adventurer applied for a Short Service Commission in the RAF. Universally known as ‘Sailor’ in the RAF, Malan became a fighter pilot. Shortly after war was declared, Malan was involved in the infamous ‘Battle of Barking Creek’, in which 74 Squadron mistakenly destroyed friendly Hurricanes. Then, over Dunkirk in May 1940, Malan’s exceptional ability was immediately demonstrated in combat and a string of confirmed aerial victories rapidly accumulated. The following month, Malan scored the Spitfire’s first nocturnal kill. By August 1940 he was commanding 74 Squadron, which he led with great distinction during the Battle of Britain. In March 1941, Malan was promoted and became the first Wing Commander (Flying) at Biggin Hill, leading the three-squadron-strong Spitfire wing during operations over northern France. After a break from operations, Malan went on to command a succession of fighter training units, passing on his tactical genius and experience, and producing his famous ‘Ten Rules of Air Fighting’ which are still cited today. By the war’s end, Group Captain Malan was the RAF’s tenth top-scoring fighter pilot. Leaving the RAF in 1945 and returning to South Africa, he was disgusted by Apartheid and founded the ‘Torch Commando’ of ex-servicemen against this appalling racist policy. This part of Malan’s life is equally as inspirational, in fact, as his wartime service, and actually tells us more about the man than just his RAF record. Tragically, in 1963, he died, prematurely, aged just fifty-three, of Parkinson’s. Written with the support of the Malan family, this biography is the full story of a remarkable airman and politician.

Download or read book The Few written by Dilip Sarkar and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the Battle of Britain in the words of the pilots from a unique archive of first hand accounts.

Download or read book Battle of Britain Broadcaster written by Robert Gardner and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2019-09-30 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The unique story of a radio broadcasting pioneer and war correspondent, told with affection by his son.” —Firetrench With the outbreak of World War II, Charles Gardner became one of the first BBC war correspondents and was posted to France to cover the RAF’s AASF (Advanced Air Strike Force). He made numerous broadcasts interviewing many fighter pilots after engagements with the Germans and recalling stories of raids, bomb attacks and eventually the Blitzkrieg when they all were evacuated from France. In late 1940 he was commissioned in the RAF as a pilot and flew Catalina flying boats of Coastal Command. After support missions over the Atlantic protecting supply convoys from America, his squadron was deployed to Ceylon which was under threat from the Japanese navy. Gardner was later recruited by Lord Mountbatten, to help report the exploits of the British 14th Army in Burma. He both broadcast and filed countless reports of their astonishing bravery in beating the Japanese in jungle conditions and monsoon weather. After the war, Gardner became the BBC air correspondent from 1946-1953. As such, he became known as “The Voice of the Air,” witnessing and recording the greatest days in British aviation history. But perhaps he will best be remembered for his 1940 eye-witness account of an air battle over the English Channel when German dive bombers unsuccessfully attacked a British convoy but were driven off by RAF fighters. That broadcast is still played frequently today.

Download or read book Gun Button to Fire written by Tom Neil and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2010-03-15 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The amazing story of one of the 'Few', fighter ace Tom Neil who shot down 13 enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain.

Download or read book Fighter Aces of the RAF in the Battle of Britain written by Philip Kaplan and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2008-03-25 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary RAF fighter aces during the Battle of Britain. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans.

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 307 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 Spitfire Pilot written by Roger Hall and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The intensely evocative memoir of one of 'the Few', Spitfire pilot Roger Hall. The Battle of Britain memoir of Roger Hall, a Spitfire pilot in 152 Squadron based in the South East of England, the heart of the fighting during the epic battle. Roger recounts in exhaustive detail his own experience of air-to-air combat with Me109s and Me110s (he shot down three enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain), and that of his fellow pilots. Hall had no compunction in revealing his fear of wartime flying. He strips away the veneer of glory, smart uniforms and wild parties and uncovers the ordinary, very human young men who lived a life in which there was no tomorrow. There is no nostalgia here.

Download or read book Flying Fighting and Reflection written by Peter Jacobs and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2018-09-30 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the thrilling account of the last remaining Battle of Britain ace fighter pilot, Tom Ginger Neil. Neil was one of an elite band, nicknamed The Few by Winston Churchill, he flew Hurricanes during 141 combat missions in that battle and went on to command the first Spitfire XII squadron during 1942/43 as the RAF went on the offensive in north-west Europe.In this, the only full account of Neil's life to be published in collaboration with his family, we learn how he became a poster boy for the war effort and how he credits his sixth sense for keeping him alive during the Second World War.There was, however, one terrifyingly close brush with death, when in 1940 he had a mid-air collision with another Hurricane. With the rear section of his aircraft gone, the plane was out of control and hurtling to the ground, yet somehow he managed to bail out and miraculously survived with only a minor leg injury.As well as RAF service during the Siege of Malta, Wing Commander Neil, who is now in his late nineties, also served with the Americans during the D-Day landings.During his career, Neil was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for the destruction of at least fourteen enemy aircraft, and was a successful test pilot after the war before commanding a jet fighter-reconnaissance squadron in Egypt's troubled Canal Zone during the 1950s for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross.With contributions from the man himself, this book also looks at his life after the RAF and his career as a successful author. For military buffs and novices alike, it is a must-read account of a true war hero.

Download or read book First Light written by Geoffrey Wellum and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2018-05-17 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, eighteen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF . . . Desperate to get in the air, he makes it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Thrust into combat almost immediately, Wellum finds himself flying several sorties a day, caught up in terrifying dogfights with German Me 109s. Over the coming months he and his fellow pilots play a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. But of the friends that take to the air alongside Wellum many never return.

Download or read book Richard Hillary written by David A Ross and published by Grub Street Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09-22 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authoritative biography of the WWII ace fighter pilot, hero of the Battle of Britain and author of the classic wartime memoir The Last Enemy. As both a legendary flying ace and an accomplished author, Richard Hillary achieved a unique kind of immortality during his tragically short life. Born in Australia and raised in England, he attended Oxford University before joining the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. Flying Spitfires in the 603 Squadron, he became an ace in the Battle of Britain. Though he managed to survive being shot down in September 1940, he suffered severe burns to his face and hands. It was during his long and painful recovery that Hillary wrote his masterpiece, The Last Enemy. Then, anxious to return to flying, he died when his Bristol Blenheim bomber crashed in ‘mysterious’ circumstances in 1943. Cutting through myth and misinformation, biographer David Ross draws on extensive archival research, including from the Richard Hillary Trust Archive in Oxford, as well as interviews with Hillary’s contemporaries. This complete biography also features many previously unseen photographs.

Download or read book The Last Enemy written by Richard Hillary and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2014-11-10 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Last Enemy recounts the struggles and successes of a young man in the Royal Air Force.

Download or read book Spitfire Ace written by Gordon Olive and published by Amberley Publishing Limited. This book was released on 2015-07-15 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The amazing story of one of ‘the Few’, Spitfire fighter pilot Gordon Olive, who shot down ten enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain.

Download or read book Duty Calls Dunkirk written by James Holland and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011-06-02 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'YOU WANTED TO SEE SOME ACTION - WELL YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT NOW. YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT NOW ALL RIGHT.' Friday 24th May, 1940 Private Johnny Hawke, aged sixteen, awakens to artillery fire. Hours later, Stukas scream down from the sky. Messerschmit fighters roar towards his regiment. Trucks burst into flames. Now men and mules lay dead and dying, severed limbs twisted grotesquely as blood soaks the cobbled streets. Young Private Hawke just wants to do his duty and serve his country. But as he - and his fellow soldiers - prepare to stop the German advance, there's only one question on everyone's lips. HOW WILL THEY SURVIVE?