Download or read book Secret Squadrons of the Eighth written by Pat Carty and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 1990 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first volume in this new series which provides a graphic account of the background, equipment, and the tactics of famous military operations. Many of these operations would see the first use of pioneering new weaponry, equipment or military tactics against an unsuspecting enemy. These fascinating stories will be of interest to military historians, wargamers and historians alike. This fantastic new book analyses the German raid on the Belgian fort of Eben-Emael and its consequences, separating myth from truth. When the Germans launched their offensive against Belgium, Holland and France in May 1940 one major obstacle stood in the way; Eben-Emael. Defending the strategically vital line of the Albert Canal and the Meuse River, it was considered to be the most impregnable fortification in Europe. To overcome the fort's formidable defences the Germans conceived an audacious plan. In the early hours of 10th May a select band of 77 soldiers on board nine DFS230 gliders landed on the perimeter of Eben Emael. The defenders were taken completely by surprise and the fort's guns and other installations were destroyed within minutes. The glider-borne troops held the forte for the next 24 hours, and this was crucial in facilitating the Germans' unstoppable advance towards the Channel.Profusely illustrated, including many contemporary photographs showing the immediate aftermath of the raid, this brilliant book is a truly gripping account of how this incredible feat of arms was accomplished.
Download or read book The Secret Air War Over France USAAF Special Operations Units In The French Campaign Of 1944 written by Major Bernard Victor Moore II and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper presents an historical account of the operations of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) special operations units in the French campaign of 1944. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it is intended to be a brief history of the creation, development and combat record of these units. Second, it is intended for use as an example of the utility and effectiveness of air force special operations in high intensity conventional warfare. The narrative basically begins in early 1943, as the Western Allies began making plans for the cross-Channel invasion of Normandy. At the request of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the USAAF commands in the United Kingdom and North Africa secretly organized a small number of special operations squadrons for use in covert operations over France. Their overall mission was to provide specialized airlift for clandestine warfare activities intended to support the conventional ground forces during the critical days and weeks immediately after D-Day. From October 1943 through September 1944, these squadrons flew thousands of clandestine missions, parachuting guerrilla warfare teams and intelligence agents deep behind German lines, dropping weapons, ammunition, explosives and other supplies to French resistance fighters, and extracting teams from enemy territory. The USAAF squadrons, operating in conjunction with similar British squadrons, enabled American and British special forces and French irregular units to operate with great effectiveness in the vulnerable rear areas behind German lines.
Download or read book Red Eagles written by Steve Davies and published by Osprey Publishing. This book was released on 2008-09-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the late 1960s until the end of the Cold War, the United States Air Force acquired and flew Russian-made MiG jets, culminating in a secret squadron dedicated to exposing American fighter pilots to enemy technology and tactics. Red Eagles tells the story of this squadron from the first tests of MiGs following the Vietnam War when the USAF had been woefully under-prepared in aerial combat. These initial flights would develop into the "black" or classified program known internally as Constant Peg. At a secret air base in Nevada, ace American fighter pilots were presented with a range of differnet MiG jets with a simple remit: to expose "the threat" to as many of their brethern as possible. Maintaining and flying these "assets" without without spare parts or manuals was an almost impossible task, putting those flying the MiGs in mortal danger on every flight. Despite these challenges, in all more than 5,900 American aircrews would train against America's secret MiGs, giving them the eskills they needed to face the enemy in real combat situations. For the first time, this book tells the story of Constant Peg and the 4477th Red Eagles Squadron in the words of the men who made it possible.
Download or read book America s Secret MiG Squadron written by Gaillard R. Peck, Jr and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-07-20 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The personal account of the original “Red Eagle” of the establishment, equipment, and training practices of the highly classified MiG squadron of the USAF. America's Secret MiG Squadrons is the story of a group of incredibly brave military pioneers who put their lives on the line to establish a training program that would prepare the US Air Force for a potential Cold War battle with Soviet aircraft. As a F-4 Phantom II pilot in Vietnam, Col. Peck had been shocked by the technological abilities of Soviet-built aircraft, and at the poor level of training available to US pilots to aid them in their battles with Soviet MiGs in the skies over Vietnam. Working with the support of Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Jr., and under conditions of extreme secrecy, the CONSTANT PEG program was launched with Peck as the original Red Eagle. This is the fascinating history of the men who trained to fly and maintain covertly obtained MiGs, for the first time providing an insider's perspective, personal anecdotes, and photographs, revealing how Peck battled bureaucracy and scepticism to ultimately establish the premier fighter pilot training center – the real Top Gun.
Download or read book The Luftwaffe s Secret WWII Missions written by Dmitry Degtev and published by Air World. This book was released on 2020-12-28 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Full of mystery and intrigue surrounding the Abwehr and the Luftwaffe secret missions supporting the insertion and less frequent extraction of agents.” —Aviation News There are many vivid episodes in the operational service of the Luftwaffe’s special and secret units which engaged in the delivery of agents and saboteurs in the rear of the enemy throughout the Second World War—not just on the Eastern Front but across Asia and Europe. The activities of the pilots and crews of these squadrons, even in the Luftwaffe itself, were closed and secret. Information on the operations and missions of these units was known only to a limited number of people. It was common practice for the crew of one aircraft in these units to know nothing about the assignments of their fellow airmen. The area of activity of such units and aircraft covered the whole of Europe, North Africa, the Arctic circle, the Urals, the Caucasus, and Central Asia including Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Luftwaffe not only flew to these remote regions, but also created secret bases for their aircraft. Drawn from German and Russian sources, much of the latter only recently declassified, the authors expose for the very first time the Luftwaffe’s secret operations and reveal the fate of many of the pilots, agents and saboteurs in a story as breathtakingly dramatic as any blockbuster novel. “A most interesting account of the special Luftwaffe units that flew agents into enemy territory during WWII . . .What may surprise many readers is the extent of these operations that stretched deep into the Soviet Union and also into the Middle East and Afghanistan.” —Firetrench
Download or read book Luftwaffe Squadrons 1939 45 written by Chris Bishop and published by Amber Books. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Organized by theater of operations and the many campaigns fought by the Luftwaffe, this richly illustrated volume describes in depth the various units on the front during key points in the war. It details the aircraft used by each unit, along with their individual and squadron markings. With information boxes accompanying full-color images, Luftwaffe Squadrons 1939-45 is essential for anyone interested in the German war machine.
Download or read book US Marine Corps Fighter Squadrons of World War II written by Barrett Tillman and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-05-20 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The US Marine Corps has a long heritage of aviation excellence, a reputation that was largely built on the impact and performance of the “flying leathernecks” in the bitter fighting in the Pacific during World War II. As the US island-hopping campaign against Japan gathered pace, US Marine Corps fighter squadrons operating legendary Grumman and Vought aircraft became instrumental in the success of amphibious assaults and in breaking fierce enemy resistance, engaging Japanese attack aircraft in the skies and ground-based targets while supporting and protecting US ground forces. The flying legends Marion Carl, Greg “Pappy” Boyington, Joe Foss and others were all World War II Marine fighter pilots, taking to the skies in Corsairs, Wildcats, Venturas and Hellcats. Aviation historian Barrett Tillman's comprehensive account US Marine Corps Fighter Squadrons of World War II pays homage to these individuals and their mounts, and is packed with historic and organizational details of the squadrons who took to the skies above the Pacific.
Download or read book A Question of Honor written by Lynne Olson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Question of Honor is the gripping, little-known story of the refugee Polish pilots who joined the RAF and played an essential role in saving Britain from the Nazis, only to be betrayed by the Allies after the war. After Poland fell to the Nazis, thousands of Polish pilots, soldiers, and sailors escaped to England. Devoted to liberating their homeland, some would form the RAF’s 303 squadron, known as the Kosciuszko Squadron, after the elite unit in which many had flown back home. Their thrilling exploits and fearless flying made them celebrities in Britain, where they were “adopted” by socialites and seduced by countless women, even as they yearned for news from home. During the Battle of Britain, they downed more German aircraft than any other squadron, but in a stunning twist at the war’s end, the Allies rewarded their valor by abandoning Poland to Joseph Stalin. This moving, fascinating book uncovers a crucial forgotten chapter in World War II–and Polish–history.
Download or read book The Secret Rescue written by Cate Lineberry and published by Hachette+ORM. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The compelling untold story of a group of stranded U.S. Army nurses and medics fighting to escape Nazi-occupied Europe. When 26 Army nurses and medics-part of the 807th Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron-boarded a cargo plane for transport in November 1943, they never anticipated the crash landing in Nazi-occupied Albania that would lead to their months-long struggle for survival. A drama that captured the attention of the American public, the group and its flight crew dodged bullets and battled blinding winter storms as they climbed mountains and fought to survive, aided by courageous villagers who risked death at Nazi hands to help them. A mesmerizing tale of the courage and heroism of ordinary people, The Secret Rescue tells not only a new story of struggle and endurance, but also one of the daring rescue attempts by clandestine American and British organizations amid the tumultuous landscape of the war.
Download or read book Commanding an Air Force Squadron written by Col Usaf Timmons, Timothy and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-08-07 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The privilege of commanding an Air Force squadron, despite its heavy responsibilities and unrelenting challenges, represents for many Air Force officers the high point of their careers. It is service as a squadron commander that accords true command authority for the first time. The authority, used consistently and wisely, provides a foundation for command. As with the officer's commission itself, command authority is granted to those who have earned it, both by performance and a revealed capacity for the demands of total responsibility. But once granted, it much be revalidated every day. So as one assumes squadron command, bringing years of experience and proven record to join with this new authority, one might still need a little practical help to success with the tasks of command. This book offers such help. “Commanding an Air Force Squadron” brings unique and welcome material to a subject other books have addressed. It is rich in practical, useful, down-to-earth advice from officers who have recently experienced squadron command. The author does not quote regulations, parrot doctrine, or paraphrase the abstractions that lace the pages of so many books about leadership. Nor does he puff throughout the manuscript about how he did it. Rather, he presents a digest of practical wisdom based on real-world experience drawn from the reflection of many former commanders from any different types of units. He addresses all Air Force squadron commanders, rated and nonrated, in all sorts of missions worldwide. Please also see a follow up to this book entitled “Commanding an Air Force Squadron in the Twenty-First Century (2003)” by Jeffry F. Smith, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF.
Download or read book Segregated Skies written by Stanley Sandler and published by Hikoki. This book was released on 2024-10-30 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a welcome reissue on what is a definitive account of the formation and operation of the segregated all black US squadrons which served in the Second World War. The Tuskegee airmen as they came to be called took their name from Tuskegee Institute (now University) where they were educated, which was located near Tuskegee, Alabama. Many of these first African-American military aviators in the United States Armed Forces came from states where blacks were still subject to the Jim Crow Laws. The American military was racially segregated, as was much of the federal government and the Tuskegee Airmen were frequently subjected to discrimination, both within and outside of the army. The book goes into much detail on decisions made and not made at the highest military and civilian levels in wartime Washington as to the founding, use and value of a racially-segregated all-Black fighter squadrons. In the end, a decision had to be between a Black squadron or no Black squadron at all. The resultant 99th Fighter Squadron and the follow-on 100th, 201st and 203rd squadrons were decisive in opening the way for full US military integration a full decade before America's civilian society began to go the same way. This account of these squadrons examines the background to their formation, their training and operations in theatre. The book is based on interviews with many of the Tuskegee Airmen themselves. This is supported by research in USAF archives. The work deals not just with the pilots and their warplanes in battle but also with their everyday life on air bases in the segregated Deep South and in the field in wartime Italy.
Download or read book The Secrets of Q Central written by Paul Brown and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-11-24 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A quiet market town with no military presence was chosen as the secret communications centre for Britain as the country prepared for war with Germany in 1937. When hostilities began, ' Q Central' attracted a dozen other clandestine operations set up to defend the country or designed to confuse and undermine enemy morale. The headquarters of radar, RAF Group 60, also came to Leighton Buzzard to be hidden from German attack and to be close to the telephone and radio communications needed to run its vast chain of radar stations. These directed the defending fighters that saved the country in the Battle of Britain and then took the bombing war to Germany. Close by, for the same reasons of secrecy and safety, were the satellite stations of Bletchley Park, the now famous code-breaking centre; the Met Office at Dunstable, which gave the all clear for the D-Day landings; Black Ops units that set up false radio stations and wrote propaganda to confuse the enemy; and airfields used for dropping agents behind enemy lines. At Q Central itself was the largest telephone exchange in the world, with more than 1,000 teleprinters communicating with all the armed services in every theatre of war and directing the operations of the secret services. Now the restrictions of the Official Secrets Act have been lifted, enabling eight members of the Leighton Buzzard and District Archaeology and History Society to piece together this compelling story for the first time.
Download or read book Special Air Warfare and the Secret War in Laos written by Air University Press and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of special air warfare and the Air Commandos who served for the ambassadors in Laos from 1964 to 1975 is captured through extensive research and veteran interviews. The author has meticulously put together a comprehensive overview of the involvement of USAF Air Commandos who served in Laos as trainers, advisors, and clandestine combat forces to prevent the communist takeover of the Royal Lao Government. This book includes pictures of those operations, unveils what had been a US government secret war, and adds a substantial contribution to understanding the wider war in Southeast Asia.
Download or read book United States Navy PB4Y 1 B 24 Liberator Squadrons in Great Britain During World War II written by Alan C. Carey and published by Schiffer Pub Limited. This book was released on 2003 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alan Careys new book, his fifth on USN and USMC bomber units of the Second World War, is the story of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7) and the men who flew the Navy version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber out of Dunkeswell and Upottery, England during World War II. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator squadrons were unlike their counterparts in the U.S. Armys 8th Air Force, who battled their way through thick flak and swarms of German fighters while flying to and from targets in continental Europe. The job of U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator aircrews was to keep German U-boats from successfully operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel by going out day after day, often in miserable weather conditions, on unrelenting search and destroy missions. During the war, FAW-7 Liberators were responsible for the sinking of five U-boats and damaging many more.
Download or read book Relentless Strike written by Sean Naylor and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2015-09-01 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2015 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. Since the attacks of September 11, one organization has been at the forefront of America's military response. Its efforts turned the tide against al-Qaida in Iraq, killed Bin Laden and Zarqawi, rescued Captain Phillips and captured Saddam Hussein. Its commander can direct cruise missile strikes from nuclear submarines and conduct special operations raids anywhere in the world. Relentless Strike tells the inside story of Joint Special Operations Command, the secret military organization that during the past decade has revolutionized counterterrorism, seamlessly fusing intelligence and operational skills to conduct missions that hit the headlines, and those that have remained in the shadows-until now. Because JSOC includes the military's most storied special operations units-Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, the 75th Ranger Regiment-as well as America's most secret aviation and intelligence units, this is their story, too. Relentless Strike reveals tension-drenched meetings in war rooms from the Pentagon to Iraq and special operations battles from the cabin of an MH-60 Black Hawk to the driver's seat of Delta Force's Pinzgauer vehicles as they approach their targets. Through exclusive interviews, reporter Sean Naylor uses his unique access to reveal how an organization designed in the 1980s for a very limited mission set transformed itself after 9/11 to become the military's premier weapon in the war against terrorism and how it continues to evolve today.
Download or read book Winged Crusaders written by Michael Napier and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 684 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Formed in 1915, and still operational today, 14 Squadron is one of the RAF's longest serving and most senior Squadrons. Spending the first thirty years of its operational life in the Middle East, the history of this Squadron is a rich one, but one which, until now, has gone largely unrecorded. Napier effectively brings together all the historical scraps and shreds of stories which make up the collective history of this unit, from 1915 –1945, a period of great military and social upheaval. The author himself attests to the fact that the work is not merely about the aeroplanes operational history during this period, or the stark military facts (although enthusiasts of both these areas will find much here); rather, the work concerns itself to a large extent with the people who flew such aircraft. Recording the dramatic trials and tribulations of the people who were 14 Squadron, Napier provides a sympathetic and engaging account of this period of Military History.
Download or read book A Most Secret Squadron written by Des Curtis and published by Grub Street Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Des Curtis was one of the founder members of 618 Squadron. Formed within days of the illustrious 617, 618's primary objective was to mount a daylight low-level attack by Mosquitos on the German battleship Tirpitz within hours of the attack on the Ruhr dams. The operation, codenamed Operation Servant, was given top security classification, to the point where the subject was excluded from the minutes of the meetings of the Chiefs of Staff of the air and naval forces. The author reveals the dilemmas and conflicting priorities existing to the highest levels, setting out in detail the technicalities of developing the 'bouncing bomb'. He also writes first hand about the tactical problems of getting to and from the target; and the tensions and strains endured by the Mosquito crews themselves, as they took the war to the German U-Boats within the sight and safety of their bases.
