In John Bede Cusack's fictionalised military memoir 'They Hosed Them Out', fact and fiction intersect to tell the powerful story of one man's experience as an air gunner during the Second World War. Cusack transcends the limitations of non-fiction and traditional war literature to evoke not only the well-documented horrors of war but also the adventure. Written with a profound mixture of bitterness and cynicism, humour and camaraderie, Cusack's sardonic Australian humour offers a unique an...

"A personal and vivid view of the Royal Air Force's (RAF) engagement of the Luftwaffe in World War II . . . Exciting, valuable, and good reading." — Library JournalThis is the autobiography of Group Captain Sir Hugh Dundas CBE, DSO, DFC, who was one of the most distinguished fighter pilots of World War II. He writes of his wartime experiences, and particularly of his period as Squadron Leader and Wing Commander and his involvement in the Battle of Britain.

"This is the book that puts the flesh on the bones of its reputation as one of the best aircraft of the Second World War." — Pennant MagazineThe flak started about four or five minutes before the target and immediately it was apparent that it was intense and extremely accurate. Oboe entailed the pilot flying dead straight and level for ten minutes on the attack run. Suddenly a tremendous flash lit up the sky about 50 yards ahea...

More than 10,000 Australians served with Bomber Command, a highly trained band of elite flyers who undertook some of the most dangerous operations of World War II. They flew raid after raid over France and Germany knowing that the odds were against them. Stretched to breaking point, nearly 3500 died in the air. Their bravery in extreme circumstances has barely been recognised.Peter Rees traces the extraordinary achievements of these young aviators. He tells their hair-raising stori...

'We make and we break.'They were the forward scouts, the mine clearers, the bridge builders and the tunnel rats. They were frequently not just on the front line, but right at the sharp end of the action. They were the legendary Aussie sappers, the army engineers, who were literally everywhere in the fighting against the Vietcong.This special breed of soldier lived hard and played hard. They were there at the beginning of the war. They were also among the last to le...

Before it became a standard military tactic, and immortalised in film, the science of sniping was both untrusted and often regarded as unsportsmanlike by the military.To nostalgic British generals ardent for the cavalry charge and volley fire, the use of a crack marksman, working alone to pick off unsuspecting enemy, was just ‘not cricket’.But the Germans were not so short-sighted.By the end of 1915, the German sniper dominated the battlefield, inflicting countless ...

Robert le Page flew with the Fleet Air Arm from 1940 to 1945, mostly in 816 Squadron flying carrier-based Fairey Swordfish. He saw action mine-laying off Cherbourg, hunting U-boats, escorting convoys in the North Atlantic and Arctic seas and covering D-Day. Much of his early war years were aboard HMS Dasher and he was lucky to be ashore when the carrier mysteriously exploded and sank in the Clyde. This decimated 816 Squadron which was eventually re-equipped and then worked up to operationa...

"The risk of a fatal catastrophe was constant. The NVA was the enemy, but the ultimate opponent was, quite simply, death. . . ."For assault helicopter crews flying in and around the NVA-infested DMZ, the U.S. pullout from Vietnam in 1970-71 was a desperate time of selfless courage. Now former army warrant officer Tom Marshall of the Phoenix, C Company, 158th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne, captures the deadly mountain terrain, the long hours flown under enormous stress, the gri...

Flight Lieutenant Silk, a twice-decorated Lancaster pilot in WW II, rejoins the R.A.F. and qualifies to fly the Vulcan bomber. Piloting a Vulcan is an unforgettable experience: no other aircraft comes close to matching its all-round performance. And as bombers go, it's drop-dead gorgeous.But there's a catch. The Vulcan has only one role: to make a second strike. To act in retaliation for a Russian nuclear attack. Silk knows that knows that if he ever flies his Vulcan in anger, he'l...

In this memoir, the author of Nimrod: Rise and Fall details his experience testing the UK's strategic bomber while flying for Avro during the Cold War.In 2007, a restored Avro Vulcan Mark 2—XH558—took to the skies to help commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Falklands conflict. To coincide with this, the memoirs of one of its test pilots, Tony Blackman, was published to great acclaim.Tony flew no less than 105 of the 136 built, logging 850 flights...

"The hunting down and sinking of the magnificent German battle cruiser Scharnhorst was one of the epic actions of World War II . . . stirring" ( Work Boat).On December 25, 1943, the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst slipped out of Altenfjord in Norway to attack Arctic convoy JW55B which was carrying vital war supplies to the Soviet Union. But British naval intelligence knew of the Scharnhorst's mission before she sailed, and the ...

"[An] intimate account of a Forward Air Controller working with the Special Forces on their secret operations in South Vietnam and Laos . . . Don't miss it!" (John Prados, author of Storm Over Leyte).Originally published in 1991, this classic work has now been revised and updated with additional photos. It is the story of how, in Vietnam, an elite group of Air Force pilots fought a secret air war in Cessna 0-2 and OV-10 Bronco prop planes—flying as low as t...