The Battle of Britain memoir of Hurricane pilot Barry Sutton, DFC. At twenty-three years of age, Barry Sutton had experienced more than the average person experiences in a lifetime. This book, based on a diary he kept during the Battle of Britain, covers September 1939 to September 1940 during which time based at North Weald, one of Fighter Command's most important fighter stations, he shot down three German fighters and was shot down twice himself. It is also the story of his family, his ...

"A good read both to aviators in general and to the Lightning fraternity in particular" ( Royal Air Force Historical Society).According to a recent international study, the Lightning is the fifth most popular military aircraft of all time. With over twenty individual stories from former Lightning pilots, this book relates the highs and lows, the dramas and the demands of those who operated this iconic aircraft until its sharp end.Tales include the ...

An "interesting and highly informative personal memoir . . . a much-needed addition to the body of work covering the air war over the Falklands."— IPMS/USADuring the Falklands War, Jerry Pook, a pilot in No. 1(F) Squadron RAF, flew air interdiction, armed reccon, close-air-support and airfield attack as well as pure photo-reccon missions. Most weapons were delivered from extreme low-level attacks because of the lack of navigation aids and in the absence of...

This is a fighter pilot’s memoir of four tumultuous years, 1938–1942, when he was first trained, then fought and survived in not one but two of the biggest aerial campaigns of the war, the Battle of Britain and the equally epic, but lesser known, Siege of Malta.When the Germans were blitzing their way across France in spring 1940, Pilot Officer Tom Neil had just received his first posting – to 249 Squadron. Nineteen years old and fresh from training, he was soon to be pitched into ...

During WWII, on one raid alone, Nuremburg March 1944, more Bomber Command airmen lost their lives than were lost in the Battle of Britain. These were ordinary men who became part of extraordinary events. One such was Arthur Darlow, the authors grandfather. A pilot of a Lancaster crew in 405 RCAF, he was one of the legions of men who took the offensive against the enemy for most of the war. Their story, vividly recreated here, is special. The crews tour starts with Bomber Commands Main Offe...

An in-depth look at the weaponry, tactics, and combat pilots involved in neutralizing enemy air defenses—from the Vietnam War to today.Detecting and destroying enemy Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs) and radar is arguably the most dangerous mission that any pilot can undertake. Tactics differ with air forces, but the general principal is to fly a formation of aircraft into an area where the enemy's air defenses are strong, wait for their radar to illuminate the aircraf...

This book is full of untold short stories of men who created a legend, the legend of the British airborne forces during the Second World War. Impressed by the performance of the German paratroopers in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940, and on Crete in 1941, Winston Churchill ordered the creation of a British Airborne force of no less than 5,000 parachutists. Their task was to land behind enemy lines and take and hold or destroy key objectives while ground troops advanced toward them. The...

The remarkable Battle of Britain experiences of Spitfire pilot Brian Lane, DFC. Brian Lane was only 23 when he when he wrote his dramatic account of life as a Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. Lane was an 'ace' with six enemy 'kills' to his credit and was awarded the DFC for bravery in combat. The text is honest and vibrant, and has the immediacy of a book written close the event, untouched, therefore, by the doubts and debates of later years. Here we can r...

Distant Thunder details the engrossing experiences of a helicopter pilots tales of war told through letters that come straight from the heart. Often the author labored well into the night after a mission still wearing the dusty flight suit which bore witness to the events he penned.Don Harward was torn between two worlds; his loyalty to his family and to his country. Like so many other soldiers, even on leave, he can always hear the dim roar of guns, the distant thunder of war, and is alwa...

Summer 1940, Britain is on the brink, fewer than 3,000 RAF fighter pilots stand between Hitler’s Luftwaffe and air supremacy over the skies of southern England – the prerequisite for a German invasion. What was it like to fly a Spitfire? To shoot down a German bomber over London? Or to be shot down by the closely matched Messerschmitt Me 109? This concise account of daily life in August and September 1940, written by a fighter pilot who fought in the Battle, is the ideal introduction to th...

‘I saw a mass of ME 109s and went up to attack. I looked behind and found three on each side diving to attack me.’ Bob Doe, Combat Report 16 August 1940 In June 1940, at the age of twenty, Bob Doe believed himself to be the worst pilot in his squadron. Just three months later he was a highly decorated hero of the Battle of Britain. This is the story of the pilot who, in his own estimation, was not promising material for a fighter pilot. He left school at fourteen and had none of the qualif...

Although there were many more Hawker Hurricanes than Supermarine Spitfires engaged in the epic conflict fought over southern England in the summer of 1940, the public's imagination was captured by the shapely and charismatic Spitfire. According to legend, however, the Hurricane executed far greater damage on the enemy than all other defenses combined, and was therefore the unsung hero of our 'Finest Hour'. New research, analysed and interpreted by Dilip Sarkar however, confirms that the Sp...