Based on extensive interviews, firsthand accounts, original research, and archive sources Fighting High tells the story of those who took to the skies to oppose the Axis powers during World War Two. World War Two military aviation author Steve Darlow brings together twenty accounts of extreme bravery, heroism and sacrifice. The stories in Fighting High - World War Two - Air Battle Europe, Volume 1, span the entire war, from the early days of defending against the might of the Luftwaffe through to the exercising of Allied air superiority in the latter days of the conflict. Each story is told at a personal level, set within the context of the ferocious European air battle. In totality an exciting, vivid, graphic and moving account of what the airmen went through when they were `Fighting High'.

Fighting High: Volume 1 - World War Two - Air Battle Europe

History

Military

Fighting High Publishing

Following the success of Volume 1, acclaimed military aviation author Steve Darlow brings together another collection of stories telling of the extreme bravery, heroism and sacrifice of the men who fought the European air battle during World War Two. Once more each story is told at a personal level, set within the context of the ferocious air war. Included are the recollections of veterans who fought for survival in the sky, graphic combat reports describing the air battle at the extreme, moving accounts of airmen who lost their lives, and memories stirred as the modern legacy of the air war is uncovered. Once more, an exciting, vivid, graphic and moving account of what the airmen went through when they were ‘Fighting High’.The second book in the series, as with Volume 1, brings into the public domain a considerable amount of original research and new material, presenting many hitherto untold stories about the air war. The book includes especially commissioned original artwork, illustrations and maps, and the award winning designer has gathered all the material together to present it in a fresh and contemporary style. Interest in World War Two remains high, particularly with respect to personal stories.The Fighting High - World War Two - Air Battle Europe series exclusively focuses on the individuals involved. The fresh and original approach to presenting these stories makes it essential reading for anyone interested in the World War Two aerial battle.

Fighting High: Volume 2: World War Two - Air Battle Europe

Bernard Green managed to survive both the First and Second World War – just. In the first global conflict of the Twentieth Century he endured mud, destruction and death in the trenches of the Western Front; suffering serious injury yet serving with distinction, earning the Military Cross. Twenty-one years later, with another European war imminent, Bernard signed up to fight Germany once more, this time from the air. However in July 1940 his Hampden bomber was blasted from the sky. He survived and was captured, though two of his crew were not so fortunate and lost their lives. For the remainder of the war Bernard languished behind barbed wire, although he did manage to breakout from Stalag Luft III as part of the famous ‘Great Escape’ in March 1944, the oldest man to do so. Bernard was recaptured and, again, was extremely lucky to survive. Fifty of his co-escapers were not so lucky, murdered on the direct orders of Adolf Hitler.Based on family archives and original letters Bernard Green’s grandson Laurence has pieced together his grandfather’s extraordinary story of survival. Great War to Great Escape tells of Bernard’s physical and mental struggles as he endures the appalling attrition of Ypres and the Somme during the Great War. Then there is the physical and psychological torment of years of captivity, for virtually all of the Second World War, with a focus on his involvement in the ‘Great Escape’. Bernard’s ordeal finally ends following a forced march in atrocious conditions as the European conflict draws to a close. Bernard Green’s story is quite exceptional; an extraordinary man confronting extremes of war, and surviving.The vast majority of photographs, from both the First and Second World War, have never been published.Provides further insight in to the infamous breakout from Stalag Luft III and is essential reading for anyone interested in the Great Escape.

Great War to Great Escape: The Two Wars of Flight Lieutenant Bernard 'Pop' Green MC

Green, Laurence

The Battle of Britain: Portraits of the Few is an exceptional tribute to the small group of legendary pilots that served with the Royal Air Force through one of the most critical periods of the Second World War. Portraits of the Few contains over 60 color illustrations, capturing the images and character of the military aviators who were designated the ‘Few’ by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Accompanying the portraits, painted by artist David Pritchard, are action filled accounts written by Second World War aviation author Christopher Yeoman, recounting gripping combats and ferocious encounters as the respective men successfully resist the might of the Luftwaffe. Indeed the aerial battle fought during the long and glorious summer of 1940 is now viewed as one of the most decisive episodes in all of British history. Each and every day proved consequential, ultimately shaping the island’s future. It was a struggle which will never be forgotten by the wartime population of Great Britain; it will never be forgotten for generations to come. The Battle of Britain: Portraits of the Few celebrates the airmen’s legacy and is a unique tribute to this group of extraordinary men. Battle of Britain fighter pilot Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC on receiving his own portrait: “Thank you so very much for the truly excellent water color, the likeness is remarkable. I was touched and became slightly emotional when I first opened the box and there I was looking back at myself all those years ago.”

The Battle of Britain: Portraits of the Few

Pritchard, David

Yeoman, Chris

In August 1914 the 1st Battalion Bedfordshire Regiment were amongst the small professional British Army who gathered and prepared for a war that would ‘be over by Christmas’. With a long and proud history, dating back to 1688, the regiment’s fighting men had already served through numerous wars and rebellions over and above long periods on garrison duties in the ‘Fever Isles’, the New World, and throughout the expanding British Empire. So when war was declared the ‘Old Contemptibles’ of the 1st Battalion would find themselves heavily engaged in more intense fighting during the first three months of the Great War, as it came to be known, than many of the newly raised ‘Service’ battalions would experience during their entire existence.Despite heavy casualties, atrocious conditions, and a steep learning curve, they remained professional and stoic through the early fire and movement battles and then the stagnant, arbitrary nature of trench warfare. They endured pitched battles, heavy shelling, snipers, gas attacks, fended off overwhelming numbers of enemy troops, and carried their bayonets across no man’s land into the seething infernos of machine gun and artillery barrages. This is the first part of their story, from their first defiant defense amongst the slag heaps at Mons, through to the ferocious fighting during the Battle of the Somme in 1916. By integrating a wide variety of official and personal sources, supported by maps, and personalised with individual stories and photographs, Steven Fuller brings the fascinating and extraordinary history of this distinguished battalion and it’s ‘Soldier Lads’ to life.

1st Bedfordshires - Part One: Mons to the Somme (Soldier Lads - First World War)

Fuller, Steven

Europe

With an average age of just twenty-two, the young airmen of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command, all volunteers, began operating within minutes of the start of the Second World War. Continually, through to May 1945, the aircrews, with the odds heavily against them, fought in defiance of Nazi aggression. They defended the British Isles against invasion, they took the war directly back to Germany, they supported the Allied land campaigns, they opposed the enemy Navy and U-boat threats, and they countered the German V-weapon offensives. But the cost was high. From this multi-national force, made up of British airmen, Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Rhodesians, Indians, Poles, Czechs, French, Americans and Jamaicans, a staggering 55,573 airmen would lose their lives, 9,838 would become prisoners of war and a further 8,403 would suffer wounds. Fighting High Publishing brings together notable military aviation authors to tell the stories of some of those who ‘failed to return’ from operations. The carefully selected stories demonstrate the diversity of operational duties undertaken by the aircrews, whilst highlighting the extremes of danger they faced, often day after day and night after night. Most would not survive their ordeal, and many others would see out the war incarcerated in an enemy POW camp.The authors, drawing upon surviving veteran accounts, family archives, official documents, wartime memoirs and letters, flying logbooks, and relative and witness recollections, piece together the extraordinary, gripping, yet ultimately tragic events surrounding the losses described. Illustrated throughout with color and black and white photographs and documents, ‘Bomber Command – Failed to Return’ ensures that the memory of all the young men, some would even say boys, who sacrificed all, is kept alive. ‘Lest we forget.’

Bomber Command: Failed to Return

Bond, Steve

Feast, Sean

Darlow, Steve

In 1962 Michael Cumming's account of the extraordinary story of one of the RAF's most notable Second World War bomber pilots, Alec Cranswick DSO, DFC, came to the attention of the public with the release of Pathfinder Cranswick. Since then the biography of this remarkable man has, quite rightly, achieved classic status. Alec Cranswick volunteered for the Royal Air Force in 1939 and went on to earn the distinction of having flown, as a bomber pilot, the largest number of operations during the Second World War. Sorties against enemy targets began in June 1940, and he completed a tour flying Wellington bombers prior to volunteering for service in the Middle East. He returned to Europe in 1942 with a Distinguished Flying Cross to his name and after a brief spell with No. 419 (Moose) Squadron he volunteered to lead the way for Bomber Command as part of the fledgling Pathfinders, serving with No. 35 Squadron. Upon completion of his third tour he was then rested, but returned to operational duties, for a fourth tour, in April 1944. Tragically, piloting a Lancaster bomber on his 107th bombing operation, Squadron Leader Alec Cranswick failed to return on the night of 4/5 July 1944. Bomber Command had lost an airman described by Pathfinder Force Commander Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett, as `so simply courageous and so selfless in sacrifice.' Michael Cumming's original work, based on family archives, official records, and interviews with those who knew Cranswick, has been extended and updated with new material and previously unpublished photographs. Fighting High presents the 50th anniversary edition of Pathfinder Cranswick, as an ongoing tribute to one of the Royal Air Force's most distinguished and accomplished pilots.

Pathfinder Cranswick

Biographies & Memoirs

Cumming, Michael

Leaders & Notable People

As a teenager ‘Tich’ Palliser became ‘hooked on this flying game’ and aspired to take to the skies. The Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve provided the opportunity and a few months before the Second World War broke out the Yorkshire-born novice was called-up to learn and develop his skills as a combat fighter pilot. In August 1940 the young sergeant aviator, at the controls of a Hawker Hurricane, entered the ferocious aerial melees of the Battle of Britain, fighting for his life, and his colleague’s lives, as he became one of Churchill’s ‘Few’ in the defense of his homeland. Tich met with some combat success but also witnessed the attrition of war at a personal level, losing many squadron friends. Indeed in December 1940 Tich fell victim to enemy fighters. Tich was commissioned in April 1941 and arrived in Malta a month later to play his part in the defense of the beleaguered island. Steadily his score of combat kills rose. He passed the ‘ace’ status and early in 1942 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Soon after he took up instructing duties, and for the remainder of the war, despite the continual threat of sabotage, Tich passed on his hard-won experience to novice pilots in South Africa.This is Tich’s story in his own words, illustrated with numerous previously unpublished photographs, as the reader accompanies him through the physical tensions and emotional trials of being a Second World War fighter pilot. Tich provides an intimate account of squadron life, including the acquaintances made and coping with the loss of friends. They Gave Me a Hurricane is an extraordinary, gripping, and enthralling account, as told by one of the RAF’s ‘ace’ fighter pilots – a fitting tribute to an outstanding airman and well respected veteran.

They Gave Me a Hurricane

PALLISER, Charles

The casualty numbers are simply staggering – 55,573 airmen who served with RAF Bomber Command during the Second World War lost their lives in the fight against Nazism. A further 9,838 airmen became prisoners or war and 8,403 were wounded in action. These extraordinary and unprecedented loss statistics accumulated as the RAF bomber crews played their part in the prosecution of Allied grand strategy: defending the British Isles from invasion, blasting the enemy industrial infrastructure, supporting the Allied land campaigns, targeting the enemy Navy and U-boat threats, and countering the German V-weapon menace.In this second volume concerning Bomber Command aircrew who ‘failed to return’, Fighting High Publishing again brings together acclaimed historians to tell the stories of those who became casualties. Illustrated throughout with color and black and white photographs, the vast majority previously unpublished, Bomber Command: Failed to Return II continues to ensure that the memory of the bomber boys, who sacrificed all, is kept alive. ‘Lest we forget.’

Bomber Command: Failed to Return II

Druce, Linzee

Historical

55,573 members of Bomber Command lost their lives during the Second World War, yet no Campaign Medal was awarded and their bravery and sacrifice goes largely unrecognised. At last this is to be corrected with the erection of the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, London, in 2012. The journey from the initial idea to the unveiling of the memorial has been a long and complex one for those involved and ‘The Bomber Command Memorial - We Will Remember Them’ tells the story of the campaign; locating a site, obtaining permission, raising the funds, designing the memorial, and the opening ceremony. The book also tells the remarkable story of Bomber Command from the viewpoint of those who took part, and veterans reflect on the experiences they had and what the memorial means to them. All the royalties for the book go the Bomber Command Memorial Fund registered charity. (The official commemorative book of the Bomber Command Memorial)

The Bomber Command Memorial: We Will Remember Them

Dooley, Jim

Gibb, Robin

Rayner, Gordon

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