Shot down a few weeks before D-Day, this key RAF invasion planner was ordered to be assassinated before he could be captured by the Germans; happily he survived to become an Air Chief Marshal and a founder of the Indian Air Force.

High Endeavour: Life of Air Chief Marshal Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman

Biographies & Memoirs

Ivelaw-Chapman, John

Leaders & Notable People

Pen and Sword Aviation

The Battle of Britain saved not only that country from invasion, but also altered the course of the war for the rest of the world. This remarkable book traces the fortunes of the Royal Air Force and provides a comprehensive account of the Battle of Britain, including day-by-day summaries of the battle. It also includes an appendix of the aircraft used by the RAF and the Luftwaffe with schematic drawings, and a list of all the pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain from July 10th to October 31st 1940. The authors are military aviation exprerts who have also written among other things, Jane's World Aircraft Recognition Handbook.

Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the Rise of Air Power 1930-1949 (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

History

Wood, Derek

Dempster, Derek

Military

John Killen's exhaustive work is a study of German air power between 1915 and 1945, from the early days of flying when Immelmann, Boelke, Richthofen and other First World War aces fought and died to give Germany air supremacy, to the nightmare existence of the Luftwaffe as the Third Reich plunged headlong to destruction. Here are the aircraft: the frail biplanes and triplanes of the Kaiser's war; the great Lufthansa aircraft and airships of the turbulent Thirties; the monoplanes designed to help Hitler in his conquest of Europe. Here are the generals who forged the air weapon of the Luftwaffe - the swaggering Goering, the playboy Udet, the ebullient Kesselring and the scapegoat Jeschonnek; here, too, are the pilots who tried to keep faith with their Fatherland despite overwhelming odds; Adolf Galland, Werner Molders, Joachim Marseille and Hanna Reitsch. Not least are the actions fought by the Luftwaffe from the Spanish Civil War to the Battle of Britain, through the bloody struggle for Crete and the siege of Stalingrad to the fearful twilight over Berlin.

The Luftwaffe: A History (Pen & Sword Military Classics)

Killen, John

Americas

Kamikaze: Japan's Last Bid for Victory

Review\n"...an easy-to-read, well-written book..." 
Naval Historical Foundation\n"...an informative and enjoyable study of this aspect of the war in the Pacific theater." 
Naval War College Review\n"The author describes not only the action but the Japanese culture that made the kamikazes possible." 
Seapower\nIn this fascinating book the author examines the Japanese concept of Kamikaze, the deliberate self-sacrifice of life in the cause of victory. This attitude, while incomprehensible to their American and European enemies, has its roots in the samurai tradition of fighting for their master or nation regardless of personal safety.\nBy late 1944 the Japanese had already proved themselves fanatical but the actions of the Kamikaze Corps of pilots from the Leyte Gulf battle onwards took matters to a new level. Allied forces were shocked to find themselves the subject of widespread deliberate suicide attacks by pilots.\nThese continued during the invasion of the Philippines in early 1945 and reached a climax during the Battle of Okinawa from 1 April to June 1945. In total over 1000 kamikaze airmen perished.\nGraphic description of these suicide attacks and the resulting loss of life and ships litter this revealing and shocking book.\nThe author’s in depth study of the historic and cultural reasons for this seemingly reckless courage is important and illuminating.

Self-Help

STEWART, Adrian

Death & Grief

Contains hundreds of unseen photos of the B-17 production line and design concepts. The Boeing B-17 was the first American heavy bomber to see action in World War II when it was supplied to the RAF. The design originated in 1934 when the US Air Corps was looking for a heavy bomber to reinforce their air forces in Hawaii, Panama and Alaska. For its time, the design included many advanced features and Boeing continued to develop the aircraft as experience of the demands of long distance flying at high altitude was gained. When the USA entered WWII, production of the aircraft was rapidly increased and it became the backbone of the USAAF in all theaters of war. This book describes how it was built and utilizes many hitherto unpublished photographs from the design studio and production lines. It illustrates and explains the many different roles that the aircraft took as the war progressed. Heavy bomber, reconnaissance, antisubmarine and air-sea rescue operations there were few tasks that this solid design could not adopt

Boeing B-17: The Fifteen Ton Flying Fortress

Simons, Graham M.

Friedman, Harry

Caribbean Volunteers at War: The Forgotten Story of the RAF's 'Tuskegee Airmen'

All of a sudden there was the rush of an immense shadow coming towards him at terrific speed. It was the ground reaching up to gather him. The date was 26 June, 1943 and Cy Grant was the rarest of things - a black West Indian RAF crew member, blown out of his exploding Lancaster bomber.The heroic exploits of the Caribbean men and women who volunteered their services to the Allied effort during the Second World War have, until now, passed by with little fanfare or attention. Indeed, whilst many people are aware of the contribution that the various Bomber Command units paid in securing ultimate victory, little is said or understood of the achievements and sacrifices of the heroic Caribbean volunteers who contributed to some of their greatest victories.Mark Johnson presents us here with an engrossing and humane account of the exploits of such individuals. Including a great number of insights and fascinating details taken from conversations with his great-uncle, John Blair, the book illuminates the day-to-day reality of life as a Caribbean volunteer during the Second World War and the kind of culture-clash experiences that characterised their wartime careers. John Blair is a particularly important member within the context of this history and within the wider context of Bomber Command history. He served a full and distinguished tour with Bomber Command in the skies over Germany and was present during some of the most pivotal moments, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross in the process. The author has based the book on in-depth interviews he conducted with his great-uncle and other survivors, as well as other press interviews and personal accounts by a host of other Caribbean volunteers to create a dramatic and well written account of the proceedings. An important book, offering a platform upon which to appreciate the true extent of the Caribbean contribution to the Allied war effort, the work offers a new slant on the popular Bomber Command theme; one that looks set to intrigue a number of readers yet to be acquainted with this facet of the units history.

JOHNSON, MARK

The Battle of Berlin was the longest and most sustained bombing offensive against one target in the Second World War. Bomber Commands Commander-in-Chief, Sir Arthur Harris, hoped to wreak Berlin from end to end and produce a state of devastation in which German surrender is inevitable. He dispatched nineteen major raids between August 1943 and March 1944 more than 10,000 aircraft sorties dropped over 30,000 tons of bombs on Berlin. It was the RAFs supreme effort to end the war by aerial bombing. But Berlin was not destroyed and the RAF lost more than 600 aircraft and their crews. The controversy over whether the Battle of Berlin was a success or failure has continued ever since.\nMartin Middlebrook brings to this subject considerable experience as a military historian. In preparing his material he collected documents from both sides (many of the German ones never before used); he has also interviewed and corresponded with over 400 of the people involved in the battle and has made trips to Germany to interview the people of Berlin and Luftwaffe aircrews. He has achieved the difficult task of bringing together both sides of the Battle of Berlin the bombing force and the people on the ground to tell a coherent, single story.\nThe author describes the battle, month by month, as the bombers waited for the dark nights, with no moon, to resume their effort to destroy Berlin and end the war. He recounts the ebb and flow of fortunes, identifying the tactical factors that helped first the bombers, then the night fighters, to gain the upper hand. Through the words of the participants, he brings to the reader the hopes, fears and bravery of the young bomber aircrews in the desperate air battles that were waged as the Luftwaffe attempted to protect their capital city. And he includes that element so often omitted from books about the bombing war the experiences of ordinary people in the target city, showing how the bombing destroyed homes, killed families, affected morale and reduced the German war effort.\nMartin Middlebrooks meticulous attention to detail makes The Berlin Raids one of his most accomplished book to date.

The Berlin Raids: The Bomber Battle, Winter 1943–1944

MIDDLEBROOK, Martin

Europe

Confessions of an Airline Pilot – Why Planes Crash: Including Tales from the Pilot’s Seat

Tozer, Terry

The consolidated PBY Catalina was probably the most versatile and successful flying boat/amphibian ever built, serving not just with the US Army, Navy and Coast Guard during the Second World War, but also with the air forces of Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with the Danes, Free French and Norwegians as well as in Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and elsewhere.With a remarkable lifting capacity and endurance, this long-range twin-engine aircraft could absorb a great deal of punishment and still return home after flights lasting an entire day and covering thousands of miles. It was employed as a maritime reconnaissance aircraft, as a bomber and torpedo-bomber, as an anti-submarine weapon, as a mine layer, as a special operations machine and as a search-and-rescue craft by day and night. It ferried stores, mail and people - many of them sick and injured - across the world's oceans.In this book Andrew Hendrie tells the story of the "Flying Cats", of their achievements and exploits, of the heroism of many of the crews and the problems they had to endure.

Flying Catalinas: The Consoldiated PBY Catalina in WWII

HENDRIE,Andrew

Yorkshireman Dennis Gosling joined the RAF on May 24 1940. Having completed his training he was posted to 219 Squadron flying the night-fighter version of the Beaufighter from Tangmere in 1941. As a navigator, he became part of a two-man team that would endure throughout his first operational tour. In those infant day of radar interception he honed his skills in the night skies above southern England and the English Channel but without a firm kill. On 12 February 1942, he and his pilot were instructed to pick up a brand new aircraft and deliver it to North Africa, flying via Gibraltar, a hazardous flight at extreme range. In March the crew were posted to 1435 Flight of 89 Squadron with the task of defending the besieged island of Malta. The four Beaufighters of the flight flew into an horrific scenario of almost constant bombing raids by the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force. Because of these raids the damage to aircraft on the ground was devastating and the Flight was often reduced to a single serviceable aircraft. His first success came in April 1942 with a confirmed kill, and then shortly after his 21st birthday on 13 May a triumphant night on the 17th brought 3 certain kills and one damaged enemy aircraft. From being the virgins of the squadron they shot into the record books, his pilot being awarded the DFC. To his disgust, Flight Sergeant Gosling received no award. At this stage he became somewhat embittered by the class system he felt was operated by the RAF. Having endured the torment of constant bombardment, serious stomach complaints (even flying with a bucket in the aircraft) and near starvation he completed his tour and was repatriated to the UK via Brazil and Canada in the Queen Mary.\nAfter a spell instructing new night navigators, he joined 604 Squadron and in December 1943 he was promoted to Warrant Officer. February 1944 saw the squadron reequipped with the Mosquito and assignment to 2 Tactical Air Force in preparation for D-Day. Now once again he was flying initially over southern England and the Channel. The squadron became mobile after the landings and were based in various captured airfields in France, but the conditions were so inadequate for operations that the squadron returned to English bases, from where they operated over and beyond the advancing Allied troops. Eventually, after having been awarded a much deserved DFC, he accepted the King's Commission.\nThis autobiography is written as stated by the author "I want my readers to relive my experiences as they happened to me - to take their hands and have them walk beside me. I want them to feel the joy and the pain, share the laughs and the heartache, take pleasure in the triumphs, agonize with me when things went wrong and understand why my Service years influenced so much of my life." He has succeeded magnificently.

Night Fighter Navigator: Beaufighters and Mosquitos in WWII

Gosling, Dennis

Historical

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