Beaufighter

Beaufighter PDF Author: Simon W. Parry
Publisher: Red Kite / Air Research
ISBN: 095380612X
Category : Bombers
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
This is a photographic album of the units that went to war in the Bristol Beaufighter.

Beaufighter

Beaufighter PDF Author: Simon W. Parry
Publisher: Red Kite / Air Research
ISBN: 095380612X
Category : Bombers
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description
This is a photographic album of the units that went to war in the Bristol Beaufighter.

Beaufighter Aces of World War 2

Beaufighter Aces of World War 2 PDF Author: Andrew Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472801717
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
Entering service at the end of the Battle of Britain, the pugnacious Bristol Beaufighter was deployed in numbers by Fighter Command just in time for the start of the Luftwaffe's night 'Blitz' on Britain. Flown by specialised nightfighter squadrons – several of them elite pre-war Auxiliary Air Force units – it was the first nightfighter to be equipped with an airborne radar as standard. Thus equipped, it combined the ability to 'see' the enemy at night with the devastating hitting power of four cannon and six machine guns. This book covers the exploits of the men who made ace in the Beaufighter and includes stunning original artwork together with first hand accounts of the action.

Beaufighter Boys

Beaufighter Boys PDF Author: Graham Pitchfork
Publisher: Grub Street
ISBN: 1911621823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266

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Book Description
The author of Shot Down in the Drink shares photos and anecdotes detailing the history of the World War II fighter plane and its crews across the globe. Researched many years ago by Graham Patrick for a project that did not come to fruition, Beaufighter air and ground crew gave freely of their stories, which ranged from complete memoirs to brief anecdotes. And there were a plethora of original photographs for him to choose from. He has built on these tales to trace the roles of Beaufighter squadrons spread across all the theatres of World War II operations. From home bases, through northwest Europe, North Africa, Malta and the Mediterranean, to the Far East and southwest Pacific, the Beaufighter served far and wide, as did the crews of the RAF, RAAF, SAAF, and New Zealand and Canadian squadrons. All are covered in this quite unique book to be savored by all those interested in the war in the air from 1939–1945.

Beaufighter Ace

Beaufighter Ace PDF Author: Richard Pike
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473812305
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
The true story of a World War II squadron leader and his remarkable experiences in twentieth-century military aviation. Amid commemorations for the fiftieth anniversary of the event, Richard Pike’s young daughter asked, “Why do they go on about the Battle of Britain so much?” Richard proceeded to explain, describing scenes of Hyde Park picnickers watching dogfights in the skies above them—and revealed to her that her own grandfather had played a big role in this dramatic turning point in the war. Tom Pike joined the Royal Air Force in early 1924 as a Flight Cadet at Cranwell. During a long and varied career through wartime and peacetime, he held a wide variety of RAF appointments around the world, and when he eventually retired he’d held the ultimate post, that of Chief of Air Staff, and also that of Deputy Supreme Commander Allied Powers Europe. This book, written by his son, is a vividly told account of his leadership of No. 219 Night Fighter Squadron based at Tangmere in 1941, offering a unique angle on this aspect of WWII, and a biography of a senior officer with a wry sense of humor, a hatred of violence, and a determination to serve his country.

Beaufighter Over the Balkans

Beaufighter Over the Balkans PDF Author: Steve Stevens
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781844154876
Category : Air pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This is the wartime autobiography of one of South Africa's most famous pilots. Steve joined the SAAF at the outset of World War II with the desire to become a fighter pilot and to fly in Europe to destroy the Nazi's ambitions of power. However, he was too good a pilot and having gained his wings was posted to become a flying instructor in his native country. After two years he finally arrived in Europe and joined the RAF's Balkan Air Force flying rocket-firing Beaufighters in support of the partisans who were endeavouring to evict the Germans from their homelands. He joined No 19 Squadron under the command of the legendary Don Tilley and flew many missions against enemy shipping, gun emplacements and tactical targets in low-level, surprise rocket attacks. After the war he returned to Africa, flying light aircraft in a variety of roles, but when Berlin was blockaded by the USSR he returned to fly DC-3 Dakotas throughout the Berlin Airlift. This is a story told with a compassion that belies the author's bravery and piloting skills. Throughout the story, his strong Christian belief, as with Leonard Cheshire VC, occasionally surfaces from the heat of battle and narrow escapes from death.

Bristol Beaufighter

Bristol Beaufighter PDF Author: Jerry Scutts
Publisher: Crowood Press UK
ISBN: 9781861266668
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Developed from the unloved Bristol Beaufort, the Beaufighter was the RAF's first purpose-built nightfighter. Powered by two Bristol Hercules radials, it had a reputation for being one of the most effective, and probably the most difficult to fly, aircraft in the RAF's armoury in the first years of the Second World War. Used extensively in Europe, the Beaufighter later flew with disctinction in the South East Asian theatre. This book presents the technical and combat history of this popular warhorse.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945. Volume 2 PDF Author: Christopher Shores
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 191069097X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 736

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Book Description
This second volume in the seminal series on aerial combat, pilots, and tactics in Libya and Egypt in the middle of World War II. In volume two of this series, historian Christopher Shores begins by exploring the 8th Army’s movements after Operation Crusader when they were forced back to the Gazala area in northeastern Libya, as well as their defeat in June, 1942, the loss of Tobruk, and the efforts of Allied air forces to protect their retreating troops. Shores continues with the heavy fighting that followed in the El Alamein region. This features the Western Desert Air Force and the arrival of the first Spitfires. The buildup of both army and air forces and the addition of new commanders on the ground aided the defeat of Rommel’s Deutsche Afrika Korps at Alam el Halfa, after which came the Second Battle of El Alamein. With the arrival of the United States Army Air Force, the Allied air forces gained dominance over the Axis. Shores recounts the lengthy pursuit of the Italo-German forces right across Libya, including the capture of Tripoli and the breakthrough into Southern Tunisia. This allowed a linkup with other Allied forces in Tunisia (whose story appears in Volume 3). Included with the action are stories of some of the great fighter aces of the Desert campaign such as Jochen Marseille and Otto Schulz of the Luftwaffe, Franco Bordoni-Bisleri of the Regia Aeronautica and Neville Duke, Billy Drake, and “Eddie” Edwards of the Commonwealth air forces. Finally, Shores touches on the Allied and Axis night bombing offensives and the activities of the squadrons cooperating with the naval forces in the Mediterranean.

Warplanes of World War II Up Close

Warplanes of World War II Up Close PDF Author: Robert Jackson
Publisher: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
ISBN: 1508170797
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Although airplanes were used to some degree in conflicts prior to 1939, World War II was when military aviation truly became a vital component of war plans. Many sophisticated warplanes were developed, increasing the power and accuracy of aerial bombing and tactical air support. This resource provides an in-depth look from every angle at aircraft such as the P-51 Mustang and Boeing B-29 Superfortress, demonstrating how these planes contributed to how each nation waged war during World War II.

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940–1945 PDF Author: Christopher Shores
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1911621785
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 697

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Book Description
This fourth volume in the comprehensive series “fills a gap in the existing narrative” of WWII’s Mediterranean air war (Journal of Military History). The fourth volume in this momentous series commences with the attacks on the Italian island fortress of Pantellaria, which led to its surrender and occupation achieved almost by air attack alone. The account continues with the ultimately successful, but at times very hard fought, invasions of Sicily and southern Italy as burgeoning Allied air power, now with full US involvement, increasingly dominated the skies overhead. The successive occupations of Sardinia and Corsica are also covered in detail. This is essentially the story of the tactical air forces up to the point when Rome was occupied, just at the same time as the Normandy landings were occurring in northwest France. With regards to the long-range tactical role of the Allied heavy bombers, only the period from May to October is examined, while they remained based in North Africa, with the narrative continuing in a future volume. This volume also delves into the story of “the soldiers’ air force.” Frequently overshadowed by more immediate newsworthy events elsewhere, the soldiers’ struggle was often of an equally Homeric nature. “No future publication on the Mediterranean air war will be credible without use of this series.” —Air Power History

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945, Volume 5

A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945, Volume 5 PDF Author: Christopher Shores
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 191166767X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 527

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Book Description
“This international collaboration between air war historians is simply fantastic. . . . a deep-dive on the operations in a vast and very important theater of war.” —Air Classics During the final year of World War II, the defending Axis forces were steadily driven from southern skies by burgeoning Anglo-American power. This was despite the steady withdrawal of units to more demanding areas. This fifth volume of the series describes in detail the activities of the Allied tactical air forces in support of the armies on the ground as their opponents were steadily extracted from northern Italy and the Balkans for the final defense of the central European homeland. The book commences with coverage of the final fierce air-sea battles over the Aegean that preceded the advance northward to Rome and the ill-conceived British attempt to secure the Dodecanese islands following the armistice with Italy. The authors also deal fully and comprehensively with the advance northward following the occupation of Rome, and the departure of forces to support the invasion of France from the Riviera coast, coupled with the formation of a new Balkan Air Force in eastern Italy to pursue the German armies withdrawing from Yugoslavia and take possession of newly freed Greece. The effect of the creation within the same area of the US and RAF strategic forces to join the Allied Combined Bombing Offensive is also discussed. Includes photographs “Reflects the scope of a remarkable research effort and provides valuable detail that the reader is not going to find between two covers elsewhere.” —The NYMAS Review