Eyes of the RAF

Eyes of the RAF PDF Author: Roy Conyers Nesbit
Publisher: Salamander Books
ISBN: 9781858333892
Category : Aerial reconnaissance, British
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Get Book

Book Description
Photo-reconnaissance has come a long way from its faltering beginnings over the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, when unwieldy plate cameras were held over the cockpit sides of RFC BE2a biplanes. By the close of World War II, designated PR Spitfires could photograph Germany by day, while Mosquitoes could photograph by day or night with considerable success from heights of up to 36,000 feet. Following ten years of incredible advances in digital, optical and mechanical technology, the mid-1990s saw the RAF's Tornado GR1As using video-tape for PR, with a data link to relay pictures direct to interpreters on the ground, thus doing away altogether with wet film.

Eyes of the RAF

Eyes of the RAF PDF Author: Roy Conyers Nesbit
Publisher: Salamander Books
ISBN: 9781858333892
Category : Aerial reconnaissance, British
Languages : en
Pages : 335

Get Book

Book Description
Photo-reconnaissance has come a long way from its faltering beginnings over the trenches of the Western Front during World War I, when unwieldy plate cameras were held over the cockpit sides of RFC BE2a biplanes. By the close of World War II, designated PR Spitfires could photograph Germany by day, while Mosquitoes could photograph by day or night with considerable success from heights of up to 36,000 feet. Following ten years of incredible advances in digital, optical and mechanical technology, the mid-1990s saw the RAF's Tornado GR1As using video-tape for PR, with a data link to relay pictures direct to interpreters on the ground, thus doing away altogether with wet film.

Eyes of the RAF

Eyes of the RAF PDF Author: Roy Conyers Nesbit
Publisher: Alan Sutton Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Aerial reconnaissance, British
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book

Book Description
A comprehensive history including the Falklands and Gulf Wars, based on official and personal records.

For RAF Eyes Only

For RAF Eyes Only PDF Author: Jim Jenkinson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781857560343
Category : Ordnance disposal units
Languages : en
Pages : 102

Get Book

Book Description


"Eyes of the Eighth"

Author: Patricia Fussell Keen
Publisher: CAVU Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

Get Book

Book Description


Eyes All Over the Sky

Eyes All Over the Sky PDF Author: James Streckfuss
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612003680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Get Book

Book Description
The impact of the unsung heroes of WWI—“a must for any aviation enthusiast to further complement work on aerial reconnaissance in modern warfare” (Roads to the Great War), Beyond the heroic deeds of the fighter pilots and bombers of World War I, the real value of military aviation lay elsewhere; aerial reconnaissance, observation, and photography impacted the fighting in many ways, but little has been written about it. Balloons and airplanes regulated artillery fire, infantry liaison aircraft followed attacking troops and the retreats of defenders, aerial photographers aided operational planners and provided the data for perpetually updated maps, and naval airplanes, airships, and balloons acted as aerial sentinels in a complex anti-submarine warfare organization. Reconnaissance crews at the Battles of the Marne and Tannenberg averted disaster. Eyes All Over the Sky fully explores all the aspects of aerial reconnaissance and its previously under-appreciated significance. Also included are the individual experiences of British, American, and German airmen—true pioneers of aviation warfare. “With an interesting selection of photos, the book is not only an excellent reference—it is historically important.” —Classic Wings “This well-researched history belongs on the shelf of anyone with a serious interest in the air war or the ground war of 1914-1918.” —Steve Suddaby, former president of the World War One Historical Association

Royal Observer Corps

Royal Observer Corps PDF Author: Air Ministry Personnel
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1526724898
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book

Book Description
The key roles played by the Royal Observer Corps in the Second World War have, all too often, been overshadowed by more glamourous arms of the defense forces. The teams in the Sector Stations, plotting the battles raging above, and the Spitfires and Hurricanes swooping upon the formations of enemy fighters and bombers, present easily imagined and dramatic scenes. Yet between the radar stations, detecting the German aircraft approaching over the Channel, and the Sector Controls were the little sandbagged posts of the Observer Corps that provided overland tracking of the enemy formations.The Royal Observer Corps (the Royal prefix being approved in 1941) proved a vital link in the communication chain in the defense of the UK, particularly in the Battle of Britain, as it provided the only means of tracking enemy aircraft once they had crossed the coastline. The highly skilled Observers were also able to identify and count the enemy aircraft, turning blips on a screen into actual types and numbers of German machines.Even after the threat from the Luftwaffe receded after the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, the ROC again came to the fore when the V1s opened a new reign of terror in 1944. Because these small, fast weapons were so hard to detect the RAFs fighter controllers moved into the ROCs operations rooms so that they could respond to the V-1 threat more rapidly.In this official history of the ROC written shortly after the war, the corps operations throughout the conflict are set out in great detail. This includes a section on the last flight of Rudolf Hess, as well as one detailing the work of those who were selected for employment as Seaborne Observers on ships during the D-Day landings, where their specialist identification skills were used to prevent the all-too prevalent instances of friendly fire.This history provides an account of the ROC which is just as important in understanding the operations of the corps as the Observers were in the defense of the United Kingdom during the Second War.

Eyewitness RAF

Eyewitness RAF PDF Author: James Goulty
Publisher: Pen and Sword Aviation
ISBN: 1526752409
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Get Book

Book Description
Much has been written about the Royal Air Force during the Second World War–memoirs, biographies, histories of Fighter and Bomber commands, technical studies of the aircraft, accounts of individual operations and exploits – but few books have attempted to take the reader on a journey through basic training and active service as air or ground crew and eventual demobilization at the end of the war. That is the aim of James Goulty’s Eyewitness RAF. Using a vivid selection of testimony from men and women, he offers a direct insight into every aspect of wartime life in the service. Throughout the book the emphasis is on the individual’s experience of the RAF – the preparations for flying, flying itself, the daily routines of an air base, time on leave, and the issues of discipline, morale and motivation. A particularly graphic section describes, in the words of the men themselves, what it felt like to go on operations and the impact of casualties – airmen who were killed, injured or taken prisoner. A fascinating varied inside view of the RAF emerges which is perhaps less heroic and glamorous than the image created by some postwar accounts, but it gives readers today a much more realistic appreciation of the whole gamut of life in the RAF seventy years ago.

Through These Eyes

Through These Eyes PDF Author: T/Sgt. James Lee Hutchinson, Ed.S.
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 1452052026
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Get Book

Book Description
This is the story of Eighth Air Force bombing missions leaving England to blast targets in Hitler's Third Reich in 1944–45. Each clear day, the skies filled with hundreds of B17 Flying Fortress bombers and their escorts crossing the English Channel toward enemy targets protected by anti-aircraft batteries and German fighters waiting to attack the heavy bombers. The skies over the target were filled with black flak appearing to be so thick you could walk on it! The exploding shells filled the space with flying chunks of iron as bombers started their bomb run on the target. We often could hear the flak pelting our plance like a "buckshot" on a tin roof. This flak would often strike a vital part of the plane or wound a member of the crew! Our waist gunner was wounded on our tenth mission!Some missions we could count hundreds of holes in our plane after we landed safely in England! Bombers receiving a direct hit were blown out of the sky and another ten man aircrew was lost. Planes severely damaged had to drop out of formation and face enemy fighters alone unless some of our P-51 or P-47 escort fighters protected them. Bombers disabled or on fire had no choice but to order the crews to bail out. Airmen who survived the parachute jump were captured and placed into German prisoner of war camps (POW). They were classified as "missing in action". Forty-eight photos, some sixty years old are included in this 350 page book to illustrate the story of the author's childhood in the Great Depression through the great air war of World War II. A description of each mission from a sixty year old diary is included. I think you will enjoy the story of a teenage Radio-Gunner's experiences in the Mighty Eighth Air Force.

Razor Eyes

Razor Eyes PDF Author: Richard Hough
Publisher: Heinemann Educational Publishers
ISBN: 9780435122850
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 113

Get Book

Book Description
Mick Boyd dreaded his eighteenth birthday in September 1940. Now he has old enough to enlist. Lacking the blasé courage of his friend Bruno or the reckless bravery of his sister Jo, Mick can't explain to them how he feels. Caught up at times with the romantic image of diving out of the sun in a Hurricane, the reality of injury and death always dominate his thoughts of war. Unexceptional in all things, his one asset is remarkable eyesight and it is as 'Razor eyes' that Mick survives the war.

Royal Observer Corps

Royal Observer Corps PDF Author: Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publisher: Frontline Books
ISBN: 9781526724885
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Get Book

Book Description
The key roles played by the Royal Observer Corps in the Second World War have, all too often, been overshadowed by more glamourous arms of the defense forces. The teams in the Sector Stations, plotting the battles raging above, and the Spitfires and Hurricanes swooping upon the formations of enemy fighters and bombers, present easily imagined and dramatic scenes. Yet between the radar stations, detecting the German aircraft approaching over the Channel, and the Sector Controls were the little sandbagged posts of the Observer Corps that provided overland tracking of the enemy formations. The Royal Observer Corps (the 'Royal' prefix being approved in 1941) proved a vital link in the communication chain in the defense of the UK, particularly in the Battle of Britain, as it provided the only means of tracking enemy aircraft once they had crossed the coastline. The highly skilled Observers were also able to identify and count the enemy aircraft, turning blips on a screen into actual types and numbers of German machines. Even after the threat from the Luftwaffe receded after the Battle of Britain and the Blitz, the ROC again came to the fore when the V1s opened a new reign of terror in 1944. Because these small, fast weapons were so hard to detect the RAF's fighter controllers moved into the ROC's operations rooms so that they could respond to the V-1 threat more rapidly. In this official history of the ROC written shortly after the war, the corps' operations throughout the conflict are set out in great detail. This includes a section on the last flight of Rudolf Hess, as well as one detailing the work of those who were selected for employment as Seaborne Observers on ships during the D-Day landings, where their specialist identification skills were used to prevent the all-too prevalent instances of 'friendly fire'. This history provides an account of the ROC which is just as important in understanding the operations of the corps as the Observers were in the defense of the United Kingdom during the Second War.