Hurricane Manual 1940

Hurricane Manual 1940 PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445621290
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat, using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War.

Hurricane Manual 1940

Hurricane Manual 1940 PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445621290
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
How to fly the legendary fighter plane in combat, using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War.

The Hurricane Pocket Manual

The Hurricane Pocket Manual PDF Author: Martin Robson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472834275
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 152

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Book Description
The Hurricane Pocket Manual collates authentic period sources including pilot's notes and other Air Ministry publications to provide a unique guide to this iconic aircraft. The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the RAF. Although overshadowed by the Spitfire, during the Battle of Britain the Hurricane accounted for 60% of the RAF's air victories in the battle, and served in all the major theatres of the Second World War. The 1930s design evolved through several versions and adaptations, resulting in a series of aircraft that acted as interceptor-fighters, fighter-bombers (also called 'Hurribombers'), and ground support aircraft. Further versions known as the Sea Hurricane had modifications that enabled operation from ships. Some were converted as catapult-launched convoy escorts, known as 'Hurricats'. More than 14,583 Hurricanes were built by the end of 1944 (including at least 800 converted to Sea Hurricanes and some 1,400 built in Canada. The book collates a variety of pamphlets and manuals on the plane that were produced throughout the war for the benefit of pilots and others associated with the aircraft.

Spitfire Manual 1940

Spitfire Manual 1940 PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445607956
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
How to fly the legendary Spitfire fighter plane in combat using the manuals and instructions (pilot notes) supplied by the RAF during the Second World War.

Bader’s Spitfire Wing

Bader’s Spitfire Wing PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 139901708X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description
"Whether you have feelings about Bader or not, this is an excellent book to gain insight into the summer of 1941 when, ready or not, the RAF went on the offensive."—The Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation On 30 August 1940, at the height of the Battle of Britain, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command’s No.12 Group were requested to reinforce 11 Group and intercept a Luftwaffe raid on an aircraft factory at Hatfield. The events that day led the swashbuckling, legless, fighter pilot Douglas Bader to submit a report arguing that the more fighters he had at his disposal, the greater would be the execution of the enemy that could be achieved. It was a concept that received support from 12 Group’s Air Officer Commanding, Air Vice-Marshal Leigh-Mallory. In Bader’s proposal, Leigh-Mallory saw an opportunity for 12 Group to play a greater part in what was clearly an historic battle. Leigh-Mallory authorised Bader to lead three, then five, squadrons – a controversial formation that came to be known as the ‘Duxford Wing’ or ‘Big Wing’. For the rest of 1940, Bader and the ‘Big Wing’, then based at Duxford, played its part in the defense of Britain’s skies. Then, in March 1941, the role of ‘Wing Commander (Flying)’ was created. This was the fighter pilot’s dream appointment because the Wing Leader’s sole responsibility was leading his wing in action, unfettered by tedious administration and logistical matters. Needless to say, Douglas Bader was amongst the first wing leaders. He was even given the choice of which Wing he preferred. He chose to take command of that based at Tangmere on the South Coast – right at the fore of the RAF’s battle against the Luftwaffe. In Bader’s Spitfire Wing, Dilip Sarkar not only explores the full story of the men and machines of the Tangmere Wing in 1941, as well as the controversy that surrounds their use, he also fully investigates the part that they played in the RAF’s efforts to take the offensive to the Luftwaffe on the opposite side of the English Channel. It was in one such sortie in August 1941 that the Tangmere Wing lost its famous leader. Bader went on to spend the rest of the war in captivity.

The Breaking Storm

The Breaking Storm PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399056433
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
In The Breaking Storm, the first of Dilip Sarkar’s unprecedented seven-volume series exploring the Battle of Britain, the events that led up to the outbreak of war in 1939, and which set the scene for the epic aerial conflict of summer 1940, are fully explored. Continuing his examination of the events of the Spitfire Summer, in The Breaking Storm Dilip provides a day-by-day chronicle of the Battle of Britain’s first phase – the so-called Kanalkampf – which was fought over the Channel-bound convoys between 10 July and 12 August 1940. This account, though, does not simply concern RAF Fighter Command, as the author recognizes the operations and efforts of the RAF’s Bomber and Coastal commands, the Royal Navy and mercantile marine – making this book part of what he calls ‘the Big story’. Hitler’s actual policies and intentions towards the ongoing war with Britain are also explored. If the Battle of Britain was fought to deny Germany the aerial superiority required to launch a seaborne invasion of southern England, then, the author argues, the conflict could surely only have begun when the Germans committed to Operation Seelöwe – which was not, in fact, until 21 July 1940. It has previously been accepted that Hitler’s War Directive of 16 July 1940 signaled the intention to invade, but the author proves that this was no more than another example of the ‘brinkmanship’ that Hitler was renowned for, and the air attacks at that time little more than ‘Air Fleet Diplomacy’, all of which was intended to frighten Britain into accepting the Führer’s ‘last appeal to reason’ of 19 July 1940. In his broadcast of 22 July 1940, Lord Halifax made the nation’s unbowed position quite clear. He called Hitler’s bluff: previously reluctant to fight Britain, Hitler’s preferred policy in the ongoing war had been blockade and diplomacy – but now he had no choice but to unleash the Luftwaffe against Britain. All of this is investigated in detail, aligning these wider events and high decisions with action in the air. Through diligent research, combined with crucial official primary sources and personal papers, Dilip unravels many myths, often challenging the accepted narrative. This is not simply another dull record of combat losses and claims – far from it. Drawing upon unique first-hand accounts from a wide-range of combatants and eyewitnesses, along with Daily Home Intelligence Reports and numerous other primary sources, this book forms part of what is likely to be the first and last such comprehensively woven account of this epic air battle.

Battle of Britain The Gathering Storm

Battle of Britain The Gathering Storm PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399056387
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 333

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Book Description
Dilip Sarkar has studied the Battle of Britain period for a lifetime and is renowned for his meticulous research and evidence-based approach, setting events within the broadest possible context. In doing so, he has helped enrich our appreciation and understanding of the past. In this, the first of a new seven volume series on the Battle of Britain, we have the background to the aerial conflict of the summer of 1940 revealed in great detail and told comprehensively as never before. No stone has been left unturned, no angle unexplored. This meticulous approach the research, combined with the human stories and events, many revealed for the first time, tells what Dilip calls ‘the Big Story’. The development of air power, the creation of Britain’s defenses, the German side, the Home Front and political events are all covered – and much more. After considering the background threads prior to the outbreak of war in 1939, this book then describes the developing conflict on land, sea and in the air. The German invasion of Norway, the Fall of France and the air fighting over Dunkirk are all explored, along with Hitler’s actual preferred policy towards Britain, which at first was one of blockade – not invasion. The author, with justification, questions the validity of the Battle of Britain’s official start-date being 10 July 1940, evidencing the fact that the fighting actually began eight days earlier. From that date onwards, a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, account of the fighting is provided, giving due recognition to those aircrew lost or wounded before 10 July 1940, and whose names are not, therefore, found amongst ‘The Few’. Due accord is also given to the Royal Navy, and efforts of both Bomber and Coastal commands, emphasizing just what a ‘big’ story this actually is – far from simply concerning a handful of Spitfire and Hurricane pilots. Through diligent research with crucial official primary sources and personal papers, Dilip unravels many myths, often challenging the accepted narrative. This is not, however, simply another dull record of combat losses and claims, far from it. Drawing upon unique first-hand accounts from a wide-range of combatants and eyewitnesses, along with the daily Home Intelligence Reports and the papers of politicians such as Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano, this really is an unprecedented approach to understanding the build-up to and times of the Battle of Britain.

Battle of Britain, 1940

Battle of Britain, 1940 PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526775964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 394

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Book Description
The summer of 1940 remains a pivotal moment in modern British history – still inspiring immense national pride and a global fascination. The Fall of France was catastrophic. Britain stood alone and within range of German air attack. America, with its vast resources was neutral, Hitler’s forces unbeaten, the outlook for Britain bleak. As Britain’s wartime leader, Winston Churchill, rightly predicted, ‘the Battle of Britain is about to begin’. Famously, Churchill mobilized the English language, emboldening the nation with rousing rhetoric. In this darkest of hours, Churchill told the people that this was, in fact, their ‘Finest Hour’, a time of unprecedented courage and defiance which defined the British people. Connecting the crucial battle with Shakespeare’s heroic Henry V and Agincourt, Churchill also immortalized Fighter Command’s young aircrew as the ‘Few’ – to whom so many owed everything. The Few comprised nearly 3,000 aircrew, 544 of which gave their lives during the Battle of Britain’s sixteen weeks of high drama. Arguably, however, the official dates of 10 July – 31 October 1940 are arbitrary, the fighting actually ongoing before and afterwards. Many gave their lives whose names are not included among the Few, as of course did civilians, seamen, and ground staff – which is not overlooked in this groundbreaking book. In this unique study, veteran historian and author Dilip Sarkar explores the individual stories of a wide selection of those who lost their lives during the ‘Finest Hour’, examining their all-too brief lives and sharing these tragic stories – told here, in full, for the first time. Also included is the story of a German fighter pilot, indicating the breadth of investigation involved. Researched with the full cooperation of the families concerned, this work is a crucial contribution to the Battle of Britain’s bibliography.

The Battle of Britain Pocket Manual 1940

The Battle of Britain Pocket Manual 1940 PDF Author: Chris McNab
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612008704
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
A guide detailing the training and operations for the British pilots, ground crew, and anti-aircraft gunners during the World War II battle. In the summer of 1940, Britain stood alone. For three long months, brave young RAF pilots took off every day, ready to defend British skies against large-scale Luftwaffe raids. “The Few” were young, but they were trained and determined. Eighty years on, the last of the pilots to fly in the Battle of Britain are feted, and their part in World War II is widely remembered. This pocket manual covers the training that these young pilots would have had, and the air combat tactics they were taught to use against the German raiders. It also covers the role of the ground crews, control and command systems, anti-aircraft defenses, and radar and raid detection.

Spitfire Ace of Aces: The Album

Spitfire Ace of Aces: The Album PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526791676
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Air Vice-Marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson CB, CBE, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Bar, DL was a character literally from the pages of Boys’ Own: an individual who became the RAF’s top-scoring fighter pilot of the Second World War. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Johnnie’s aerial combat successes inspired schoolboys for generations. As a ‘lowly Pilot Officer’, Johnnie Johnson learned his fighter pilot’s craft as a protégé of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron, in which he became a flight commander and was awarded the DFC a month after Bader’s devastating loss. In time, Johnnie came to command a Canadian wing in 1943, when the Spitfire Mk.IX at last outclassed the Fw 190, and participated in some of the most important battles of the defeat of Nazi Germany, including Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings in 1944, Operation Market Garden and the airborne assault at Arnhem, and the Rhine Crossings, throughout all of which Johnnie also commanded Canadian wings. Johnnie’s remarkable career is revealed through this unparalleled collection of archive photographs, the majority of which are drawn from his own personal album or from other members of the Johnson family. Many have not been published before. Between them, they present a fascinating insight into the man himself, the machines he flew, and the men he served alongside.

The Final Few

The Final Few PDF Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445642557
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
The extraordinary personal stories of five surviving Battle of Britain pilots