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Author: Jennie Mack Gray
Publisher: Perardua Books
ISBN: 1999331788
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410
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Book Description
Who were the RAF Pathfinders in the Second World War? Who led them? What gave them the courage to carry on despite flak, night-fighters, and the many other hazards of air warfare? The Path Finder Force was RAF Bomber Command's only official elite Force, and it played a vital part in the Command's campaigns against Nazi Germany. This detailed and sympathetic account, based on 25 years' research, vividly describes what sort of people the Pathfinders were, what sustained them during their highly dangerous operations, and how their comrades, friends and families dealt with the all-too frequent losses - at sea, in Occupied Europe, in Germany, or in terrible accidents on British soil. Most of the personal documents used in Pathfinder Aircrew have never been published before. Based almost entirely on wartime or immediate post-war records, including aircrew letters and diaries, this book tells a very human story of members of an elite which was a byword for perseverance, technical excellence, and the most magnificent bravery.
Author: Jennie Mack Gray
Publisher: Perardua Books
ISBN: 1999331788
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410
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Book Description
Who were the RAF Pathfinders in the Second World War? Who led them? What gave them the courage to carry on despite flak, night-fighters, and the many other hazards of air warfare? The Path Finder Force was RAF Bomber Command's only official elite Force, and it played a vital part in the Command's campaigns against Nazi Germany. This detailed and sympathetic account, based on 25 years' research, vividly describes what sort of people the Pathfinders were, what sustained them during their highly dangerous operations, and how their comrades, friends and families dealt with the all-too frequent losses - at sea, in Occupied Europe, in Germany, or in terrible accidents on British soil. Most of the personal documents used in Pathfinder Aircrew have never been published before. Based almost entirely on wartime or immediate post-war records, including aircrew letters and diaries, this book tells a very human story of members of an elite which was a byword for perseverance, technical excellence, and the most magnificent bravery.
Author: Will Iredale
Publisher: W H Allen
ISBN: 9780753557822
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! Military History Matters Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner 'Compelling... sensitive, colourful and moving' -- Saul David, Telegraph 'Fascinating and utterly gripping' -- James Holland 'Absorbing' -- Daily Mail Book of the Week The incredible story of the crack team of men and women who transformed RAF Bomber Command and helped the Allies deliver decisive victory over Nazi Germany. The Pathfinders were ordinary men and women from a range of nations who revolutionised the efficiency of the Allies' air campaign over mainland Europe. They elevated Bomber Command - initially the only part of the Allied war effort capable of attacking the heart of Nazi Germany - from an impotent force on the cusp of disintegration in 1942 to one capable of razing whole German cities to the ground in a single night, striking with devastating accuracy, inspiring fear and loathing in Hitler's senior command. With exclusive interviews with remaining survivors, personal diaries, previously classified records and never-before seen photographs, The Pathfinders brings to life the characters of the airmen and women - many barely out of their teens - who took to the skies in legendary British aircraft such as the Lancaster and the Mosquito, facing almost unimaginable levels of violence from enemy fighter planes to strike at the heart of the Nazi war machine.
Author: Sean Feast
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1909166987
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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Book Description
The wartime exploits and experiences of an RAF bomber pathfinder squadron are recounted in this WWII history—“A stunning war book” (Oxford Times, UK). Formed in July 1942, the Pathfinder Force was the corps d’élite of the Royal Air Force’s Bomber Command. The Squadrons of the PFF were tasked with marking targets and leading bomber formations to the right place at the right time. And the best of the force formed the crews of the master bombers, the aircraft in charge of the whole attack. It took nerves of steel for the crew to linger high over the target area, often for hours, in constant fear of attack from fighters or flak. In Master Bombers, aviation historian Sean Feast shares the wartime stories of the men and women of No. 582 Squadron. This bomber pathfinder squadron was formed in April of 1944 and began operations with a night raid on Occupied France a week later. The aircrew and supporting staff of No. 582 distinguished themselves in numerous operations, with one pilot, Ted Swales, winning a posthumous Victoria Cross over Pforzheim.
Author: W. W. Robinson
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1781594589
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 349
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Book Description
When he died in 1946, Flight Lieutenant Jack Mossop left behind a widow and child, a chest full of medals, and a diary. He was 25 years old. The diary gave tantalizing glimpses of his career; sixty years on, his son has uncovered the truth. It is the story of an ordinary Durham lad called upon to perform extraordinary deeds.Serving initially as a Wireless Operator in 49 Squadron, he progressed to 76 Squadron under the legendary Leonard Cheshire, and finished as a Deputy Master Bomber with the elite Pathfinder Group in 35 Squadron.To complete even one tour of duty was against the odds. To complete a second and then to volunteer for a third was nigh-on incredible. Small wonder that one of his crewmates called him The bravest man I ever knew. It is all the more tragic that he died a civilians death on board a BOAC Lancastrian after the war, in suspicious circumstances, which attracted the attention of the Prime Minister himself.Jack saw most of the great actions of Bomber Command, from the 1,000 bomber raids of 1942, to the Battles of the Ruhr and Berlin in 1943, and the daylight operations of Normandy before and after D-Day. His story stands as a microcosm of the entire bomber campaign. Bill Robinsons account is a fascinating and stirring account of courage in war: a tribute not only to one mans courage, but also to the courage of the nameless thousands whose stories will now never be told.
Author: Ted Stocker
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1909166715
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 192
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Book Description
The only RAF flight engineer to be awarded a Distinguished Service Order recounts his prolific WWII combat career in this engaging military memoir. Flight Lieutenant Ted Stocker lived a charmed life. Joining the Royal Air Force as a teenager, he trained as one of the famous Halton Aircraft Apprentices known as Trenchard’s Brats. Stationed at RAF Boscombe Down, he flew prototype Stirling and Halifax bombers just as the Second World War broke out. Qualifying as one of the RAF’s first flight engineers, he went on to join Bomber Command’s elite Pathfinder Force. Stocker was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1943 and eventually completed more than 100 bombing operations, often as a master bomber. Although his aircraft was frequently hit, and he survived a crash landing, Stocker was never wounded. His achievements were recognized with the only known Distinguished Service Order issued to a flight engineer. In this candid and fascinating memoir, co-written by acclaimed aviation historian Sean Feast, Stocker relates his incredible tale of singular courage and miraculous survival.
Author: Sean Feast
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1909808822
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 450
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Book Description
Veterans of the RAF’s legendary Pathfinder Force share their personal accounts of WWII in this authoritative history by the author of Master Bombers. During the Second World War, the Pathfinder Force was the corps d’élite of Bomber Command. Literally leading the charge in the Royal Air Force’s bombing raids over Nazi occupied territory, the aircrews of the PFF required top notch skills and nerves of steel. In Pathfinder Companion, aviation historian Sean Feast tells the remarkable stories of these brave men, drawing on extensive interviews with veterans as well as official records and archival documents. Pathfinder Companion highlights the raids and the losses, the successes and failures, the terror and the turmoil these men endured, as well as the inevitable humor in the face of tremendous adversity. Profusely illustrated throughout with photos and memorabilia, the book shows how a poorly equipped, disparate group was forged into one of the most effective fighting forces ever created.
Author: Martyn Chorlton
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Author: Cecil Lewis
Publisher: Imperial War Museum
ISBN: 1912423561
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 289
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Book Description
Over the course of one night in 1942, the crew members of Wellington bomber P for Pathfinder each reflect on the paths of their own lives, as they embark on a fateful mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany. Cecil Lewis novel examines the life of every man in turn, rendering a moving account of each as not merely a nameless crew member, but as an individual with a life lived, a life precious to some, or one these men with dreams and hopes and plans of things to come.
Author: Zig Boroughs
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 147971187X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 539
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Book Description
Summary of The 508th Connection by Zig Boroughs When I arrived home after my army discharge in 1945, the challenges of adult civilian life excited me tremendously. I passionately anticipated living as a husband and father, no longer separated by the Atlantic Ocean and a dangerous war from my wife and child. I eagerly plunged into active civilian employment, impatient to establish a career of peaceful service to humanity. Although the experiences and feelings of World War II affected by attitudes and ideals, my energies were so devoted to other interests, the memories of the war years were pushed into an inactive part of my brain. For many years I thought very little about the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and I lost contact with all but one of my paratrooper buddies. Then at 11:00 PM, Christmas Eve 1983, a memory of Christmas Eve 1944 forced its way to the surface. My wife and I were visiting with our daughter, Gini, and her family. We were waiting for our grandchildren to go to bed so that Santa Claus could prepare for Christmas morning. Noticing that it was 11:00 PM, I announced, Let me tell you what I was doing at this hour thirty-nine years ago! I told the story Burial and Birth, which you may read in this volume. When I finished the story, Gini told me, Dad, you should write this story and send it to all our family members. Once I wrote one story, the dam burst and a floodgate of stories awoke in my memory, which resulted in the book, A Privates Eye View of World War II. Many details had faded with time, and I needed to check with my paratrooper buddies to get my stories straight. Senator Strom Thurmans staff helped me locate Jim Allardyce, secretary of the 508th Parachute Infantry Association. Allardyce provided a roster of the association membership with their addresses. This enabled me to verify or correct my stories, A Privates Eye View of World War II. Other veterans of the 508th began to tell me their stories. Some suggested that I write another book and tell their experiences, which resulted in The Devils Tale. For over twenty years, I have collected information from others. The most important source of information has come from the 508th veterans. Since I have been associated with the 508th Parachute Infantry Association, I have met hundreds of fellow veterans of the regiment and have listened to their stories. Through the association, I have also met friends of the 508th from England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and Israel. These friends have also given me valuable information. I have chosen the title The 508th Connection to give credit to all those who have so generously helped as friends and as sources of information. The connections are much more than sources for writing a book. They are friends whom I treasure. They are closer than friends. We are family. The 508th Connection tells the stories of the lives of men of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Eighty-second Airborne Division. As you read the stories in The 508th Connection, you will become connected with their livesin the barracks, in the pubs, and on the battlefield. The stories are both entertaining and educational. They will capture your heart, your imagination, and your understanding of what it was like for the paratroopers to live through the horrors of war while keeping their sanity and humor. There are humorous stories, romantic stories, and battle stories, stories about being captured by the enemy. There are stories of men who killed to survive, who lived in foxholes, who helped and were helped by local people. Throughout the book, we connect with the paratroopers who relied on each other for survival. This is their story.
Author: David Blakeley
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409144119
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 364
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Book Description
Nine men. 2,000 enemies. No back-up. No air support. No rescue. No chance... First in - the official motto of one of the British Army's smallest and most secretive units, 16 Air Assault Brigade's Pathfinder Platoon. Unofficially, they are the bastard son of the SAS. And like their counterparts in Hereford, the job of the Pathfinders is to operate unseen and undetected deep behind enemy lines. When British forces deployed to Iraq in 2003, Captain David Blakeley was given command of a reconnaissance mission of such critical importance that it could change the course of the war. It's the story of nine men, operating alone and unsupported, fifty miles ahead of a US Recon Marine advance and head straight into a hornets nest, teeming with thousands of heavily-armed enemy forces. This is the first account of that extraordinary mission - abandoned by coalition command, left with no option but to fight their way out of the enemy's backyard. And it provides a gripping insight into the Pathfinders themselves, a shadowy unit, just forty-five men strong, that plies its trade from the skies. Trained to parachute in to enemy territory far beyond the forward edge of battle - freefalling from high altitude breathing bottled oxygen and employing the latest skydiving technology - the PF are unique. Because of new rules introduced since the publication of Bravo Two Zero, there have been no first-hand accounts of British Special Forces waging modern-day warfare for nearly a decade. And no member of the Pathfinders has ever told their story before. Until now. Pathfinder is the only first-hand account of a UKSF mission to emerge for nearly a generation. And it could be the last.
