RAF Liberators Over Burma

RAF Liberators Over Burma PDF Author: Bill Kirkness
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781556566
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Aboard RAF B-24 Liberators, wireless operator/air gunner Bill Kirkness DFM flew a tour of ops against Japanese targets in Burma. His memoir is a compelling, dignified account of an average man's war from 1942 into 1944 in England, the Mediterranean, Africa, and India. Researcher Matt Poole seamlessly weaves historical detail into Bill's narrative.

RAF Liberators Over Burma

RAF Liberators Over Burma PDF Author: Bill Kirkness
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781556566
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description
Aboard RAF B-24 Liberators, wireless operator/air gunner Bill Kirkness DFM flew a tour of ops against Japanese targets in Burma. His memoir is a compelling, dignified account of an average man's war from 1942 into 1944 in England, the Mediterranean, Africa, and India. Researcher Matt Poole seamlessly weaves historical detail into Bill's narrative.

RAF Liberators Over Burma

RAF Liberators Over Burma PDF Author: Bill Kirkness
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
The RAF air war versus Japan in the Far East is grossly under-represented in print; the Kirkness memoir lessens this gap with its valuable contributionsThirty-two combat ops may seem like too many to individually chronicle in a single memoir; however, each op’s narrative is compellingly, and uniquely, presented and the cumulative result is that Kirkness’ final, harrowing, op is the most riveting of them allLavishly illustrated with previously unpublished photographs RAF wireless operator/air gunner Bill ‘Enoch’ Kirkness flew thirty-two B-24 Liberator bomber sorties, twenty-eight of which were against Japanese targets in Burma. He was credited with downing the night fighter that killed a crewmate and severely damaged his Liberator; his aircraft’s crash landing abruptly ending his first tour. Bill was subsequently awarded a Distinguished Flying Medal. His memoir of Wellington ferry flights, Liberator training, and ops with 159 Squadron typifies aspects of the human spirit, which any young man immersed within such a conflict would have likely experienced. Bill wore his heart, not just his sergeant’s stripes, on his sleeve. His story is a compelling, dignified account of an average man’s war from 1942 into 1944 in the UK, the Mediterranean, Africa, and onwards through his first operational tour based in India. Matt Poole, an expert on 159 Squadron and RAF Liberator activities against the Japanese, seamlessly enhances Bill’s narrative with added historical detail. Although Bill passed away in 1994, Matt vowed, in retirement, to help bring the memoir to a wider audience.

Liberators Over the Atlantic

Liberators Over the Atlantic PDF Author: Jack Colman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781556504
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
"[This book] is an informative and personal account of a young man's flying experiences during the Second World War. Growing up in York, Jack Colman achieved his long-held desire to become a pilot by joing the RAF in October 1940, just after his twenty-first birthday. Sent to Canada to learn to fly, he became intrigued by the technical and practical aspects of flying and navigation. Promoted to pilot/navigator, [he] joined Coastal Command on Liberators based in Iceland. The practical difficulties of flying over the North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean protecting the convoys and hunting U-boats are relived as he battled with atrocious weather and navigational uncertainties. His brushes with death - in training and when operational, whether due to mechanical failure, flying into the sea, U-boat gunfire, or running out of fuel in an ever changing hostile environment - are described realistically and calmly."--Book jacket.

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Burma

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) in Burma PDF Author: Richard Duckett
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1786722720
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 391

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Book Description
In the mountains and jungles of occupied Burma during World War II, British special forces launched a series of secret operations, assisted by parts of the Burmese population. The men of the SOE, trained in sabotage and guerrilla warfare, worked in the jungle, deep behind enemy lines, to frustrate the puppet Burmese government of Ba Maw and continue the fight against Hirohito's Japan in a theatre starved of resources. Here, Richard Duckett uses newly declassified documents from the National Archives to reveal for the first time the extent of British special forces' involvement - from the 1941 operations until beyond Burma's independence from the British Empire in 1948. Duckett argues convincingly that `Operation Character' and `Operation Billet' - large SOE missions launched in support of General Slim's XIV Army offensive to liberate Burma - rank among the most militarily significant of the SOE's secret missions. Featuring a wealth of photographs and accompanying material never before published, including direct testimony recorded by veterans of the campaign and maps from the SOE files, The SOE in Burma tells a compelling story of courage and struggle in during World War II

B-24 Liberator Units of the CBI

B-24 Liberator Units of the CBI PDF Author: Edward M. Young
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1782006907
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
An illustrated history of the B-24 Liberator, the mainstay of the US Army Air Force's strategic bombing effort in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre from 1942 until the end of the war in 1945. With longer range and a greater load-carrying capacity than the B-17, the B-24 was well-suited to the demands of the CBI. The CBI's two air forces, the Tenth in India and the Fourteenth in China, each had one heavy bomb group equipped with Liberators. These two groups, the 7th and the 308th, carried the war to the Japanese across China and South East Asia, flying over some of the most difficult terrain in the world. The 308th had the added burden of having to carry its own fuel and bombs over the Himalayan 'Hump' from India to China in support of its missions. This book shows how, despite the hardships and extreme distances from sources of supply, both units compiled a notable record, each winning two Distinguished Unit Citations.

B-24 Bridge Busters

B-24 Bridge Busters PDF Author: Colin Pateman
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
B-24 Bridge Busters: RAF Liberators over Burma and Thailand provides a gripping and detailed account of RAF Liberator missions against the Japanese in Asia. British and Commonwealth aircrews displayed great gallantry in many instances on low-level precise bombing sorties destroying specific targets, including a great number of bridges constructed by the Japanese in their conquest to reach India. A number of detailed accounts are based upon personal flying logbooks and other unique material originating from the pilots and aircrews. 159 Squadron was the first four engined heavy bomber squadron which flew from India and operated over Burma. They instigated greater accuracy in destroying a multitude of vital targets. The legendary film The Bridge over the River Kwai (1957) evokes images that are historically set in celluloid; however, that blockbusting film had separated fact from fiction and this book examines the true events that took place through Bridge Busting , including techniques developed and deployed by the RAF against the Japanese.

Short Brothers

Short Brothers PDF Author: Philip Macdougall
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
Short Brothers was established in 1908, the first British aircraft manufacturer, with the company moving to Rochester during the early years of the First World War. At Rochester Shorts produced some of their most famous aircraft, beginning with a number of designs for the Royal Naval Air Service. During the inter-war years the company specialised in large flying boats, these undertaking pioneering flights while establishing a series of regular over water air routes operated by Imperial Airways. At Rochester the Company designed and manufactured the Stirling bomber and Sunderland flying boat. Short Brothers: the Rochester Years not only looks at the development of those aircraft, but is a fascinating account of the early years of long-distance aviation and the airmen that used the River Medway at Rochester as a launch pad for flights of hitherto undreamed of distances.

Short Stirling

Short Stirling PDF Author: Pino Lombardi
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 490

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Book Description


The Kalahari Killings

The Kalahari Killings PDF Author: Jonathan Laverick
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750964596
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
On 4 October 1943, two trainee RAF pilots, Walter Adamson and Gordon Edwards, took off from Kumalo in Zimbabwe. Some time later they were forced to land in Botswana. They climbed out unscathed, left a note, and disappeared. What happened next would entail ethno-archaeological investigation, a sensational murder trial with worldwide media coverage – and an astonishing outcome – that led to a profound change in the lives of the Tyua Bush people. The airmen had been murdered by bullet and axe – but why? Twai Twai Molele, the leader of the group of eight killers charged, was known to be a witchdoctor and a bottle allegedly containing human fat was found in his possession ... Following the trial the Tyuas' guns were confiscated and their ageless, nomadic hunting life began to die out. The murders offered an excuse for British-protected cattle farmers to remove them from their lands. Reopening this extraordinary case, Jonathan Laverick reviews the evidence to uncover the true story.

RAF Bomber Command: 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure' 1936-1945

RAF Bomber Command: 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure' 1936-1945 PDF Author: Ron Mackay
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 716

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Book Description
-> Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs from private archives -> Researched and written by an aviation and military historian renowned author -> Essential for military/historians, modellers, flight-sim enthusiasts (War Thunder, IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles and DCS) and those interested in the complexities of aircraft design and production during the Second World War ‘They sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.’ Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris The concept of an aerial campaign on a nation’s industrial and military might was advocated by Britain before the start of the First World War; however, a stringent post-war economy ensured that the creation of Bomber Command in 1936 witnessed a daunting disparity between the aim of striking at an adversary’s ability to sustain itself and the means to do so. From 1939 to 1942, Bomber Command was very weak in terms of human and material losses. The navigational means with which to accurately guide bombers to targets was almost completely lacking while the enemy defensive network inflicted serious casualties. Consequently, the punishment handed out was minimal. The resurgence of Bomber Command’s fortunes coincided with the appointment of Sir Arthur Harris. The advent of four-engine designs such as the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax ensured that a greatly increased bomb tonnage could be delivered. Also, electronic aids such as Gee, Oboe and H2S simplified the task in finding targets. Therefore, by 1944-1945, the RAF’s bombers pulverised Hitler’s Third Reich. Although flak and night-fighters took a heavy toll on the bombers, the RAF’s nocturnal offensive in conjunction with the USAAF’s daylight assaults crippled Germany’s ability to fight back.