The Silver Spitfire

The Silver Spitfire PDF Author: Tom Neil
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 0297868144
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 389

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Book Description
A brilliantly vivid Second World War memoir by one of 'the Few' Spitfire fighter pilots. Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as an RAF liaison to an American fighter squadron. As the Allies pushed east, Neil commandeered an abandoned Spitfire as his own personal aeroplane. Erasing any evidence of its provenance and stripping it down to bare metal, it became the RAF's only silver Spitfire. Alongside his US comrades, he took the silver Spitfire into battle until, with the war's end, he was forced to make a difficult decision. Faced with too many questions about the mysterious rogue fighter, he contemplated increasingly desperate measures to offload it, including bailing out mid-Channel. He eventually left the Spitfire at Worthy Down, never to be seen again. THE SILVER SPITFIRE is the first-hand, gripping story of Neil's heroic experience as an RAF fighter pilot and his reminiscences with his very own personal Spitfire.

The Silver Spitfire

The Silver Spitfire PDF Author: Tom Neil
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 0297868144
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 389

Get Book Here

Book Description
A brilliantly vivid Second World War memoir by one of 'the Few' Spitfire fighter pilots. Following the D-Day landings, Battle of Britain hero Tom Neil was assigned as an RAF liaison to an American fighter squadron. As the Allies pushed east, Neil commandeered an abandoned Spitfire as his own personal aeroplane. Erasing any evidence of its provenance and stripping it down to bare metal, it became the RAF's only silver Spitfire. Alongside his US comrades, he took the silver Spitfire into battle until, with the war's end, he was forced to make a difficult decision. Faced with too many questions about the mysterious rogue fighter, he contemplated increasingly desperate measures to offload it, including bailing out mid-Channel. He eventually left the Spitfire at Worthy Down, never to be seen again. THE SILVER SPITFIRE is the first-hand, gripping story of Neil's heroic experience as an RAF fighter pilot and his reminiscences with his very own personal Spitfire.

Flying, Fighting and Reflection

Flying, Fighting and Reflection PDF Author: Peter Jacobs
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1784383910
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 393

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Book Description
This is the thrilling account of the last remaining Battle of Britain ace fighter pilot, Tom Ginger Neil. Neil was one of an elite band, nicknamed The Few by Winston Churchill, he flew Hurricanes during 141 combat missions in that battle and went on to command the first Spitfire XII squadron during 1942/43 as the RAF went on the offensive in north-west Europe.In this, the only full account of Neil's life to be published in collaboration with his family, we learn how he became a poster boy for the war effort and how he credits his sixth sense for keeping him alive during the Second World War.There was, however, one terrifyingly close brush with death, when in 1940 he had a mid-air collision with another Hurricane. With the rear section of his aircraft gone, the plane was out of control and hurtling to the ground, yet somehow he managed to bail out and miraculously survived with only a minor leg injury.As well as RAF service during the Siege of Malta, Wing Commander Neil, who is now in his late nineties, also served with the Americans during the D-Day landings.During his career, Neil was awarded two Distinguished Flying Crosses for the destruction of at least fourteen enemy aircraft, and was a successful test pilot after the war before commanding a jet fighter-reconnaissance squadron in Egypt's troubled Canal Zone during the 1950s for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross.With contributions from the man himself, this book also looks at his life after the RAF and his career as a successful author. For military buffs and novices alike, it is a must-read account of a true war hero.

Room For Me

Room For Me PDF Author: Roger Harvey
Publisher: New Generation Publishing
ISBN: 1789554756
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
It's 1968 and aspiring actress Julie Armstrong is at Drama School in London--but she is drawn back to her beloved Northumberland where her glamorous stepmother has another role to play in her destiny. ROOM FOR ME is the intriguing and romantic sequel to Roger Harvey's ROOM FOR LOVE.That rare thing: a gleeful celebration of homely joys, the ideal fireside read. Oozing vintage chic and nostalgia from every page, spiced with passion and drama, this is the story of a young woman finding her true self, told with honesty and humour.

memoirs of world war II

memoirs of world war II PDF Author:
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 0978139607
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description


The Rudder

The Rudder PDF Author: Thomas Fleming Day
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Shipbuilding
Languages : en
Pages : 882

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Book Description


R. J. Mitchell: To the Spitfire

R. J. Mitchell: To the Spitfire PDF Author: John Shelton
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 809

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Book Description
R. J. Mitchell at Supermarine is the definitive account of the life of Britain’s best-known aeronautical engineer. Shelton calls upon unpublished letters, extensive press accounts, and updated material from his previous publications, concentrating particularly on the harsh conditions of Mitchell’s apprentice years, the precarious state of the aircraft firm he joined, and moments of good fortune of which he took advantage. He was a ‘chancer’ as well as a methodical developer of, mainly, slow flying seaplanes. Mitchell’s progress from draughtsman, with no formal training in aeronautical design, to internationally known chief designer is charted through a chronological study of his designs, revealing a formidable work ethic with a complex personality that combined ‘dreams and common sense’. It will also be shown how the success of his high-speed Schneider Trophy designs propelled him reluctantly into public attention and how his anxiety for his pilots’ safety matched an equal concern that his designs should not let down an expectant nation. Later expectations on him to produce a ‘killer fighter’ were equally daunting, and the outcome was often uncertain, but details of colleagues’ accounts highlight the essential and unique contribution of R.J.’s experience and drive to the eventual appearance of the iconic Spitfire.

Malloch's Spitfire

Malloch's Spitfire PDF Author: Nick Meikle
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612002536
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
The story of one of history’s greatest fighter aircraft from WWII to its remarkable restoration in 1980 Rhodesia: “an aviation classic-in-waiting” (Airscape). In 1977, the Rhodesian Air Force retrieved a World War II–era Supermarine Spitfire F Mk 22. But while the RAF was embroiled in the Bush War, the dream of restoring the aircraft was frustrated by international sanctions. That’s when legendary pilot John “Jack” McVicar Malloch took control of the project. Not only had Jack flown Spitfires during World War II, he was also uniquely positioned to circumvent sanctions through his airfreight company, Air Trans Africa. With ingenuity, passion, and a team of trusted engineers, Jack realized the dream of putting Spitfire PK350 back in the air on March 29, 1980. In Malloch’s Spitfire, author Nick Meikle tells the full story of this remarkable restoration and reveals some fascinating insights about the aircraft. The reader is taken on a journey through the Spitfire’s life, beginning with her first test flight in 1945. The project’s lead engineer and many of the surviving pilots who flew her also share their memories. For two years, PK350 delighted those fortunate enough to see her fly. Then, on what was planned to be her last flight, Malloch’s Spitfire never returned to base.

Evensong

Evensong PDF Author: Richard Morris
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1474614248
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 376

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Book Description
Parish churches have been at the heart of communities for more than a thousand years. But now, fewer than two in one hundred people regularly attend services in an Anglican church, and many have never been inside one. Since the idea of 'church' is its people, the buildings are becoming husks - staples of our landscapes, but without meaning or purpose. Some churches are finding vigorous community roles with which to carry on, but the institutional decline is widely seen as terminal. Yet for Richard Morris, post-war parsonages were the happy backdrop of his childhood. In Evensong he searches for what it was that drew his father and hundreds like him towards ordination as they came home from war in 1945. Along the way we meet all kinds of people - archbishops, chaplains, campaigners, bell-ringers, bureaucrats, archaeologists, gravediggers, architects, scroungers - and follow some of them to dark places. Part personal odyssey, part lyrical history, Evensong asks what churches stand for and what they can tell us; it explores why Anglicanism has often been fractious, and why it has become so diffuse. Spanning over two thousand years, it draws on new discoveries, reflects on the current state of the Church in England and ends amid the messy legacies of colonialism and empire.

Ashur's Tears

Ashur's Tears PDF Author: Bill Riley
Publisher: BrownBooks.ORM
ISBN: 1612546137
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Toby Cypher has it pretty good. He's on the cusp of success with his mimics (programmable morphing robots indistinguishable from humans), he has a side gig volunteering at the Air Force Museum, and he's tutoring the prettiest, coolest girl in school. Toby's world falls apart when he learns that his father-Dr. Erasmus Cypher, a scientist who does classified work for the government-has gone down in a plane crash over Iraq. But Toby's sister Katie soon uncovers a secret message on their dad's smart phone-a message sent after the plane crashed. Toby and Katie are drawn into the dizzying world of their father's secret work, a world of untold danger and pro­found mysteries, where the two siblings will need all their wits just to survive. Science meets magic in award-winning author Bill Riley's debut fiction novel, Ashur's Tears, the fast-paced, intricately plotted first installment in the Cypher series.

Dandelion

Dandelion PDF Author: Gavin Hoffen
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing
ISBN: 1609116984
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
Who do you run to when everyone is after you? If youthful estate agent Edward Hamilton (Hammy) thought the most he had to worry about was turning up late for work with a raging hangover, then he was very much mistaken. After discovering a staggeringly important piece of lost history, he and his best friend, Ben, are catapulted into a terrifying world of MI5 spies and Russian KGB funded terrorists. Was Churchill's government involved in the death of Polish Prime Minister General Sikorski? Why are British and Russian governments so desperate to get their hands on Hammy's discovery? Dandelion will take the reader on a thought provoking rollercoaster ride through modern times and the much darker days of World War 2. Gavin Hoffen is an estate agent and aviation fanatic. He grew up in Swindon, Wiltshire, England and now lives with his partner, Serena, and Persian cat, Oscar, in nearby South Marston. Dandelion is his first novel. Publisher's website: http: //www.strategicpublishinggroup.com/title/Dandelion.htm