Author: Sean Feast
Publisher: Fighting High Publishing
ISBN: 0993212948
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204
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Book Description
Shot down and killed in April 1944, Lionel Anderson, a low flying Mosquito intruder pilot, was part way through his second tour of operations. He had survived his first tour stooging up and down the French coast in an outdated Boulton Paul Defiant to confound the German night fighter defenses and allow the Royal Air Force bombers a free run to the target. LionelÕs journey to war had been one of enormous excitement, most of which had been spent training in the sunshine and mountains of Arizona, flying during the day and partying hard at the weekends. A prolific letter writer, Lionel continually regaled his parents with tales of cowboys and indians, rattlesnakes and spiders, ground loops and near misses. He also talked of his Hollywood connections, his new ÔpalsÕ Preston Foster and Gene Tierney, and a movie in which he had ÔstarredÕ as an ÔextraÕ. In A Thunder Bird in Bomber Command, acclaimed military aviation historian Sean Feast pieces together LionelÕs story revealing a young man dearly loved by his mother and father. He was similarly worshipped by his younger brother, Gerald, who would go on to become a world renowned television producer, director, and writer. It was LionelÕs connection with a little-known film that was to inspire Gerry Anderson to create a global phenomena - the legend of Thunderbirds.
Author: S. P. MacKenzie
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350024872
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211
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Book Description
Since the Second World War, depictions of Royal Air Force operations in film and television drama have become so numerous that they make up a genre worthy of scholarly attention. In this illuminating study, S. P. MacKenzie explores the different ways in which the men of RAF Bomber Command have been represented in dramatic form on the big and small screen from the war years to the present day. Bomber Boys on Screen is the first in-depth study of how and why the screen-drama image of those who flew, those who directed them, and those who provided support for RAF bomber operations has changed over time, sometimes in contested circumstances. Until now dramas that focus on Bomber Command have tended to be mentioned only in passing or studied in isolation, despite the prevalence of surveys of both the British war film genre and of aviation cinema. In Bomber Boys on Screen MacKenzie examines the development, presentation, and reception of significant dramas on a decade-by-decade basis. Titles from the beginning of the war (The Lion Has Wings, 1939) to the start of new century (Bomber's Moon, 2014) are situated in the context of technical possibilities and limitations, evolving social and cultural norms in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and the development of moral and utilitarian controversies surrounding the wartime bomber offensive directed against Nazi Germany. While the focus is on feature films and television plays, reference is also made to documentaries, memorials, veterans' organizations, book titles, war comics, and other representations of the war fought by Bomber Command.
Author: Scott Weaver
Publisher: Scott Weaver
ISBN: 1521112819
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 164
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Book Description
Spread your wings and explore 60+ years of aviation history told by third generation pilot, Lt. Col. Scott R. Weaver. An unique story never told before about his grand father, flight instructor, Leo Purinton and his family history, starting in World War II, continuing through Vietnam and ending in the Gulf War. In 1998, Tom Brokaw used the phrase, ” The Greatest Generation" when he wrote his book by the same title. Some thought it was a catchy marketing phrase. Read my story, and I think you'll agree, that this generation was indeed The Greatest Generation. Thunderbird Field is part of America’s storied aviation history. It was considered a training base that was “steeped in multicultural tradition” with student pilots from America, Canada, Britain, Argentina and China.In late 1930's, another World War in Europe was inevitable. The German Air Force had amassed over 20,000 pilots and trained the largest reserve of pilots ever in the history of mankind. Simultaneously, Japanese Army Air Service was wrecking havoc throughout Asia, mainly China.It was in the late 1940's that the leadership of the United States and the US Army Air Corps, General "Hap" Arnold, saw the desperate need for skilled aviators. With only a handshake between General Arnold and Leland Hayward and JackConnelly, Southwest Airway founders, planned for the nation's first civilian flight training center in Phoenix, Arizona.
Author: Stephen Darlow
Publisher: Grub Street Publishing
ISBN: 9781911621874
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Reissued for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, D-Day Bombers: The Veterans' Story is largely an eyewitness account of the vital heavy bomber contribution to the success of the D-Day landings and therefore to the winning of the war in Europe.
Author: Roddy MacKenzie
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399017756
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386
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Book Description
Roddy MacKenzieâs father served in Bomber Command during the Second World War, but like so many brave veterans who had survived the war, he spoke little of his exploits. So, when Roddy started on his personal journey to discover something of what his father had achieved, he uncovered a great deal about the devastating effectiveness of Bomber Command and the vital role it played in the defeat of Third Reich. He realised that the true story of Bomber Commandâs achievements has never been told nor fully acknowledged. Roddy became a man on a mission, and this startlingly revealing, and often personal study, is the result. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph takes the reader through the early days of the Second World War and introduces all the key individuals who turned the Command into the war-winning weapon it eventually became, as well as detailing the men and machines which flew night after night into the heart of Hitlerâs Germany. The main focus of his book is the destruction and dislocation wrought by the bombing to reduce, and ultimately destroy, Germanyâs ability to make war. In his analysis, Roddy dug deep into German archival material to uncover facts rarely presented to either German or English language readers. These demonstrate that Bomber Commandâs continual efforts, at appalling cost in aircrew casualties and aircraft losses, did far more damage to the Reich than the Allies knew. Roddyâs father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Roddy naturally highlights its contribution to Bomber Commandâs successes, another aspect of this fascinating story which the author believes has not been duly recognized. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph will certainly raise the debate on the controversial strategy adopted by âBomberâ Harris and how he was perceived by many to have over-stepped his remit. But most of all, this book will revise peopleâs understanding of just how important the endeavours were of those men who flew through the dark and through the searchlights, the flak, and the enemy night fighters, to bring the Second World War in Europe to its crushing conclusion.
Author: Martin Bowman
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848844964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 240
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Book Description
This is the fifth release in a series that provides a comprehensive insight into all aspects of RAF Bomber Command in World War Two. It begins in late September 1944 when the Allied Bomber Offensive was at its height, and takes us through to the end of the conflict. The crews' personal narrative puts you at the centre of each intense, isolated and harrowing episode of aerial combat as the pilots of Bomber Command attempted to stave off fears of tragic injury and death from fighters, flak and incessant operational pressure during raids on German cities, waterways, ports and oil installations. This continued until the Luftwaffe and the Nachtjagd effectively ceased to exist, their fuel supplies exhausted, their losses in airmen reaching an unsustainable level, and their aircraft and airfields decimated as a result of 24-hour Allied bombing.??Often, it was the most exciting feats of bravery, determination and daring that were marked by the most catastrophic losses. Approximately 62 per cent of the 125,000 men who served as aircrew in Bomber Command during the war became casualties. Of these, 52 per cent were sustained while flying operations and a further ten per cent while on non-operational flights in Britain. It should never be forgotten that RAF Bomber Command played a hugely significant role in securing victory for the Allies, carrying out mass raids by day and night that eventually culminated in them 'beating the life out of Germany'. Yet its crews were denied the campaign medal that they so richly deserved, until very recently. Here, Martin Bowman attempts to provide an adequate tribute to the men of Bomber Command, using first-hand accounts to capture an authentic commentary of the times at hand in a release that is sure to capture the imaginations of all aviation enthusiasts.
Author: Chris Ward
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844687325
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212
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Book Description
6 Group was born out of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), which, among other things called for the formation of 25 Canadian Squadrons in Britain. This figure was later downsized. The Canadian vision was of a Canadian force operating independently alongside Bomber Command in the manner of the American 8th, but skillfull negotiating by the British resulted in Canadian Bomber squadrons operating within the RAF under RAF control but funded by Canada. On the 1st of January 1943 most of the existing RCAF squadrons were brought together on stations in North Yorkshire and County Durham to form 6 Group. By the end of the war 14 Squadrons were operational and one other had been posted to the Pathfinders. After an uncertain beginning the Group became an efficient and valuable contributor to Bomber Command's campaigns. Beginning predominantly with Wellingtons the Group was re-equipped with a mixture of Halifaxes and Lancasters, including the Hercules powered MkII and the Canadian built MKX.
Author: Peter Jacobs
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473870054
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 266
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Book Description
As part of the Aviation Heritage Trail series, the accomplished military author and former RAF Officer Peter Jacobs takes us to the county of Yorkshire and to its many bomber airfields of the Second World War.From the opening day of hostilities, RAF Bomber Command took the offensive to Nazi Germany and played a leading role in the liberation of Europe. Yorkshires airfields played a key part throughout, initially as home to the Whitley squadrons of No 4 Group and then to the four-engine Halifax heavy bombers; indeed, Bomber Commands first night operation of the war was flown from one of the countys many bomber airfields. Then, as the bombing offensive gathered pace, Yorkshire welcomed the new all-Canadian No 6 (RCAF) Group, after which all of Bomber Commands major efforts during the hardest years of 1943/44 against the Ruhr, Hamburg and Berlin involved the Yorkshire-based squadrons.Most of Yorkshires wartime bomber airfields have long gone, but many have managed to retain the flying link with their wartime past. For example, the former RAF airfields of Finningley and Middleton St George, and the factory airfield of Yeadon, are now the sites of international airports, while Breighton, Burn, Full Sutton, Pocklington and Rufforth are still used for light aircraft flying or gliding and Elvington is home to the magnificent Yorkshire Air Museum.From airfields such as these came countless acts of personal courage and self-sacrifice, with two men being awarded the Victoria Cross, Britains highest award for gallantry. Stories of both men are included, as are tales of other personalities who brought these airfields to life. The stories of thirty-three airfields are told in total, with a brief history of each accompanied by details of how to find them and what remains of them today. Whatever your interest, be it aviation history or more local, the county of Yorkshire has rightly taken its place in the history of Bomber Command.
Author: Philip J. R. Moyes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Bombers
Languages : en
Pages : 72
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Book Description
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages : 1126
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