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Author: Ronald L Chapman
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399057308
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252
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Book Description
Ron Chapman's life changed on 7 September 1940, leading him to join the RAF and serve in various significant squadrons. It was the night of 7 September 1940 which changed Ron Chapman’s life. It was the start of Hitler’s Blitz on London. The death and destruction the German bombers wreaked across Islington and the East End so shocked and appalled Ron, that three days later he presented himself to the RAF recruiting office near Euston station. After basic training, and a few days before his twentieth birthday, he received a posting to 485 (New Zealand) Squadron – Ron was at last with an operational Spitfire squadron. After just three weeks with 485 (NZ) Squadron, he was posted to 341 (Free French) Squadron. Operating as part of the RAF’s 145 Wing in 84 Group, the squadron was led by the renowned Commandant René Mouchotte DFC, while 145 Wing itself was commanded by the Battle of Britain fighter ace Group Captain ‘Sailor’ Malan. There was also 340 Squadron, known as ‘Churchill’s Own’, and Nos. 329 and 345 squadrons. As a member of 341 Squadron’s groundcrew, Ron Chapman’s memoirs provide a unique insight into the functioning of a fighter unit from the perspective of fitters, riggers, and armorers. But, in addition, his service with the Free French fighter squadrons adds greatly to our knowledge of this important part of the RAF’s history. As an element of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, 84 Group was continually moved from airfield to airfield across the South Coast. The idea was to get the squadrons accustomed to nomadic conditions. After the D-Day invasion plans were finally unveiled, the squadron’s groundcrew and support staff were eventually trucked to Gosport where they boarded the landing craft that would transport them across the Channel as part of Operation Overlord. They landed at Arromanches-les-Bains in August. Ron’s story then follows the actions of 145 Wing, as it battled the Luftwaffe across Europe. As the Allied forces moved eastwards, so Ron and the groundcrew moved with them through France, Belgium and finally into Germany. Ron remained with 341 Squadron until the end of the war. This book is far more than a personal memoir, it is the largely neglected story of the French fighter wing throughout the years when the 2nd Tactical Air Force moved on to the offensive against the Luftwaffe. It will undoubtedly become recognized as an important addition to the history of the RAF.
Author: Ronald L Chapman
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1399057308
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Get Book Here
Book Description
Ron Chapman's life changed on 7 September 1940, leading him to join the RAF and serve in various significant squadrons. It was the night of 7 September 1940 which changed Ron Chapman’s life. It was the start of Hitler’s Blitz on London. The death and destruction the German bombers wreaked across Islington and the East End so shocked and appalled Ron, that three days later he presented himself to the RAF recruiting office near Euston station. After basic training, and a few days before his twentieth birthday, he received a posting to 485 (New Zealand) Squadron – Ron was at last with an operational Spitfire squadron. After just three weeks with 485 (NZ) Squadron, he was posted to 341 (Free French) Squadron. Operating as part of the RAF’s 145 Wing in 84 Group, the squadron was led by the renowned Commandant René Mouchotte DFC, while 145 Wing itself was commanded by the Battle of Britain fighter ace Group Captain ‘Sailor’ Malan. There was also 340 Squadron, known as ‘Churchill’s Own’, and Nos. 329 and 345 squadrons. As a member of 341 Squadron’s groundcrew, Ron Chapman’s memoirs provide a unique insight into the functioning of a fighter unit from the perspective of fitters, riggers, and armorers. But, in addition, his service with the Free French fighter squadrons adds greatly to our knowledge of this important part of the RAF’s history. As an element of the 2nd Tactical Air Force, 84 Group was continually moved from airfield to airfield across the South Coast. The idea was to get the squadrons accustomed to nomadic conditions. After the D-Day invasion plans were finally unveiled, the squadron’s groundcrew and support staff were eventually trucked to Gosport where they boarded the landing craft that would transport them across the Channel as part of Operation Overlord. They landed at Arromanches-les-Bains in August. Ron’s story then follows the actions of 145 Wing, as it battled the Luftwaffe across Europe. As the Allied forces moved eastwards, so Ron and the groundcrew moved with them through France, Belgium and finally into Germany. Ron remained with 341 Squadron until the end of the war. This book is far more than a personal memoir, it is the largely neglected story of the French fighter wing throughout the years when the 2nd Tactical Air Force moved on to the offensive against the Luftwaffe. It will undoubtedly become recognized as an important addition to the history of the RAF.
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.
Author: Jacky Hyams
Publisher: Michael O'Mara Books
ISBN: 1782438173
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
Published in association with the Imperial War Museum, this is a fascinating anthology of first-hand stories from Spitfire heroes and heroines of World War II. Using documents, letters, stories, photographs and articles from the Museum's unparalleled archive, this is a tribute to the most iconic plane in aviation history - and the people behind it.
Author: Alasdair Cross
Publisher: Headline
ISBN: 1472281977
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368
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Book Description
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER 'An inspirational read celebrating the incredible young people who gave so much for this iconic British aircraft'. John Nichol, bestselling author of Spitfire: A Very British Love Story Despite the many films and television programmes over the decades since the end of the Second World War that portrays our allied heroes as grown-up men and women, the Battle of Britain was in the main actually fought and won by teenagers. The average age of an RAF fighter pilot was just twenty years old. Many of the men and women who designed and built their planes were even younger. Based on the hit BBC World Service podcast Spitfire: The People's Story, we use contemporary diaries and memoirs, many of them previously unpublished, to tell the story of the Spitfire through the voices of the teenagers who risked everything to design, build and fly her. This isn't a story of stiff-upper lips, stoical moustaches and aerial heroics; it's a story of love and loss, a story of young people tested to the very limits of their endurance. Young people who won a battle that turned a war.
Author: Howman
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750995505
Category : Transportation
Languages : en
Pages : 292
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Book Description
September 1940: In the midst of the Second World War, The Luftwaffe unleashed a series of devastating raids on Southampton, all but destroying its Spitfire factories. But production didn't stop. Instead, manufacturing of this iconic fighter moved underground, to secret locations staffed by women, children and non-combatant men. With little engineering experience between them, they built a fleet of one of the greatest war planes that has ever existed. This is their story.
Author: David Isby
Publisher: Abacus
ISBN: 074812361X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 365
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Book Description
London, 15 September 1940. The air battle over Britain on that day saw two of the most advanced fighter planes, the British Supermarine Spitfire and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109, battle for supremacy of the skies. The Decisive Duel tells the stories of these iconic, classic aircraft and the people that created them: Willy Messerschmitt, the German designer with a love for gliders and admiration for Hitler; R.J. Mitchell, his brilliant British counterpart, who struggled against illness to complete the design of the Spitfire. In fascinating detail, David Isby describes the crucial role the two opposed planes played, from the drawing boards to Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain to the final battles over Germany.
Author: Jonathan Glancey
Publisher: Atlantic Books Ltd
ISBN: 0857895109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275
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Book Description
Updated edition to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. It is difficult to overestimate the excitement that accompanied the birth of the Spitfire. An aircraft imbued with balletic grace and extraordinary versatility, it was powered by a piston engine and a propeller, yet came tantalisingly close to breaking the sound barrier. First flown in 1936, the Spitfire soon came to symbolize Britain's defiance of Nazi Germany in the summer of 1940. Spitfire: The Biography is a celebration of a great British invention, of the men and women who flew it and supported its development, and of the industry that manufactured both the aircraft and the Rolls-Royce engines that powered it. It is also about the ways in which the sight, sound and fury of this lithe and legendary fighter continue to stir the public imagination worldwide more than eighty years on.
Author: Bill Simpson
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473818486
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 437
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Book Description
This WWII military history vividly recounts the Royal Air Force campaign to counter Germany’s V2 rocket attacks. On September 8th, 1944, the first V2 rockets aimed at southern England exploded in west London. They had been launched from a wooded street corner in Den Haag in the Netherlands. Air Marshal Roderic Hill of Fighter Command ordered a swift response to counter the threat. Six squadrons of Spitfires were sent to find and dive-bomb the mobile V2 launch sites scattered throughout the Dutch countryside. The missiles were well camouflaged and often positioned adjacent to dwellings occupied by civilians. The RAF was under orders to cause minimum damage to Dutch property and life, therefore precision bombing became a necessity. This complete account of the campaign includes discussions of the strategy and tactics employed and the equipment used. It also considers the effects on Dutch civilians. Bill Simpson draws on the experiences of sixteen Allied pilots, ground crew and the Dutch who were at the receiving-end of the attacks.
Author: Lily Baxter
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 1446456234
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 452
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Book Description
___________________________ 1940. The height of the Blitz. In London, eighteen-year-old Susan Banks longs to do her duty in the war. Her secret ambition is to learn to fly - to serve her country and realise her dream. But she knows it is out of the question for a girl like her; a foundling, unwanted and unloved and dependent on strangers for her welfare. Just as she fears she will be trapped forever in a life of servitude and loneliness, she meets Tony Richards, a flying instructor based in Hampshire. And when she is forced to flee London, she heads out into the country. She is taken in by the kindly landlord of the local inn and his daughter. As Susan works hard to earn her keep, and her friendship with Tony - now recalled to duty - blossoms into love, she dares to hope that things are at last looking up for her. But then she receives devastating news - Tony is missing in action. And Susan wonders if she'll ever see the man she loves again and realise her dream of becoming a Spitfire girl...
Author: Gordon Mitchell
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752474480
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 466
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Book Description
The Spitfire began as a near disaster. The developments of this famous aircraft took it from uncompromising beginnings to become the legendary last memorial to a great man - an elegant and, with its pilots, a highly effective, weapon of war. The Spitfire would not have happened at all, however, without Mitchell's indomitable courage and determination in the face of severe physical and psychological adversity resulting from cancer. His contribution to the Battle of Britain, and thereafter to the achievement of final victory in 1945, was so great that our debt to him can never be repaid. This poignant story is written from a uniquely personal viewpoint by his son, Gordon Mitchell.
