Author: Max ArthurPublisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
Lost Voices of the Royal Air Force
Author: Max ArthurLost Voices of The Royal Air Force
Author: Max ArthurPublisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1848947445
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512
Book Description
Max Arthur, bestselling author of FORGOTTEN VOICES: THE GREAT WAR, presents this moving collection of first-hand accounts of life in the Royal Air Force, from 1918 to the present day. LOST VOICES OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE records the role of the RAF in World War II, and, particularly, the Battle of Britain and the desert battles of North Africa, as well as in the Falklands and in the Gulf War. Through original interviews with air and ground crew, the spirit and comradeship, the stress, courage, isolation, vulnerability and the wonder of the wartime flying experience is vividly explored.
Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 1901–1910 in Their Own Words
Author: Max ArthurPublisher: HarperCollins UK
ISBN: 0007324286
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352
Book Description
Max Arthur, bestselling author of the hugely popular ‘Forgotten Voices’ series, recaptures the day-to-day lives of working people in the Edwardian era.
Reckless Fellows
Author: Edward BujakPublisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 0857739522
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
The Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force, was formed in 1912 and went to war in 1914 where it played a vital role in reconnaissance, supporting the British Expeditionary Force as 'air cavalry' and also in combat, establishing air superiority over the Imperial German Air Force. Edward Bujak here combines the history of the air war, including details of strategy, tactics, technical issues and combat, with a social and cultural history. The RFC was originally dominated by the landed elite, in Lloyd George's phrase 'from the stateliest houses in England', and its pilots were regarded as 'knights of the air'. Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, seat of landed gentry, became their major training base. Bujak shows how, within the circle of the RFC, the class divide and unconscious superiority of Edwardian Britain disappeared - absorbed by common purpose, technical expertise and by an influx of pilots from Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. He thus provides an original and unusual take on the air war in World War I, combining military, social and cultural history.
Mosquito Intruder Pilot
Author: Jeremy WalshPublisher: Air World
ISBN: 139908478X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 326
Book Description
This illustrated WW2 biography chronicles the wartime experiences of a young Royal Air Force pilot who flew into combat over Europe and Burma. Ben Walsh lied about his age to join the RAF, determined to play his part in the Second World War. He volunteered to be an intruder pilot, flying low level operations in the dark. Ben flew ops for three years, starting in the skies over with Europe, then ferrying one of the first Mosquito FB VIs to India before flying in the Burma campaign. After surviving belly landings, crashes, enemy fire and engine failures, the strain of combat operations took its toll on the young pilot. When Ben and his navigator asked to be removed from operations, their request was only denied, but also resulted in threats of court martial. By the end of the war, Ben was suffering from a nervous condition known as ‘the twitch’. His confidence and health were restored by the young woman who would become his wife. Throughout the war, Ben maintained a ‘Roll of honor’ in his photograph album, memorializing his friends and colleagues who lost their lives. That album forms the backdrop to this biography, which is based on Ben’s own recollections, his logbook and the notes he kept through the war.
Lost Voices of the Royal Navy
Author: Max ArthurPublisher: Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN: 1848948301
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 576
Book Description
Acclaimed historian Max Arthur pays tribute to the Royal Navy from 1914 to 1945. Drawing on the personal stories of those who have served during this period, he has created a unique narrative history of the senior service. FORGOTTEN VOICES: THE ROYAL NAVY is a memorable and moving testament to the courage, spirit, skill and irrepressible humour of those who served in the Royal Navy during these crucial years.
Dogfight
Author: David OwenPublisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473830680
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 421
Book Description
Innumerable books have been published on the two most famous fighter aircraft of all time, the Supermarine Spitfire and the Messerschmitt Bf109. But books setting out to tell the story of both aircraft are very much rarer - probably fewer than the fingers of one hand. Yet their joint story is one which bears retelling since both were essential to the air campaigns of World War Two.Incredibly, the men who designed them lacked any experience of designing a modern fighter. R J Mitchell had begun his career working on industrial steam locomotives, Willy Messerschmitt had cut his aeronautical teeth on light and fragile gliders and sporting planes. Yet both men not only managed to devise aircraft which could hold their own in a world where other designs went from state-of-the-art to obsolete in a staggeringly short time, but their fighters remained competitive over six years of front-line combat. Despite the different ways their creators approached their daunting tasks and the obstacles each faced in acceptance by the services for which they were designed, they proved to be so closely matched that neither side gained a decisive advantage in a titanic struggle. Had either of them not matched up to its opponent so well, then the air war would have been a one-sided catastrophe ending in a quick defeat for the Allies or the Axis powers, and the course of twentieth century history would have been changed beyond recognition.
An Analytical Diary of 1939-1940
Author: Andrew SangsterPublisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1443891606
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386
Book Description
This book examines in detail, and as objectively as possible, the first year of the Second World War. The sources used here are international in order to avoid a perspective focused on any single nation. It also explores the political machinations and intrigues, as well as the various military campaigns and problems of 1939–1940. In addition to this, the war at sea is closely followed, as well as the reactions of various populations, especially those in Germany, Britain, and France, with a sideways glimpse of American thinking in public terms. The motives behind the war are viewed; important incidents are examined, as are the various styles and issues of leadership. For the student of history, there is also a detailed chronology of every day for the whole year. The book begins with an overview of the driving forces and features of the war, and concludes with a synopsis of the international situation after this one year, from the point of view of the major belligerents. As such, it will appeal to both students and general readers of history.
Flying against Fate
Author: S. P. MacKenziePublisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700624694
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264
Book Description
During World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were high. Of the roughly 125,000 who served as aircrew with Bomber Command, 59,423 were killed or missing and presumed killed—a fatality rate of 45.5%. With odds like that, it would be no surprise if there were as few atheists in cockpits as there were in foxholes; and indeed, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in Flying against Fate, a pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II. Mining a wealth of documents as well as a trove of published and unpublished memoirs and diaries, MacKenzie examines the myriad forms combat fliers' superstitions assumed, from jinxes to premonitions. Most commonly, airmen carried amulets or talismans—lucky boots or a stuffed toy; a coin whose year numbers added up to thirteen; counterintuitively, a boomerang. Some performed rituals or avoided other acts, e.g., having a photo taken before a flight. Whatever seemed to work was worth sticking with, and a heightened risk often meant an upsurge in superstitious thought and behavior. MacKenzie delves into behavior analysis studies to help explain the psychology behind much of the behavior he documents—not slighting the large cohort of crew members and commanders who demurred. He also looks into the ways in which superstitious behavior was tolerated or even encouraged by those in command who saw it as a means of buttressing morale. The first in-depth exploration of just how varied and deeply felt superstitious beliefs were to tens of thousands of combat fliers, Flying against Fate expands our understanding of a major aspect of the psychology of war in the air and of World War II.
Cheer Up, Mate!
Author: Alan WeeksPublisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752496883
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 170
Book Description
Cheer Up, Mate! is a compilation of comical tales and anecdotes from World War Two. Between 1939 and 1945 the world witnessed what is generally agreed to be the most horrific war in history. Millions died and millions more were physically or psychologically wounded by the conflict. Yet amidst the pain and devastation, people were not only able to survive, they also managed to maintain a sense of humour. For some, it was precisely this ability to laugh at their misfortunes (and those of the other side) that enabled them to solider on. This was especially true of the British, a nation whose reaction to more or less anything, up to and including someone’s house being bombed to rubble, tended to be, ‘never mind, have a cup of tea’. In this collection of stories, which covers the armed forces and civilians from both sides, Alan Weeks demonstrates how humour can survive even in the most unlikely of circumstances.
