Malta Spitfire

Malta Spitfire PDF Author: George Beurling
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1909166294
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Get Book Here

Book Description
An aviator’s true story of WWII air combat, including two dramatic weeks in the skies above the besieged island of Malta. Twenty-five thousand feet above Malta—that is where the Spitfires intercepted the Messerschmitts, Macchis, and Reggianes as they swept eastward in their droves, screening the big Junkers with their bomb loads as they pummeled the island beneath: the most bombed patch of ground in the world. One of those Spitfire pilots was George Beurling, nicknamed “Screwball,” who in fourteen flying days destroyed twenty-seven German and Italian aircraft and damaged many more. Hailing from Canada, Beurling finally made it to Malta in the summer of 1942 after hard training and combat across the Channel. Malta Spitfire tells his story and that of the gallant Spitfire squadron, 249, which day after day ascended to the “top of the hill” to meet the enemy against overwhelming odds. With this memoir, readers experience the sensation of being in the cockpit with him, climbing to meet the planes driving in from Sicily, diving down through the fighter screen at the bombers, dodging the bullets coming out of the sun, or whipping up under the belly of an Me for a deflection shot at the engine. This is war without sentiment or romance, told in terms of human courage, skill, and heroism—a classic of WWII military aviation.

Malta Spitfire

Malta Spitfire PDF Author: George Beurling
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1909166294
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 147

Get Book Here

Book Description
An aviator’s true story of WWII air combat, including two dramatic weeks in the skies above the besieged island of Malta. Twenty-five thousand feet above Malta—that is where the Spitfires intercepted the Messerschmitts, Macchis, and Reggianes as they swept eastward in their droves, screening the big Junkers with their bomb loads as they pummeled the island beneath: the most bombed patch of ground in the world. One of those Spitfire pilots was George Beurling, nicknamed “Screwball,” who in fourteen flying days destroyed twenty-seven German and Italian aircraft and damaged many more. Hailing from Canada, Beurling finally made it to Malta in the summer of 1942 after hard training and combat across the Channel. Malta Spitfire tells his story and that of the gallant Spitfire squadron, 249, which day after day ascended to the “top of the hill” to meet the enemy against overwhelming odds. With this memoir, readers experience the sensation of being in the cockpit with him, climbing to meet the planes driving in from Sicily, diving down through the fighter screen at the bombers, dodging the bullets coming out of the sun, or whipping up under the belly of an Me for a deflection shot at the engine. This is war without sentiment or romance, told in terms of human courage, skill, and heroism—a classic of WWII military aviation.

Malta Spitfire Pilot

Malta Spitfire Pilot PDF Author: Denis Barnham
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1909808687
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Get Book Here

Book Description
An RAF fighter pilot’s “intensely vivid” account of the siege of Malta in World War II (The Times Literary Supplement). In the summer of 1942, Malta was vulnerable to air attack from the Germans and Italians, and defended by a handful of Spitfires and a few anti-aircraft guns. Denis Barnham, a young and inexperienced flight lieutenant, spent ten hectic weeks on this indomitable island; he left a well-ordered English aerodrome for the chaos and disillusionment of Luqa. His task was to engage the overwhelming number of enemy bombers, usually protected by fighter escorts, and shoot down as many as possible. The Spitfires were bomb-scarred and battered. Oftentimes they could only get two or three in the air together, and the airfields were riddled with bomb craters, but they managed to keep going and make their mark on enemy operations. Barnham has written a powerful account of his experiences in Malta, starting with his trip in an American aircraft carrier through the ceaseless battle and turmoil during the desperate defense of the island, through his departure by air back to England, having seen the reinforcements safely landed and the tide of battle turning. With thrilling and terrifying descriptions and illustrations of the air action, this account, told with humor and compassion, is one of the best firsthand accounts of aerial combat ever written.

MALTA SPITFIRE PILOT

MALTA SPITFIRE PILOT PDF Author: DENIS. BARNHAM
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781526766748
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description


Malta Spitfire

Malta Spitfire PDF Author: George F. Beurling
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780143012375
Category : Fighter pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 247

Get Book Here

Book Description


Malta Spitfire Vs - 1942

Malta Spitfire Vs - 1942 PDF Author: Brian Cauchi
Publisher: MMP
ISBN: 9788361421795
Category : Fighter pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the desperate battle for Malta in 1941-2, the arrival of Spitfire Vs helped turn the tables in favor of the Allies. For years arguments have raged about the precise color schemes carried by these aircraft. This new book looks at all the evidence, from photos and memories through surviving parts to interpret the many color schemes of these aircr

Air Battle of Malta

Air Battle of Malta PDF Author: Anthony Rogers
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 178438190X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the Second World War, Malta was besieged for nearly two and a half years, during which time a decisive air war was waged between Britain, Italy and Germany.This is part of that story, from the early days in June 1940, when only a few Gladiator biplanes were available to combat Italian bombers and fighters, to the intervention of the Luftwaffe and the tenuous defense by outclassed Hurricanes, culminating in the desperate months of fighting following the arrival on Malta of the Spitfire in March 1942.What became of the many aircraft destroyed over the Maltese Islands, and what was the fate of their pilots and crews?More than a thousand aircraft were lost. Many crashed into the Mediterranean; others came down on Malta and the neighboring island of Gozo. This book focuses on the latter some 200 British, Italian and German machines, and the fate of their pilots and crews. It reveals where those airplanes fell, thus providing a record that will continue to be valued by future generations.This comprehensive volume documents all known aircraft crash sites in and around the Maltese Islands and provides the circumstances of each loss are related in detail with accounts from both sides.In Germany especially there are many still unaware of the fate of family members who never returned after the Second World War. This book reveals what happened to some who even today are still officially listed as missing.

First Light

First Light PDF Author: Geoffrey Wellum
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241984335
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description
Two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, eighteen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF . . . Desperate to get in the air, he makes it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Thrust into combat almost immediately, Wellum finds himself flying several sorties a day, caught up in terrifying dogfights with German Me 109s. Over the coming months he and his fellow pilots play a crucial role in the Battle of Britain. But of the friends that take to the air alongside Wellum many never return.

Spitfire Pilot

Spitfire Pilot PDF Author: David Crook
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
ISBN: 1909808792
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 111

Get Book Here

Book Description
“A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot” in World War II (The Spectator). Spitfire Pilot was written in 1940 in the heat of battle, when the RAF stood alone against the might of Hitler’s Third Reich. It is a tremendous personal account of one of the fiercest and most idealized air conflicts—the Battle of Britain—seen through the eyes of a pilot of the famous 609 Squadron, which shot down over one hundred planes in that epic contest. Often hopelessly outnumbered, David Crook and his colleagues, in their state-of-the-art Spitfires, committed acts of unimaginable bravery against the Messerschmitts and the Junkers. Many did not make it—and Crook describes the absence they leave in the squadron with great poignancy. Includes an introduction by historian Richard Overy

Fortress Malta

Fortress Malta PDF Author: James Holland
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN: 1780225970
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 497

Get Book Here

Book Description
The extraordinary drama of Malta's WWII victory against impossible odds told through the eyes of the people who were there. In March and April 1942, more explosives were dropped on the tiny Mediterranean island of Malta - smaller than the Isle of Wight - than on the whole of Britain during the first year of the Blitz. Malta had become one of the most strategically important places in the world. From there, the Allies could attack Axis supply lines to North Africa; without it, Rommel would be able to march unchecked into Egypt, Suez and the Middle East. For the Allies this would have been catastrophic. As Churchill said, Malta had to be held 'at all costs'. FORTRESS MALTA follows the story through the eyes of those who were there: young men such as twenty-year-old fighter pilot Raoul Daddo-Langlois, anti-aircraft gunner Ken Griffiths, American Art Roscoe and submariner Tubby Crawford - who served on the most successful Allied submarine of the Second World War; cabaret dancer-turned RAF plotter Christina Ratcliffe, and her lover, the brilliant and irrepressible reconnaissance pilot, Adrian Warburton. Their stories and others provide extraordinary first-hand accounts of heroism, resilience, love, and loss, highlighting one of the most remarkable stories of World War II.

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.