Spitfire Pilot

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

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

The Decisive Duel

Author: David Isby
Publisher: Abacus
ISBN: 074812361X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 365

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.

Spitfire Pilot

Author: Roger Hall
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781445605579
Category : Britain, Battle of, Great Britain, 1940
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The intensely evocative memoir of one of 'the Few', Spitfire pilot Roger Hall. The Battle of Britain memoir of Roger Hall, a Spitfire pilot in 152 Squadron based in the South East of England, the heart of the fighting during the epic battle. Roger recounts in exhaustive detail his own experience of air-to-air combat with Me109s and Me110s (he shot down three enemy aircraft during the Battle of Britain), and that of his fellow pilots. Hall had no compunction in revealing his fear of wartime flying. He strips away the veneer of glory, smart uniforms and wild parties and uncovers the ordinary, very human young men who lived a life in which there was no tomorrow. There is no nostalgia here.

Spitfire on My Tail

Author: Ulrich Steinhilper
Publisher: Crecy Publishing
ISBN: 9781872836003
Category : Britain, Battle of, Great Britain, 1940
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Ulrich describes his 150 grueling missions as a fighter pilot par excellence, until being shot down and captured over England in October 1940.

Spitfire Voices

Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445624575
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 534

Book Description
Spitfire fighter pilots tell their extraordinary stories of combat during the Second World War.

Fight for the Sky

Author: Douglas Bader
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473814065
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
The only book written by the legendary “legless” ace, the double amputee World War II fighter pilot immortalized by the film Reach for the Sky. In Fight for the Sky, Douglas Bader tells the inspiring story of the Battle of Britain from the viewpoint of “The Few.” Using superb illustrations he traces the development of the Spitfire and Hurricane and describes the nail-biting actions of those who flew them against far superior numbers of enemy aircraft. As an added bonus, other well-known fighter aces including Johnnie Johnson, “Laddie” Lucas and Max Aikten contribute to Douglas’s book, no doubt out of affection and respect. This a really important contribution to RAF history by one of the greatest—and certainly the most famous—pilot of the Second World War.

Spitfire Aces of North Africa and Italy

Author: Andrew Thomas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472801911
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
Essential coverage of the key part played by the iconic Spitfire in the desert campaign during 1942-43, and in the destruction of the Luftwaffe in Sicily, Italy and the Balkans from mid-1943 through to VE Day. Although most famous for their role in the Battle of Britain, many Spitfire squadrons also served in the Mediterranean theatre, aiding the Allied victories in North Africa and later in the invasion of Italy. Numerous pilots, both Royal Air Force and South African Spitfire squadrons, made ace during these engagements. This book tells their story.

The Most Dangerous Enemy

Author: Stephen Bungay
Publisher: Aurum
ISBN: 1845136500
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 542

Book Description
Stephen Bungay’s magisterial history is acclaimed as the account of the Battle of Britain. Unrivalled for its synthesis of all previous historical accounts, for the quality of its strategic analysis and its truly compulsive narrative, this is a book ultimately distinguished by its conclusions – that it was the British in the Battle who displayed all the virtues of efficiency, organisation and even ruthlessness we habitually attribute to the Germans, and they who fell short in their amateurism, ill-preparedness, poor engineering and even in their old-fashioned notions of gallantry. An engrossing read for the military scholar and the general reader alike, this is a classic of military history that looks beyond the mythology, to explore all the tragedy and comedy; the brutality and compassion of war.

Spitfires and Yellow Tail Mustangs

Author: Thomas G. Ivie
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
The USAAF 52nd Fighter Group enjoyed an outstanding record in World War 2. This book describes the group's missions from its activation in 1941 to the end of the war.

American Spitfires

Author: Paul Ludwig
Publisher: Ventura Hobby Products
ISBN: 9780958359436
Category : Spitfire (Fighter plane)
Languages : en
Pages : 72

Book Description
Camouflage and markings worn by USAAF Spitfires can bedistilled down to the simple formula of RAF camouflage and USAAF markings. Add to this, squadron badges and myriad personal markings and you have some of the most colourfulSpitfires of the Second World War.