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

Fighter Aces of the RAF in the Battle of Britain

Author: Philip Kaplan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783409029
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Book Description
This book examines the reality behind the myths of the legendary RAF fighter aces during the Battle of Britain. The accounts of the experiences of fighter pilots are based on archival research, diaries, letters, published and unpublished memoirs and personal interviews with veterans.

To Fly and Fight

Author: Clarence E. "Bud" Anderson
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1524563420
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 576

Book Description
Bud Anderson is a flyers flyer. The Californians enduring love of flying began in the 1920s with the planes that flew over his fathers farm. In January 1942, he entered the Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet Program. Later after he received his wings and flew P-39s, he was chosen as one of the original flight leaders of the new 357th Fighter Group. Equipped with the new and deadly P-51 Mustang, the group shot down five enemy aircraft for each one it lost while escorting bombers to targets deep inside Germany. But the price was high. Half of its pilots were killed or imprisoned, including some of Buds closest friends. In February 1944, Bud Anderson, entered the uncertain, exhilarating, and deadly world of aerial combat. He flew two tours of combat against the Luftwaffe in less than a year. In battles sometimes involving hundreds of airplanes, he ranked among the groups leading aces with 16 aerial victories. He flew 116 missions in his old crow without ever being hit by enemy aircraft or turning back for any reason, despite one life or death confrontation after another. His friend Chuck Yeager, who flew with Anderson in the 357th, says, In an airplane, the guy was a mongoosethe best fighter pilot I ever saw. Buds years as a test pilot were at least as risky. In one bizarre experiment, he repeatedly linked up in midair with a B-29 bomber, wingtip to wingtip. In other tests, he flew a jet fighter that was launched and retrieved from a giant B-36 bomber. As in combat, he lost many friends flying tests such as these. Bud commanded a squadron of F-86 jet fighters in postwar Korea, and a wing of F-105s on Okinawa during the mid-1960s. In 1970 at age 48, he flew combat strikes as a wing commander against communist supply lines. To Fly and Fight is about flying, plain and simple: the joys and dangers and the very special skills it demands. Touching, thoughtful, and dead honest, it is the story of a boy who grew up living his dream.

Fighter Pilot

Author: Helen Doe
Publisher: Amberley Publishing Limited
ISBN: 1445646129
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 347

Book Description
A family-authorised biography of one of the top-scoring aces of the Battle of Britain.

First Light

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

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.

Lightnings to Spitfires

Author: Clive Rowley
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 139901563X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 304

Book Description
A former fighter pilot chronicles his career flying for the Royal Air Force for over four decades in this action-packed memoir. For forty-four years, Clive Rowley flew with the Royal Air Force, and for thirty-one of those years he specialized as an air defense fighter pilot. Such was his love of fast fighter aircraft that, in order to stay flying, he transferred to Specialist Aircrew terms of service, relinquishing any chance of further promotion above his rank of squadron leader. During those years Clive flew Lightnings, Hawks, and Tornado F.3s but, perhaps more intriguingly, for eleven years he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF), the RAF’s, if not the world’s most famous “warbird” display team, which he ultimately led and commanded. Many readers will have watched him, perhaps unknowingly, as he flew these iconic aircraft, often alongside the Lancaster, at air shows and large-scale commemorations around the UK and Europe. During the Cold War, Clive flew the BAC Lightning from Gütersloh in Germany and in the UK, becoming an expert in the art of air combat in the process. Then for sixteen years he flew the Tornado F.3 as the RAF moved into expeditionary operations. Packed with humorous and often hair-raising anecdotes, but also revealing the shock and sorrow he felt at the deaths of friends and colleagues, this book is a highly detailed account of life as a fighter pilot in the RAF in the last three decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. Clive is open about the fears he sometimes felt in this dangerous world and how he allayed them to continue flying for more than four decades. This book is illustrated with wonderful photographs from his time on the front line as well as with the BBMF, many of which have never been published before. If you have ever wondered what it is like to fly supersonic jet fighters, like the Lightning and the Tornado F.3, or iconic “warbirds,” such as the Hurricane and Spitfire, Clive Rowley brings you into those cockpits and shares his experiences.

Bomber Offensive

Author: Arthur Harris
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844152103
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
Sir Arthur Harris - Bomber Harris - remains the target of criticism and vilification by many, while others believe the contribution he and his men made to victory is grossly undervalued. He led the men of Bomber Command in the face of appalling casualties, had fierce disagreements with higher authority and enjoyed a complicated relationship with Winston Churchill. Written soon after the close of World War 2, this collection of Sir Arthur Harris's memoirs reveals the man behind the Allied bombing offensive that culminated in the destruction of the Nazi war machine but also many beautiful cities, including Dresden.

Last of the Few

Author: Max Arthur
Publisher: Skyhorse
ISBN: 1628730463
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 307

Book Description
After the fall of France in May 1940, the British Expeditionary Force was miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk. Britain now stood alone to face Hitler’s inevitable invasion attempt. For the German army to land across the channel, Hitler needed mastery of the skies—the Royal Air Force would have to be broken. So every day throughout the summer, German bombers pounded the RAF air bases in the southern counties. Greatly outnumbered by the Luftwaffe, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command scrambled as many as five times a day, and civilians watched skies crisscrossed with the contrails from the constant dogfights between Spitfires and Me-109s. Britain’s very freedom depended on the outcome of that summer’s battle: Its air defenses were badly battered and nearly broken, but against all odds, “The Few,” as they came to be known, bought Britain’s freedom—many with their lives. More than a fifth of the British and Allied pilots died during the Battle of Britain. These are the personal accounts of the pilots who fought and survived that battle. Their stories are as riveting, as vivid, and as poignant as they were seventy years ago. We will not see their like again.

Fighter Aces of the RAF in the Battle of Britain

Author: Philip Kaplan
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844155870
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246

World War II Fighter Planes Spotter's Guide

Author: Tony Holmes
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472848500
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
World War II saw pilots from around the world battling in the skies over Europe, Asia and Africa, with victory resting upon their nerve, skill and the capabilities of some of history's most iconic aircraft. In the chaos of battle, it was vital that they could quickly identify friend from foe. But do you know your Hurricane from your Bf 109, or what the legendary P-51 Mustang looks like? Do you know the wingspan of the A6M Zero-sen, or how fast it could fly? THE WORLD WAR II FIGHTER PLANES SPOTTER'S GUIDE answers all of these questions and more, providing essential information on over 90 legendary aircraft, from the celebrated Spitfire to the jet-powered Me 262. Featuring full-colour artwork to aid recognition, as well as all the details you need to assess their performance, this is the perfect pocket guide to the Allied and Axis fighters of World War II.