Author: Robert Bowater Publisher: ISBN: 9781781552452 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 352
Book Description
'Westland Whirlwind' For many the name conjures up yellow air-sea rescue helicopters, not the sleek twin-engine monoplane that was the RAF's first single-seat cannon armed fighter, and which was faster than her famous cousin - the Spitfire. Only 114 were built, sufficient to equip two Squadrons - 263 and 137. Between 6 July 1940 and 31 December 1943, 210 pilots are listed in the Operational Record Books of these two Squadrons, so whilst 'The Few' won the Battle of Britain, the 'Whirlwind Men' were an even more select group.
Author: Niall Corduroy Publisher: Fonthill Media ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 233
Book Description
Faster and better armed than the Spitfire, the Whirlwind was the RAF s response to a new generation of armoured German bombers which it expected to meet over England in 1940. A few months after its first flight, 1,000 Whirlwinds were ordered, but nine months later the RAF cancelled the entire programme. Just 114 were built, but they went on to have a distinguished three-year career from the uneasy months following the Battle of Britain to their final sorties against Hitler s V-weapon sites in France. Based on original research from military and corporate archives, this groundbreaking study throws new light on why the RAF had such high hopes for the Whirlwind, but was then prepared to cancel it. It exposes for the first time the political and corporate wrangling that surrounded the Whirlwind programme, while bringing a fresh perspective to the aircraft s valiant operational history, calling on German records and Ultra signals. Attacking railways, shipping, torpedo boats and airfields, often against fierce opposition, the Whirlwind squadrons flew with outstanding courage and determination, regarding themselves, justifiably, as a privileged elite within Fighter Command the fewest of the few . In its thorough research and captivating style, Whirlwind: Westland s Enigmatic Fighter is a fitting tribute to the designers, engineers and pilots who believed in the Whirlwind, and made it glorious.
Author: Kenneth G. Wynn Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1473847680 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 3288
Book Description
Since it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain has become a standard reference book for academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. Copies are also owned by many with purely an armchair interest in the events of 1940.The book records the service details of the airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain in considerable detail. Where known, postings and their dates are included, as well as promotions, decorations and successes claimed flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably the high achievers who survived tend to have the longest entries, but those who were killed very quickly, sometimes even on their first sortie, are given equal status.The 2015 third edition will include new names and corrected spellings, as well as many new photographs. Plenty of the entries have been extended with freshly acquired information. The stated nationalities of some of the airmen have been re-examined and, for example, one man always considered to be Australian is now known to have been Irish.
Author: Geoff Mills Publisher: Fonthill Media ISBN: Category : History Languages : en Pages : 1069
Book Description
Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the United Kingdom was described as one vast aircraft carrier anchored off the coast of Europe. During a seven year period 500 airfields were constructed to serve the needs first of the RAF and later the USAAF as they carried the war to German-occupied Europe. The airfields that were constructed took many different forms from training airfields and Advanced Landing Grounds to grass fighter airstrips and vast complexes used to accommodate heavy bombers. This book charts the history of each Second World War airfield in and around the UK providing a unique insight in to the construction, operational life and post-war history of each airfield. Alongside detailing the history of each airfield, this work comprehensively records the details of each unit that operated from airfields around the UK. The information provided in this meticulously researched book is supported by a wealth of 690 photographs providing an illustration into the life of each wartime station.
Author: Christopher Shores Publisher: Grub Street Publishing ISBN: 1909808423 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 1266
Book Description
First in the Aces High series—a military reference of the fighter pilots who had five or more confirmed victories while serving in the Royal Air Force. Introduced by the French quite early in World War I, the term “ace” was used to describe a pilot credited with five or more aerial victories. But in the United Kingdom, the term was never officially recognized. Becoming an ace was partly luck, especially considering the campaigns in which they flew and the areas of combat. There are three distinct kinds of aces: the defensive ace, the offensive ace, and the night fighter. This book is a revised collection of the biographies of the highest scoring Allied fighter pilots of World War II—including those with the confirmed claims of shooting down five aircraft and those pilots with lower scores but whose wartime careers prove them worthy of inclusion. All details of their combat are arranged in tabular form. Included are a selection of photographs from hitherto private collections. “There are some authors whose name alone is sufficient reason to but a book, and Christopher Shores is surely one of these . . . By profession a chartered surveyor, he served in the Royal Air Force in the 1950s so his writing bears the stamp of authenticity.” —HistoryNet
Author: Robert JH Davidson Publisher: Aureus Publishing Limited ISBN: 1899750592 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 202
Book Description
This is the autobiography of Robert Davidson, who shot to fame with his iconic photograph of Frank Zappa with his trousers around his ankles, on the loo chatting to his wife on the phone. Known as the ‘Zappa Krappa’ these pictures gained cult status, as Zappa said, “I’m probably more famous for sitting on the toilet than for anything else.” On the 16th of August 1967, 25 year old Robert Davidson was at The Royal Garden Hotel with band promoter Tony Secunda as part of a press call for Frank Zappa’s upcoming concert at the Royal Albert Hall, a day that was to change his life forever. It was swelteringly hot. The room was heaving with press. Zappa disappeared to go to the bathroom. Wandering around the penthouse apartment, looking for a photo opportunity, Robert found Zappa, stripped, with his trousers around his ankles, sitting on the loo chatting to his wife Gail on the phone. The open doorway framed the shot perfectly. It was too good to miss. Robert asked permission to take some photos. Zappa saying to his wife. “Some limey wants to take my picture on the John. Sure, whatever turns him on.” This set of images, immediately gained cult status, a sentiment echoed by Zappa himself in 1983, when he stated, “I’m probably more famous for sitting on the toilet than for anything else.” Despite one of the photographs becoming a worldwide bestselling poster, Robert never received any royalties. I Shot Frank Zappa chronicles Robert’s efforts over the years to reclaim copyright and ownership of the negatives, and in the process takes the reader on a journey through the drug fuelled Swinging Sixties of London up to the current day, where characters like the Krays, the models Twiggy and Celia Hammond and later Kate Moss trip lightly over the pages. It is not just a story about stolen copyright. It describes a man’s personal journey and his struggle to balance the demands of family life with failing mental health. I Shot Frank Zappa is a story of serendipity and redemption and the refusal to give up when the world seems against you, all seen through Robert’s eyes, which filter events with warmth and humanity, like the lens of the camera, behind which he prefers to hide.
Author: Brian Steel Wills Publisher: University of Virginia Press ISBN: 9780813920276 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 388
Book Description
In 1863 Confederate forces confronted the Union garrison at Suffolk Virginia, and an exhausting and deadly campaign followed. Wills (history and philosophy, U. of Virginia-Wise) focuses on how the ordinary people of the region responded to the war. He finds that many remained devoted to the Confederate cause, while others found the demands too difficult and opted in a number of ways not to carry them any longer. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR.
Author: Norman L. R. Franks Publisher: Stackpole Books ISBN: 0811706435 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
The rocket-firing Typhoon fighter played a pivotal role in the Allies' success in the air and on the ground in World War II, from the Normandy beachhead to the Battle of the Bulge and the final struggle for Germany. In this lively, dramatic account of aerial combat, Norman Franks describes what it was really like to fly at low level and attack trains, ships, and tanks; to fire lethal high-explosive rockets into radar or V-1 sites; or to roll over at 12,000 feet and then roar down into an inferno of flak to dive-bomb an enemy position. --Book Jacket.
Author: Christopher Shores Publisher: Casemate Publishers ISBN: 1911621785 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 697
Book Description
This fourth volume in the comprehensive series “fills a gap in the existing narrative” of WWII’s Mediterranean air war (Journal of Military History). The fourth volume in this momentous series commences with the attacks on the Italian island fortress of Pantellaria, which led to its surrender and occupation achieved almost by air attack alone. The account continues with the ultimately successful, but at times very hard fought, invasions of Sicily and southern Italy as burgeoning Allied air power, now with full US involvement, increasingly dominated the skies overhead. The successive occupations of Sardinia and Corsica are also covered in detail. This is essentially the story of the tactical air forces up to the point when Rome was occupied, just at the same time as the Normandy landings were occurring in northwest France. With regards to the long-range tactical role of the Allied heavy bombers, only the period from May to October is examined, while they remained based in North Africa, with the narrative continuing in a future volume. This volume also delves into the story of “the soldiers’ air force.” Frequently overshadowed by more immediate newsworthy events elsewhere, the soldiers’ struggle was often of an equally Homeric nature. “No future publication on the Mediterranean air war will be credible without use of this series.” —Air Power History
Author: Robert Bowater
Author: Niall Corduroy 
Author: Kenneth G. Wynn
Author: Geoff Mills
Author: Christopher Shores
Author: Robert JH Davidson
Author: Brian Steel Wills
Author: 
Author: Norman L. R. Franks
Author: Christopher Shores