Fighter Command War Diaries PDF Download

Author: John Foreman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781871187489
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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100 Group intruders, operation Point Blank, D-Day landings.

Author: John Foreman
Publisher: Crecy Pub
ISBN: 9781871187359
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
Account of RAF fighter command's role in World War II. From the outbreak of war in September 1939 every operation of fighter command is featured and every loss and claim for enemy aircraft destroyed is recorded.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Gennemgang af RAF Fighter Command's indsats under 2. verdenskrig.

Author: John Foreman
Publisher: Crecy Publishing
ISBN: 9781871187434
Category : World War, 1939-1945
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The fourth volume in this continuing series relates the growing strength of the Allied air forces, particularly the close partnership between the Royal Air Force fighter forces and the American 8th and 9th Air Forces. For a time, the RAF took responsibility for escorting American bombers into enemy-held territory and also 'educated' the newly arrived Thunderbolt and Lightning units into the dangers of air combat in Europe. Towards the end of 1943, two important things happened. The first was the discovery of flying-bomb launch sites on the enemy coastline, the second was the arrival of the superb North American P-51B Mustang. Possessed of enormous range, and with an impressive performance, the Mustang gave the USAAF the means to strike at the German heartland and to force much of the Channel-based Luftwaffe fighter force back to defend the Reich. The period from the summer of 1943 until spring 1944 would prove to be decisive in securing for the Allies the conditions necessary to mount and carry through a successful invasion. The vital factor was that of not just air superiority, but air supremacy without which the enormous naval resources required to transport ground forces across the Channel would have been at great risk. This volume concludes with Operation Overlord and shows not merely the massive air supremacy achieved over Normandy, but also the vital role played by close air support as the beachheads were consolidated and the ground forces began their advance towards Germany.

Author: Martin Middlebrook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473834880
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 941

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The essential WWII historical reference detailing RAF Bomber Command’s extensive campaign of strategic bombings across occupied Europe. The Royal Air Force Bomber Command's strategic bombing campaign started on the first day of the Second World War and ended five and a half years later with the final victory in Europe. It was a campaign of such enormous scale that historians have only recently begun to piece together the finer details of the individual raids. Aviation historian Martin Middlebrook and his research colleague, Chris Everitt, were the first to compile a complete review of all the raids and their background stories. The Bomber Command War Diaries not only documents every Bomber Command operation but also details their effects on the ground, drawing on local archives from Germany, Italy, and the occupied countries. It is a groundbreaking work on historical research, bringing together the two sides of Bomber Command’s war. This edition includes retrospective observations and a new appendix.

Author: Dilip Sarkar
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526791714
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
A unique insight into how fighter pilots lived, loved—and died—through the diary of the top-scoring RAF Ace who survived the Battle of Britain. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Air Vice-Marshal “Johnnie” Johnson’s aerial combat successes of World War II inspired schoolboys for generations. As a “lowly Pilot Officer,” Johnson learned his fighter pilot’s craft as a protégé of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron. By the beginning of 1942, when Johnnie’s diary begins, Fighter Command was pursuing an offensive policy during daylight hours, “reaching out” and taking the war to the Germans in France. It was also a period in which the Focke-Wulf Fw outclassed the Spitfire Mk.V. In Johnnie’s words, the Fw 190 “drove us back to the coast and, for the first time, pilots lost confidence in the Spitfire.” As well as his participation in Rhubarb and Circus sorties, Johnnie was also involved in Operation Jubilee on 19 August 1942. In this diary, published here for the first time, we get a glimpse of the real Johnnie, and what it was really like to live and breathe air-fighting during one of the European air war’s most interesting years: 1942. Presented on a day-by-day basis, each of Johnnie’s entries is supported by an informative narrative written by the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar, drawing upon official documents and his interviews and correspondence with the great man. “Provides a number of insights into life in the RAF Fighter Command of that period.—Most Highly Recommended.” —Firetrench

Author: Dilip Sarkar MBE
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 9781526791702
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Air Vice-Marshal 'Johnnie' Johnson was a character literally from the pages of Boys' Own: an individual who became the RAF's top-scoring fighter pilot and wing leader par excellence of the Second World War. A one-time household name synonymous with the superlative Spitfire, Johnnie's aerial combat successes inspired schoolboys for generations.As a 'lowly Pilot Officer', Johnnie Johnson learned his fighter pilot's craft as a protégé of the legless Tangmere Wing Leader, Douglas Bader. After Bader was brought down over France and captured on 9 August 1941, Johnnie remained a member of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron.By the beginning of 1942, when Johnnie's diary begins, Fighter Command was pursuing an offensive policy during daylight hours, 'reaching out' and taking the war to the Germans in France. It was also a period in which the Focke-Wulf Fw outclassed the Spitfire Mk.V. In Johnnie's words, the Fw 190 'drove us back to the coast and, for the first time, pilots lost confidence in the Spitfire'. As well as his participation in Rhubarb and Circus sorties, Johnnie was also involved in Operation Jubilee on 19 August 1942.In this diary, published here for the first time, we get a glimpse of the real Johnnie, and what it was really like to live and breathe air-fighting during one of the European air war's most interesting years: 1942. Presented on a day-by-day basis, each of Johnnie's entries is supported by an informative narrative written by the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar, drawing upon official documents and his interviews and correspondence with the great man.As would be expected, Johnnie's diary also includes numerous personal references. This diary, therefore, is a unique insight into how fighter pilots lived, loved - and died.

Author: Neville Duke
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781898697169
Category : Fighter pilots
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
The World War II diaries of a prominent British ace scribbled with startling immediacy as the horrors of war unfolded before him. The jacket is a reproduction of the tattered cover of the original.

Author: General Henry H. Arnold
Publisher: The Minerva Group, Inc.
ISBN: 9781410217363
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
This volume has richly enhanced General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold's reputation as the father of today's United States Air Force. Major General John W. Huston, himself an Army Air Forces combat veteran of the war, has edited each of Arnold's World War II diaries and placed them in their historical context while explaining the problems Hap faced and evaluating the results of his travels. General Huston, a professional historian, has taught at both the US Air Force Academy and the US Naval Academy. A former Chief of the Office of Air Force History and an experienced researcher both here and abroad in the personal and official papers of the war's leaders, he has been careful to let Hap speak for himself. The result is an account of the four-year odyssey that took Arnold to every continent but one as he took part in deliberations that involved Allied leaders in major diplomacy/strategy meetings with Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, Charles de Gaulle, and Chiang Kai-shek. At those meetings, Hap recorded the comments of the various participants. His 12 diaries contain his own thoughts, which range from being lost over the Himalayas to comforting the wounded as they were airlifted from the Normandy beaches. He experienced an air raid in London and viewed the carnage in recently liberated Manila. Arnold recorded his honest impressions, from private meetings with King George VI in Buckingham Palace to eating from mess kits with his combat crews in the North African desert - all while perceptively commenting on the many issues involved and assessing the people, the culture, and the surroundings. This volume offers the best assessment we have of Hap as he survived four wartime heart attacks and continued to work tirelessly for proper recognition of airpower. It will also continue my emphasis while Chief of Staff of the US Air Force on encouraging professional reading through making historical accounts available to personnel of the finest air force in the world, a success achieved in large part because of Hap Arnold. Ronald R. Fogleman General, United States Air Force, Retired

Author: Ron Mackay
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 716

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Book Description
-> Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs from private archives -> Researched and written by an aviation and military historian renowned author -> Essential for military/historians, modellers, flight-sim enthusiasts (War Thunder, IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles and DCS) and those interested in the complexities of aircraft design and production during the Second World War ‘They sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.’ Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris The concept of an aerial campaign on a nation’s industrial and military might was advocated by Britain before the start of the First World War; however, a stringent post-war economy ensured that the creation of Bomber Command in 1936 witnessed a daunting disparity between the aim of striking at an adversary’s ability to sustain itself and the means to do so. From 1939 to 1942, Bomber Command was very weak in terms of human and material losses. The navigational means with which to accurately guide bombers to targets was almost completely lacking while the enemy defensive network inflicted serious casualties. Consequently, the punishment handed out was minimal. The resurgence of Bomber Command’s fortunes coincided with the appointment of Sir Arthur Harris. The advent of four-engine designs such as the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax ensured that a greatly increased bomb tonnage could be delivered. Also, electronic aids such as Gee, Oboe and H2S simplified the task in finding targets. Therefore, by 1944-1945, the RAF’s bombers pulverised Hitler’s Third Reich. Although flak and night-fighters took a heavy toll on the bombers, the RAF’s nocturnal offensive in conjunction with the USAAF’s daylight assaults crippled Germany’s ability to fight back.