The support provided by the Allied air armies to the preparations for the invasion of France and the Normandy campaign is overshadowed by the dramatic and protracted fighting on the ground. Yet the air campaign played a key role in blinding and isolating German forces in northern France in the months preceding the D-Day landings. These Allied air forces then supported the Allied armies as they pushed inland, most notably by hampering the march of Hitler's panzer divisions and controversially bombing the ancient Norman cities of Caen and Rouen. Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a vivid introduction to this enormous Allied air offensive and illustrates the many famous types of aircraft employed by the RAF, USAAF and Luftwaffe. Shots of the Allied bombers - Halifax, Lancaster, Fortress, Liberator, Havoc and Marauder - and the fighters and fighter-bombers - Lightning, Thunderbolt, Mustang, Spitfire and Typhoon - dominate the selection. Shots of the German warplanes are rarer because the Luftwaffe was overwhelmed by Allied air superiority. These images of the air war over northern France bring home in a graphic way the nature and conditions of combat flying over seventy years ago, and they emphasize the contribution of air power to the campaign.

During the late 1980s, the former Socialist Federal Republic of Jugoslavia (SFRJ) - a country dominating the Balkans - experienced a period of major crisis. Led by the Communist Party, the nation's leadership failed to understand the depth of political changes all over Eastern Europe, and then split along ethic lines. In 1988-1989, ethnic Albanians in the autonomous province of Kosovo began demanding independence: the authorities of the SFRJ reacted by suppressing the resulting demonstrations. In the Federal Republic of Serbia, public opinion slid into nationalism, which the local communist leadership exploited to maintain itself in power. By 1990, nationalistic leaders rose to power in Slovenia and Croatia, and publicly announced their intention to secede these federal republics. Under the heavy shadow of growing war-mongering, politicians from all three sides met to reach settlements on the division of their and their emerging nation's interests. The last few influential supporters of the preservation of a federal state were quickly pushed aside, and the powerful military of the SRFJ - the Yugoslav Popular Army (Jugoslovenska Narodna Armija, JNA) - became an instrument of political games. The Slovenian and Croatian proclamations of independence, in June 1991, proved to be the drop that over spilled the barrel. Already split by deep rifts within their top political and military leaders, the federal authorities launched a rather confused attempt to recover control over the external borders of the SRFJ. The nascent Slovenian military resisted, causing a series of bloody clashes with the JNA. Tasked with the transport and protection of federal employees, the Yugoslav Air Force and Air Defence (JRViPVO) found itself in the thick of combat from day one of this conflict, when the Slovenes shot down two of its helicopters. In return, the JRViPVO began flying attack sorties, which ended only through a political agreement of 2 July 1991, and the decision for Yugoslav authorities to withdraw from Slovenia. Hard on the heels of this drama, the conflict between Croats and Serbs in Croatia reached boiling point, in the summer of 1991. Slowly at first, a major war erupted, which caught the JRViPVO in a paradoxical situation as part of it was still undergoing training, while another part had to fly shows of power, and undertake reconnaissance, transport and then the first combat operations. By September 1991, the conflict turned into an ugly slugging match: Croatian forces had blocked numerous military bases and major storage depots while the JNA received orders to lift the sieges of its surrounded units. Amid the following civil war, the JRViPVO often found itself forced to take drastic decisions, like when one of its units was relocated from the Federal Republic of Macedonia to Pula in Croatia, to fly combat sorties over the local battlefields. For the JRViPVO, the war in Croatia ended through a political settlement and a cease-fire of 3 January 1992. However, only weeks later the force was to see its final action in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it flew combat operations against local separatists. While another political agreement resulted in a withdrawal of all federal forces from this part of the former Yugoslavia on 19 Mary 1992, and the loss (and destruction) of the major air base outside Bihac, this was also the swan song of the once proud Yugoslav air force. Based on the author's unique approach to local archives and first-hand sources, and illustrated by over 120 photographs and colour profiles, the 'JRVIPVO in Yugoslav War' is the first ever authoritative account of combat operations of the former Yugoslav Air Force in the conflict that shaped the modern-day southern Europe, and an indispensable source of reference on contemporary military history of this part of the World.

The story of the RAF, and in particular Fighter Command, during the Battle of Britain has been told many times. It is a tale of the gallant pilots of The Few', in their Hurricanes and Spitfires, with the nation's back to the wall, fighting off the Luftwaffe's airborne assault against enormous odds. But the story of Fighter Command's operations immediately after the Battle of Britain is less well known. Marshal of the Royal Air Force Hugh Montague Trenchard commanded the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War. His policy then had been for his aircraft and men to be continually on the offensive, always over the German lines taking the fight to the enemy. After being promoted to command the RAF, Trenchard retired in 1930. In November 1940, Trenchard showed up again at the Air Ministry and proposed that the RAF should Lean Towards France' - that it should go on the offensive. The RAF would, claimed Trenchard, win the resulting battle of attrition. One of the main outcomes of the RAF's new offensive stance was the introduction of the Circus sorties. These were attacks undertaken by a small force of bombers with a powerful fighter escort. They were intended to lure enemy fighters into the air so that they could be engaged by RAF fighters, the primary objective being the destruction of Luftwaffe fighters, followed by the protection of the bombers from attack. A further development of the Circus missions were Ramrods, Rhubarbs and Rodeos, all of which were variations on the same theme. A Ramrod was similar to a Circus, though in this instance the primary objective was the destruction of the target, the main role of the accompanying fighters being to protect the bombers from attack. A Rhubarb was a small-scale attack by fighters using cloud cover and/or surprise, the object of which was to destroy German aircraft in the air and/or striking at ground targets, whilst a Rodeo consisted of a fighter sweep over enemy territory with no bombers. Drawing on official documents and archive material, as well as accounts by many of those involved, James Starkey reveals just how Trenchard's views won through and the RAF went on the offensive from late 1940 into 1941. Was it a failed strategy? If so, why was it not halted once the results began to be seen?

Among the world's various military air arms, United States Marine Corps Aviation occupies a historically unique niche. As the aviation component of a combined-arms expeditionary force, it exists primarily to support Marine combat forces on the ground in the accomplishment of their amphibious assault mission. From the "Banana Wars" of the 1920s up to the present day "War on Terror," Marine aviation has undergone a lengthy fine-tuning process not only in terms of the warfare doctrines and tactics applied to its mission, but also in the types of aircraft needed to accomplish the mission. This work is designed to provide the reader with a comprehensive historical survey, including technical specifications, drawings, and photographs, of every type of fixed and rotary-wing aircraft used by Marine aviation from its humble origins prior to World War I all the way up to its current operations in the second decade of the 21st Century.

U.S. Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady was shot down in his F-16 over Bosnia while helping to keep the peace. The plane exploded, and Captain O'Grady fell 5 miles to the ground below. In exciting detail, Captain O'Grady tells how he evaded capture and how, with little water and no food, he was able to survive on his own in enemy territory.

A major revision of our understanding of long-range bombing, this book examines how Anglo-American ideas about "strategic" bombing were formed and implemented. It argues that ideas about bombing civilian targets rested on--and gained validity from--widespread but substantially erroneous assumptions about the nature of modern industrial societies and their vulnerability to aerial bombardment. These assumptions were derived from the social and political context of the day and were maintained largely through cognitive error and bias. Tami Davis Biddle explains how air theorists, and those influenced by them, came to believe that strategic bombing would be an especially effective coercive tool and how they responded when their assumptions were challenged.

Biddle analyzes how a particular interpretation of the World War I experience, together with airmen's organizational interests, shaped interwar debates about strategic bombing and preserved conceptions of its potentially revolutionary character. This flawed interpretation as well as a failure to anticipate implementation problems were revealed as World War II commenced. By then, the British and Americans had invested heavily in strategic bombing. They saw little choice but to try to solve the problems in real time and make long-range bombing as effective as possible.

Combining narrative with analysis, this book presents the first-ever comparative history of British and American strategic bombing from its origins through 1945. In examining the ideas and rhetoric on which strategic bombing depended, it offers critical insights into the validity and robustness of those ideas--not only as they applied to World War II but as they apply to contemporary warfare.

'A brilliant insight into life in the air and on the ground' Observer In February 1945, British and American bombers rained down thousands of tons of incendiaries on the city of Dresden, killing an estimated 25,000 people and destroying one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. The controversy that erupted shortly afterwards, and which continues to this day, has long overshadowed the other events of the bomber war, and blighted the memory of the young men who gave their lives to fight in the skies over Germany. Journey's End neither condemns nor condones the bombing of Dresden, but puts it in its proper context as part of a much larger campaign. To the young men who flew over Germany night after night there were other much more pressing worries: the V2 rockets that threatened their loved ones at home; the brand new German jet fighters that could strike them at speeds of over 600mph. They lived life at a heightened tempo during these final unforgiving months of the bomber war when no quarter was given on either side. As the climactic volume in Kevin Wilson's acclaimed bomber war trilogy, Journey's End chronicles the brutal endgame of a conflict that caused such devastation and tragedy on both sides.

The Fw 200 Condor first made an appearance over Norway in April 1940, flying with the unit that eventually become synonymous with it - Kampfgeschwader 40. As the war in the west progressed, and German forces advanced, French airfields opened up, allowing the Condor to fly around the UK and out into the Atlantic, where it rapidly established itself as one of the key menaces to Allied shipping. Able to attack shipping directly, or able to guide U-Boats to their prey the Condor scored its first major success when it crippled the liner Empress of Great Britain. But the tables were to turn on the 'Scourge of the Atlantic' as mechanical failures induced by their harsh operating environment and changes in Allied tactics began to take a toll. Vulnerable to aerial attack, the deployment of Allied carriers and their associated fighters combined with the introduction of more loing range maritime patrol aircraft exposed the Condor's deficiencies. Packed with rare first-hand accounts, profile artwork and photographs, this is the history of one of the unsung types to take to the skies during World War 2.

When the Myasishchev design bureau was reborn in 1951, it was immediately tasked with creating a high-speed strategic bomber to balance the threat posed by NATO's heavy bombers, notably the B-52. Designated M-4 and code-named "Bison" by NATO, the new four-turbojet bomber was developed within an incredibly short time-just one year. It made use of many innovative features, including a bicycle landing gear, and was designed around the most powerful jet engine of the day. It became the progenitor of a small family of bombers and refueling tankers, including the much-improved 3M and its versions. Many of the intended versions never materialized, and the Bison had its share of problems, but it came at just the right time, providing a valuable nuclear deterrent, and remained in service for 40 years until retired in compliance with the START treaty. The book charts the first Soviet strategic jet bomber's development and operational history. It includes the story of how the 3M was adapted to carry components of the Energiya/Buran space transport system as the VM-T Atlant outsized-cargo transporter.

GROUP CAPTAIN JOHNNY KENT joined the RAF in the 1930s and went on to become a flight commander of one of the most successful fighter squadrons of the Second World War. In this role, he helped the famous 303 Polish Squadron play a decisive part in the Battle of Britain, which earned him the highest Polish military award, the Virtuti Militari, as well as the affectionate nickname 'Kentowski'. Group Captain Kent's fascinating memoirs, originally published in 1971, tell the story of his life in the RAF, from his struggles as a boy on the Canadian Prairies to get into the air, detailing his experiences as a test pilot in Farnborough and his constant efforts to excel at what he did. Alongside the classic tale of derring-do, Kent's daughter provides supplementary material that places his extraordinary story into the broader context of his life as a son, husband and father. Poignant questions are raised about what it meant to be 'One of the Few' - for both the men themselves and those to whom they were closest.

Over the past 80 years, histories of the Battle of Britain have consistently portrayed the feats of 'The Few' (as they were immortalized in Churchill's famous speech) as being responsible for the RAF's victory in the epic battle. However, this is only part of the story. The results of an air campaign cannot be measured in terms of territory captured, cities occupied or armies defeated, routed or annihilated. Successful air campaigns are those that achieve their intended aims or stated objectives. Victory in the Battle of Britain was determined by whether the Luftwaffe achieved its objectives. The Luftwaffe, of course, did not, and this detailed and rigorous study explains why. Analysing the battle in its entirety in the context of what it was - history's first independent offensive counter-air campaign against the world's first integrated air defence system - Douglas C. Dildy and Paul F. Crickmore set out to re-examine this remarkable conflict. Presenting the events of the Battle of Britain in the context of the Luftwaffe's campaign and RAF Fighter Command's battles against it, this title is a new and innovative history of the battle that kept alive the Allies' chances of defeating Nazi Germany.

This title tells the story of an iconic aircraft from World War II, that is illustrated with over 250 colour and black and white photographs. It takes you through the creation, construction, production and history of the Spitfire, as well as its role in the major battles of the war. It includes moving first-hand accounts from the pilots who flew the Spitfires, including both their experiences in combat and the way of life for the RAF at that time. It features a fascinating and engaging narrative written by a leading military history expert. It lists sites where surviving Spitfires can be viewed today so you can go and see this incredible aircraft for yourself. It compares the Spitfire with other great fighters - both Axis and Allied - in the skies at the time. It shows how the famous fighter plane had its origins in a series of trophy-winning seaplanes from the 1920s and 1930s, and how it was developed. This engrossing book retells the story of the iconic aircraft of World War I. It goes into the heart of the action, showing what it was like to fly a spitfire in the Battle of Britain, and tells the moving stories of the brave young pilots who flew this all-conquering machine. In addition, this book lists where surviving planes can be seen today so that you see the incredible aircraft for yourself. The fascinating and informed text, written by a leading expert in the field and accompanied by over 250 stunning contemporary and historical photos, make this the ultimate reference for anybody with an interest in military history or aviation.

The early 1950s were a boom time for British aviation. The lessons of six years of war had been learned and much of the research into jet engines, radar and aerodynamics had begun to reach fruition. In Britain, jet engine technology led the world, while wartime developments into swept wing design in Germany and their transonic research programme were used to give western design teams a quantum leap in aircraft technology. The English Electric Lightning emerged at this time. This supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War era is perhaps best remembered for its amazing take-off performance, its exceptional rate of climb and its immense speed. Here, Martin Bowman takes us on a photographic journey of the famed Lightning, illustrating the various landmarks of its impressive operational history.

WRECK RECOVERY IN BRITAIN THEN AND NOW By Peter J. Moran The last 50 years have seen an incredible interest in the excavation of crashed aircraft. Schoolboys of the war period eagerly sought and swapped souvenirs, purloined from crashes under the eyes of the police or RAF guards but, after the surface wreckage was cleared away by Maintenance Units, no one realised that even greater treasures remained underground.   Whereas on the Continent the Missing Research and Enquiry Unit left no stone unturned to try to trace the thousands of airmen who still remained missing, strangely enough no similar operation was carried out by the RAF on crash sites in the United Kingdom. Many of these still contained the mortal remains of pilots whose names had been added to the Memorial to the Missing unveiled at Runnymede in 1953. Perhaps, because the war in the air that followed the Battle of Britain had shifted its focus to Europe, it appeared to fade from people’s memory that a hard-fought battle had taken place over the United Kingdom in 1940.   It is difficult to understand today how it took so long for the realisation to sink in that aircraft wreckage still remained buried. When it did, there followed what can only be described as an unholy scramble to find crash sites and dig them up, heavy plant being employed to make it easier and quicker. At the height of this unfettered exploration period during the 1970s, there were over 30 `aviation archaeology’ groups, or loose affiliations of like-minded individuals at work, particularly in the counties of Essex, Kent and Sussex over which the main battle had been fought. Unrecovered human remains were now being found which understandably raised criticism from some quarters but was defended by the argument that missing airmen should have been recovered by the authorities in former years. Inevitably order had to be restored and the Ministry of Defence stepped in with a `code of conduct’ for digging up crashed aircraft, a measure that was reinforced by an Act of Parliament in 1986. Thereafter a process was introduced whereby the Ministry issued licences before a wreck site could be excavated, and every licence application, whether granted or refused, is listed for the first time in this book. In the end, after all the accessible locations had been exhausted, the exploration of wartime crash sites in Britain largely came to a close. Size: 12” × 8½" - 232 Pages – Over 600 Colour and Black and White Illustrations ISBN: 9 781870 067 942 — Price: £29.95

On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers under the command of daredevil pilot Jimmy Doolittle lifted off from the deck of the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to pummel Japan's factories, refineries, and dockyards in retaliation for their attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid buoyed America's morale, and prompted an ill-fated Japanese attempt to seize Midway that turned the tide of the war. But it came at a horrific cost: an estimated 250,000 Chinese died in retaliation by the Japanese. Deeply researched and brilliantly written, Target Tokyo has been hailed as the definitive account of one of America's most daring military operations.

Jimmy Sheddan was one of the many New Zealanders who joined the RNZAF, then left his native land to come to England to fight the enemies of Great Britain and her Empire during World War Two. Through his recollections we can share some of the trials and wartime tribulations they faced. Yet we can read too of the enormous amount of fun these men had despite the dangers and sacrifices of war. It is this quality which endears his book to us as well as the achievements of the airmen with whom he served.

During the war, Jim Sheddan rose from the rank of sergeant pilot to squadron leader with 486 Squadron, a considerable achievement. After starting with Spitfires, then going onto the Typhoon, Jim became an expert exponent of the Hawker Tempest, winning the DFC. In many ways his is a very special account as, amongst other things, he survived 19 hours in a dinghy off the French coast, a crash landing in a Tempest after a battle with a V1 flying bomb, and the advance across northern Europe in the final weeks of the war.

Few Tempest pilots have told their story - but Jim has, and in an honest, self-effacing way that will astound and enthrall. With a foreword by AVM J E 'Johnnie' Johnson, CB, CBE, DSO and 2 bars, DFC and bar; and an appreciation by Group Captain Johnny Iremonger DFC.

While the heroic exploits of 'The Few' of Fighter Command are rightly lauded, those of 'The Many' of Bomber Command often remain overlooked. Night after night, the bomber crews ranged across Europe seeking out and attacking targets in an all-out effort to undermine the German war effort against Britain and prevent invasion. The Other Battle of Britain tells the stories of the young men who carried out dangerous missions on a nightly basis, battling against both the enemy and the elements, relying on a mix of nerve, skills and luck to hit their target and make it home. Faced with flak and fighters, exposed to the harsh weather conditions and operating at the edge of their capabilities, for the young men of Bomber Command, this was 'The Other Battle of Britain'.

Equipped with well-balanced air wings, huge aircraft carriers have formed the backbone of the United States Navy's doctrine and strategy since the Second World War. Packing an enormous punch, their purpose is to exercise control over enormous portions of airspace - in the offence or defence. From the mid-1970s until the mid-2000s, the spear tip of the USN air wings was the famous Grumman F-14 Tomcat - widely considered one of the finest air superiority systems in the world. Originally designed as a fast, manoeuvrable and well-armed fighter, the Tomcat entered service as the ultimate long-range fleet defender and became the biggest, most complex and most expensive naval aircraft of its time. Including a unique and exceptional combination of flight characteristics, detection systems and weapons, it earned itself the status of a legend by the mid-1980s. The F-14 Tomcats of the US Navy achieved their first aerial victories during freedom of navigation exercises off Libya in 1981. However, the period during which they saw most combat followed several years later, during Operations Earnest Will and then Desert Storm, from 1987 until 1991. To date, very little has been published about the operations in question. Indeed, the widespread belief is that USN F-14s saw next to no air combat against Iran, and even less so during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. As so often, the reality is entirely different: Tomcats engaged dozens of opponents, often on the verge of the engagement envelope of their powerful AWG-9 radars and AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missiles, and sometimes at such close ranges that their pilots selected 'guns'. Weather- and communications-related problems, but also the incredible discipline of their crews prevented them from scoring up to a dozen aerial victories: however, it is perfectly possible that they scored at least one, perhaps more previously entirely unknown aerial victories - and also lost one of their own to an enemy fighter. Richly illustrated by over 100 photographs and authentic colour profiles, 'Tomcats of the Storm' is an exclusive source of reference about some of least-well known air combats fought by US Navy's fighter crews in recent history.

In this intrepid study, noted Nigerian historian Onianwa Oluchukwu Ignatus investigates the air war component of the Nigerian-Biafran War, a crucial postcolonial conflict in Africa. It focuses on the Biafra's air operations against oil installations and facilities owned by multinational oil companies in Nigeria. In addition to exploring global airpower historiography, this study explores the tactical aspects of how the renewed air war changed the military equation of the conflict when both sides were at loggerheads in peace settlement and relief arrangements. This episode was important in postcolonial military history of Africa, when modern air weapons were developed at the local level for offensive military capability. While the air operations of the Biafrans were sporadic yet destructive, they caused considerable damage to public utilities in Nigeria. Internally, the air attacks paved the way for internal disturbances in the oil producing areas by damaging oil companies' activities and the reducing foreign investment. Externally, it caused a loss of confidence in Nigeria. The Biafran air offensive proved to be the key strategy in Nigeria's response to the crisis, which focused on neutralizing Biafran airpower.

The Routledge Handbook of Air Power offers a comprehensive overview of the political purposes and military importance of air power. Despite its increasing significance in international relations, statecraft and war, the phenomenon of air power remains controversial and little understood beyond its tactical and technological prominence. This volume provides a comprehensive survey designed to contribute to a deep and sophisticated understanding of air power. Containing contributions from academics and service personnel, the book comprises five sections: - Part I Foundation: the essence of air power - Part II Roles and functions: delivering air power - Part III Cross-domain integration: applying air power - Part IV Political-social-economic environment: air power in its strategic context - Part V Case studies: air power in its national context Examining a series of themes and factors that contribute to an understanding of the utility and applicability of air power, this Handbook focuses on the essence of air power, identifies its roles and functions, and places air power in its wider strategic and national contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Air Power will be of great interest to students of air power, strategic studies, defence studies, security studies and IR, as well as to military professionals and policy-makers.

During World War II, the United States Army Air Corps was led by a cadre of officers who believed implicitly that military aviation, particularly fast heavy bombers at high altitude, would be able to destroy strategic enemy targets during daylight with minimal losses. However, by 1942 the Flying Fortress was proving vulnerable to Luftwaffe fighters. This title charts the United States Army Air Force's struggle to develop a Long-Range Escort which would enable them to achieve the Combined Bomber Objectives and gain mastery of the skies over the Third Reich. The commitment of the USAAF to the Mediterranean and European theatres saw an increasingly desperate need to find a fighter escort, which reached crisis point in 1943 as losses suffered in the Tidal Wave offensive and Schweinfurt-Regensburg-Munster raids emphasised the mounting strength of the Luftwaffe. The USAAF leaders increasingly accepted the probability of bomber losses, and the deployment of the P-51B Mustang solved the problem of Germany's layered defence strategy, as Luftwaffe fighters had been avoiding the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 Lightening escort fighters by concentrating their attacks beyond the range of the Thunderbolt and Lightning. The P-51B duly emerged as the 'The Bastard Stepchild' that the USAAF Material Division did not want, becoming the key Long-Range Escort fighter, alongside the P-38 and P-47, that defeated the Luftwaffe prior to D-Day. As well as the P-51B's history, this title explores the technical improvements made to each of these fighters, as well as the operational leadership and technical development of the Luftwaffe they fought against.

Designed and initially produced by McDonnell Douglas, the Super Hornet first flew in 1995. It is used by the United States Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Boeing F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornet are twin-engine, carrier-capable variants based on the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet. The F/A-18E single-seat variants are larger and more advanced derivatives of the F/A-18C and D Hornet. The Super Hornet is a new aircraft at about 20% larger and 3,200 kg heavier empty weight than the original Hornet. It carries 33% more internal fuel, increasing mission range by 41% and endurance by 50% over the "Legacy" Hornet. To aid safe flight operations and prevent confusion in radio calls, the Super Hornet is informally referred to as the "Rhino" to distinguish it from earlier Hornets. It is designed to be equipped with an aerial refueling system (ARS) or "buddy store" for the refueling of other aircraft.

In February 2016 the RAF's Search and Rescue Force (SARF) celebrated its 75th anniversary. In June that year the world-renowned and universally admired service was officially disbanded, despite attempts from many, including HRH Prince William, to save it as part of the RAF. This book is an official, fully illustrated, in-depth account of the SARF's rich and glorious history, from its origins in World War II through to its recent withdrawal. The book contains a foreword by HRH Prince William himself, plus action-packed and awe-inspiring photographs from the RAF's archive of photographs and exclusive interviews with former crewmembers, telling their own dramatic stories of derring-do. Officially endorsed by the RAF, The Official Illustrated History of the RAF Search and Rescue is the first, and probably the only, major book of its kind written on this subject. It is an essential purchase for anyone with an interest in military history, British history, the Royal Family and those who love stories of extreme and daring rescue missions.