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How did the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) 'cavalry of the air' transform
into the strategic RAF of the Cold War? The flying lives of these
three pilots combine across the years to illustrate how it
happened. Trained on Bristol Boxkites in 1912, Major Leonard Dawes
helped shape the RFC in its infancy. Posted to France with BE2s, he
saw action at the birth of battlefield reconnaissance and air
fighting, then activated many new squadrons during the First World
War. Joining the RAF in 1923, Group Captain Dickie Barwell became a
fighter pilot and respected leader of men. As a Hurricane squadron
commander, he routed the first major Luftwaffe air attack of the
Second World War and flew with Bader's Wing in the Battle of
Britain. While commanding RAF Biggin Hill, he flew combat
operations over France before his death in a friendly-fire incident
in 1942. Squadron Leader Brian Fern learned to fly at Ponca City,
Oklahoma, in 1942, then trained hundreds of RAF bomber pilots
during the Second World War. Post-war tours on Canberra bombers and
spy flights in Chipmunks were followed by selection to the elite
Valiant bomber force, where he became a leading exponent of
in-flight refuelling, which finally gave the RAF its global reach.
Combining these three stories into a narrative that explores the
rise of the RAF through an era of dazzling technological
breakthroughs and ever-changing operational requirements, Alastair
Goodrum tells the story of a journey through adversity to the
stars.
This is the fascinating true story behind one of the key reasons
that RAF Fighter Command saw such success in the Second World War
and emerged victorious from the Battle of Britain – the
incredible training school that transformed young men from
inexperienced pilots into some of the finest airmen in the world.
From peacetime Armament Practice Camp, to fighter Operational
Training Unit, to Central Gunnery School, this is the story of how,
between 1926 and 1946, the RAF developed and implemented a
world-beating training system. This allowed the RAF to have total
faith in the men tasked with combatting the Nazi threat from the
air, and School of Aces tells the astonishing story of the station
through a wealth of individual stories – with famous names,
drama, courage and pathos a-plenty – recalling how pilots, air
gunners and ground crew came to be at RAF Sutton Bridge, what life
was like for them there and what happened to them afterwards. Prior
to and during the Battles of France and Britain, RAF Sutton Bridge
played a vital role in the British success by creating, in a
remarkably short time, an effective training programme for
potential fighter pilots. It then turned out 494 Hurricane pilots
with such rapidity that summer that no fewer than 390 graduates
flew as part of that illustrious band of men known forever as 'The
Few'.
Danger and excitement, courage and selflessness, and gripping
stories of life and death in the air: Lady Luck took these heady
ingredients and mixed them into the lethal cocktail that is
military flying in peace and war. From WWI biplanes to
twenty-first-century fast jets, mid-air collisions and many other
crashes, hundreds of airmen from all corners of the world left
their mark--quite literally--on the landscape and collective memory
of the East Midlands. This book ensures these airmen cease simply
to be names carved on a cold memorial stone or entries in some
dusty, long-forgotten documents. They come vividly alive again,
with backgrounds and personalities and patriotic or duty reasons
for being where they are when tragedy struck. "Dying To Fly" brings
their courage and human-interest stories into the light of day,
remembers them with respect and pays tribute to their passing.
Since time immemorial ordinary people have flocked to gaze upon
daring feats in the hope of witnessing some death-defying or even
death-inducing act. Aeronautics was turned into a public spectacle
and exploited financially from its very beginning and thus it has
remained ever since. The book sets out to elaborate upon those
concepts in the East Midlands, and demonstrates that the region is
truly representative of the progress of general aviation in this
country as a whole over two centuries. The history covers balloons
for shows and sports, the pre-First World War period, women
aviators, Sir Alan Cobham, through to private and small air taxi
flying operations, Amy Johnson, and continuing up to the present
day. Balloons, Bleriots and Barnstormers enables the reader to feel
the euphoria and frustrations of the flyers, and experience the
same excitement as the people who actually witnessed their efforts.
What turns an ordinary man into an extraordinary one? The answer
lies in the stories of six teenage volunteers for Second World War
aircrew who exchanged school uniform for Air Force Blue and took a
giant step into the unknown. Based on original research from flying
log books, diaries and family archives, this collection of true
tales describes the men's training for those coveted 'Wings'; the
nervous excitement of that first sortie over enemy territory; and
flying into the hell of an enemy flak barrage and fighters. From
the skies over Europe to jungles and deserts, all endured hardship,
adventure and danger. They experienced action under enemy fire,
wounds, burns and crash-landings, escape and evasion in occupied
territory, and the privations of life as a POW. Seventy years on
and these brushes with death are by any measure hair-raising
encounters that turned adolescents into men - some of whom survived
the war, while others paid the ultimate price.
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