The RAF Halton Apprenticeship Scheme has a deserved reputation for excellence. The brainchild of MRAF Hugh Trenchard, the founder of the Royal Air Force, it took the 'traditional' idea of an apprenticeship and interpreted it in a novel way. It allowed teenage boys from any social background or geography to learn a technical trade that would equip them for their future lives, within and beyond the RAF. It also gave the best an opportunity to become pilots and break into the once public-school-dominated officer class. Of the 50,000 boys trained as apprentices, seventeen won the Sword of Honour at Cranwell, and more than 1,200 were commissioned with 110 achieving Air Rank. Eighteen have been knighted, with well over 1,000 others being honoured at various levels of state. More than a hundred Halton Boys served as pilots in the Battle of Britain (and many more as airframe/engine fitters and armourers), including the mercurial Don Finlay, the former Olympic hurdler. Others like Gerry Blacklock and Pat Connolly flew bombers on perilous missions over Western Europe or took part in the famous 'Dams' Raid. Then there were the three men murdered for their part in the Great Escape, and those who battled and survived years as prisoners of the Japanese in the Far East. In the jet era, ex-apprentice Graham Hulse became an 'ace' in Korea, serving with an American fighter squadron, and Mike Hines went on to become OC 617 Squadron after having first flown operations during the Suez crisis. Others like Charles Owen became a pioneer commercial jet pilot, and Peter Goodwin had the misfortune of being captured in the first Gulf War and used as a human shield. Some forged successful careers beyond the RAF, like Lawrie Haynes, who was on the main board at Rolls-Royce and is now chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, and Eugene Borysuik - one of the many Polish apprentices trained at Halton, who enjoyed a successful career at GEC. And there were many others beyond air and ground crew including policemen, government officials and even bishops whose careers started with the Halton family. This is the story of Halton told through and by the boys who were there and who are still proud to be called 'Trenchard Brats'.

This definitive history of the Pathfinders and the role they played in World War Two takes an in-depth look at the elite unit, from its initial inception, and less than spectacular start, to its development as a precision instrument that transformed bomber operations. The aircraft, technology and weapons used are covered in full, as are the characters involved with the unit. The author also details the training and techniques deployed, in particular the emergence of the Master Bomber and Long-Stop systems. Finally, the Pathfinder Force's contribution to victory is assessed. This comprehensive look at one of the war's most fascinating units will give the reader a greater understanding of the unit's vital contribution to the war and show how some of the techniques developed are still in use today.

The aim of those who created the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) was clear - to provide a world-class facility to serve as a point for recognition, remembrance and reconciliation for Bomber Command. In 2018 that aim was achieved. 'Our Story, Your History - The International Bomber Command Centre' details the story behind the IBCC, the people who came up with the initial idea and the extraordinary dedication and creativity that made the project a reality. The IBCC's Mark Dodds tells the remarkable story of how the concept arose, the various design and construction phases, the remarkable efforts to raise the necessary funds, and the cutting-edge development of the comprehensive losses database and digital archive. Dr Robert Owen provides a military history of Bomber Command from the first operational flight, less than an hour after war was declared against Germany in September 1939, to the end of hostilities five years and eight months later in May 1945. Historian and author Steve Darlow tells the human story of the aircrews who flew and fought in the skies above Germany and the Nazi occupied territories, drawing on numerous first-hand accounts from veterans. Dr Dan Ellin provides an insight in to the experiences of the male and female ground personnel who served with the Command, and author Sean Feast details the tragic stories behind the loss of specific crews, all of whom are remembered on the IBCC's Wall of Names. Illustrated throughout with images showing the development of the project and wartime pictures of those whose memory is central to the project, 'Our Story, Your History' is a fitting reminder to current and future generations of the commitment and sacrifice associated with the men and women, from 62 different nations, who came together in Bomber Command during the Second World War.

On 12 December 1944, with the war entering its final stages, Bomber Command launched its last Main Force raid on the Krupps Steel works at Essen. The attack was devastatingly successful, and completed for the loss of only a handful of aircraft. Three of the airmen lost in the raid are still listed as `missing', believed killed in action. Extensive investigative research by aviation historians Sean Feast and Marc Hall has discovered the truth about what happened to these missing men, and how they are linked to the murder of three unidentified RAF airmen, on a bridge, within twenty-four hours of believing they were safe. They have also discovered the truth about a fourth airman, a Canadian, shot down on the same raid who died in mysterious circumstances and whose near-naked body was discovered after the war, hastily buried in an unmarked grave. In the centenary year of the RAF, the authors reveal a darker side to the history of the `Third Service'. Complementing historical research with the evidence of present-day specialists, they have pieced together the harrowing story of four murders, the identities of the victims and their killers, and the tantalising possibility that at least one of the `missing' men may at last have been found.

The raid on the secret rocket research establishment at Peenemünde on the Baltic coast in August 1943 has gone down in history as one of the most successful and remarkable of the war. The site was virtually obliterated, and the Germans forced to move rocket production and development elsewhere. But it came at a terrible cost. More than 40 bombers and 215 RAF aircrew failed to return. After the war, the bodies of many of those who were killed were recovered by the Missing Research and Enquiry Service (MRES) and buried in Commonwealth war graves. But not all. A series of mishaps and miscommunication led the MRES to search in the wrong place. Funds to continue the search dried up. And with the site falling into Russian hands, and access to British and US search parties severely restricted, the search ultimately had to be called off, and the remaining men commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial as having no known grave. But some of the missing men are still there, waiting to be found. With a foreword from Peenemünde raid veteran pilot George Dunn DFC L d'H, and illustrated with a wealth of previously unpublished photographs, Sean Feast and Mike McLeod tell the story of the forgotten graves of Peenemünde, the search to discover the truth about their final resting place, and the chance that their bodies may yet be discovered and returned.