The great and the good rarely, if ever, accomplish all they wish to achieve without the able assistance of many skilled men and women. To have a very capable person beside you acting as guide, confidant and adviser is essential. Even better when it is someone with a depth of knowledge equal to, or even better than your own. If all these skills can be combined in one trusted, assistant so much the better. To a leader such a person may be valued beyond rubies', because they have the ability to take ideas, add something and help make them a reality. For Herbert Nigel Gresley, CME of the LNER, Bert Spencer was just such a man. As Gresley triumphed his faithful, introverted and highly talented assistant remained resolutely in the background playing an unsung yet key role in the development of Gresley's outstanding Pacifics and his many other memorable locomotives. For sixteen vibrant years Spencer sat beside his greatly admired leader witnessing and participating in all that happened adding much to an emerging legend that still resounds with us today. Here, for the first time, is Spencer's fascinating story, much of it in his own words. This was made possible by the thoughts and memories he recorded in letters to friends, papers he wrote for the Institution of Locomotive Engineers, official documents and much more. All this has been edited together to produce a unique and important personal narrative of his life and work.

"Despite everything I felt very lucky to have flown Corsairs, they were the best you know even though it took me sometime to realise this when so many friends died flying them." (Colin Facer, Corsair pilot, HMS Illustrious) The Vought-Sikorsky Corsair was one of the most potent fighters of the Second World War. It was also one of the most flawed. Conceived by Rex Beisel, Vought's Chief Designer during 1938, the US Navy condemned it as being too dangerous for carrier operations and refused to certify it safe for use at sea. With the British Aero Industry unable to build fighters with sufficient range and potentcy for carrier use the Admirtalty sought alternatives. With the Lend Lease programme, created by President Roosevelt, in place they could acquire weapons from American factories. In practice, this meant standing in line behind the US Navy, Marines and Army for service, but it still opened up new opportunities to be exploited. So, with newly built Corsairs being stockpiled and the promise of an improved version on the way, the RN saw a opening worthy of development and exploited it. By the end of the war the Fleet Air Arm had acquired more than 2,000 Corsairs to equip its squadrons. But the risks identified by the USN were largely ignored by the Royal Navy and far too many men and aircraft were lost in accidents as a result. Yet in the hands of experienced carrier pilots its virtues were only too apparent and, in due course, they achieved great things. Eventually, the US Navy noted this "success" and certified the Corsair for use on their carriers too, but the aircraft never entirely lost its reputation as a "widow maker." This book describes the Corsair's development and tells the sad, but inspiring story of the young men who struggled and suffered to make the Corsair a going concern in the most vicious unforgiving war one can imagine. To do this the author met and corresponded with ninety or more veterans from America, Britain, New Zealand and Canada. Their recollections made this book possible and through their vivid memories we can experience what it felt like to be barely of age, a civilian called to arms and a fighter pilot.

Edward Thompson was the London & North Eastern Railways second Chief Mechanical Engineer, following the death of Sir Nigel Gresley in 1941. He was in office from 1941-1946, when he retired, after a long career as a mechanical engineer, working for several railway companies, including the North Eastern, Great Northern and after the grouping the London & North Eastern Railway. He was a very contraversial figure, often maligned by railway historians for his reconstruction of several classes of steam locomotive, including the Gresley prototype pacific Great Northern, which many people still feel was unnessasery. However there is more to Edward Thompson then his period as Chief Mechanical Engineer of the London & North Eastern Railway, in that he had a complex side to him, which might of originated from his experiances in the First World War, during which he served with distinction in France. This book for the first time, sets out to explain both the man and his philosophy, looking at the complex reasoning behind the way he came to his decisions over locomotive design and why he decided to reconstruct a number of Sir Nigel Gresleys locomotives.

Arthur Peppercorn, a vicar's son from Herefordshire, was the last L N E R Chief Mechanical Engineer. He managed his department for a very short time before it was swept away in the wholesale changes that followed Nationalisation of British Railways in 1948.Although a disciple and follower of Sir Nigel Gresley, he was his own man and developed his talent for production engineering that fully complimented the design skills of his greatly respected leader. He then became a worthy deputy to Edward Thompson during a war that demanded great personal sacrifices from both men. When he finally became C M E in 1946 he used his wide talents and experience to lead in developing two successful pacific classes of locomotives, that many rate as being among the best locomotives of this type ever to appear in Britain. This book, which is the first detailed biography of Peppercorn, tells his fascinating story and describes the influences on his life and career, illustrating his many achievements along the way.

The story of Gresley and his locomotives is a well-trodden path. But our view of his achievements is a blinkered one because it fails to recognise all the other people who played a part in his work. As the leading American aviation engineer Paul S Baker wrote in 1945 the day of one-man engineering is long gone. You might as well print the organisation table of the engineering department when trying to assign credit for a particular design'. To Gresley must go great credit for many of the LNER's achievements, but those around him have faded into obscurity and are now largely forgotten even though their contributions were immense. To redress this balance, the author has explored the lives of Gresley and his team and sought to uncover a more expansive picture of these events. This in no way diminishes Gresley's accomplishments, which are immense by any standards, but builds a more authentic view of a dynamic period in railway history. The book draws upon many sources of information, some of it previously unpublished. This has helped present a fascinating picture of all that happened and all that was achieved, often in the most difficult of circumstances, by a very gifted team of engineers and their exceptional leader.

Gresley's A4 Pacifics are arguably the most famous locomotives ever built, a status cemented by Mallard's record breaking run on the 3rd July 38. And yet only a year later the glamorous streaks' seemed likely to be cast into obscurity by the coming of another world war. So, for only four exhilarating years they were allowed to flourish as their creator had intended and in that time captured the imagination of railwaymen and public alike. With the help of previously unpublished material the author analyses the complex evolution of the A4s - a project that began in 1911 when Gresley was appointed as Locomotive Superintendent of the Great Northern Railway. It is a story with many strands to consider - war, peace and war again, engineering and art, politics and business, recession and social change, the growth of the media and consumerism, the struggle for professional reputations and a growing, deeply damaging international rivalry. All these elements are captured in the story of the A4s in the heady days before conflict ended their brief golden age and Gresley's life came to an end.

Although closed to traffic in 1966, with most of its infrastructure swiftly destroyed by British Railways, this unique railway line still lives in the minds of many, some too young to remember it in its heyday. For more then a hundred years it courted disaster and could on a number of occasions have succumbed to overpowering financial pressures, but it survived with the help of partnerships with larger, more secure companies, namely the Midland Railway and the London & South Western Railway. Later on, after the grouping in 1923, the line came under the control of the L M S and the Southern Railway. It was unfortunate that the line suffered in later years, from inter regional rivalry between the Western and Southern Regions of British Railways, which led to its eventual closure. The variety of companies involved in its running meant that during its lifetime the small pool of locomotives needed to service the line was supplemented by the best each partner could offer. So from the beginning to the end there were a myriad number of types of locomotive running over the Mendips providing a lively variety of motive power. This heavily illustrated book traces this unique and fascinating history and brings to life this singular, much missed and loved railway.

Oliver Bulleid's Pacifics were perhaps the most controversial steam locomotives ever built in Britain. They seem to been loved and loathed in equal measure and the debate over their strengths and weaknesses took on a new dimension when BR decided to modify them in the 1950s. It was argued that they were too costly to operate and maintain, by comparison to other types available. Their time out of service, due to breakdowns, was also increasing to an unacceptable level, and some of Bulleid's innovations were believed to be more hindrance than help. Rightly or wrongly BR were faced with a costly scrap and build programme or seek to make the engines more reliable. To Ron Jarvis, an engineer of note, fell the job of saving Bulleid's enigmatic locomotives in a bid to satisfy the demands of the service. And he displayed a master's touch in the programme that followed, saving the best of Bulleid's work and adopting other established design principles. What emerged was described by Bert Spencer, Gresley's talented assistant, as taking a swan and creating a soaring eagle'. This book explores all the elements of the lives of these Pacifics and their two designers. It draws on previously unpublished material to describe their gradual evolution, which didn't start or finish with the 1950s major rebuilding programme.