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Old 30th Apr 2011, 22:37
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Wiley
 
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'There Shall Be Wings' by Max Arthur - 'Vivid personal accounts of the RAF from 1918 to today' (today being ~1993). ISBN 0-340-60386-0

I stumbled upon this through a friend and found it to be a really interesting read. First hand accounts, not just from aircrew, but erks, WAFFs, female ATA pilots, (one of whom bluffed her way into a flying job with a total of 10 hours (!) on Tiger Moths, gained about four years earlier at age 16, and who commented that she flew 260 Spitfires before she turned 22.)

Some really great stories, but the one that for me was probably the most affecting was by a WAAF pay clerk who tells about handling the back pay for POWs coming home from the war.

I also found the first hand account of the RAF's defeat of the Iraqi Army in 1941 particularly rivetting. His description of taking off - and ****ing landing!!! - at night with no lights and no moon on an very confined airfield overlooked by Iraqi artillery would send shivers down the spine of any pilot who's done any tac. night ops.

Particularly if you're a Brit, but even if you're not, this is a great read.
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