Classic Military Aviation Books

[woowoo]

Dear all,

I have recently been offered a prize consisting of up to 3 books of my choice that must be defence (and preferably military aviation) related. I was simply wondering if anyone knows of any good quality, defence titles that they believe would be well worth getting.

Your opinions are much appreciated.

[Rakshasa]

Dozens and dozens. And it can depend entirely on what your taste in aviation books are.

WW2 classics like "Wing Leader", "The Last Enemy" and the one by Bob Tuck whose title escapes me, have all been among my favorites. There was a great on the Vulcan, again the title excapes me. ("Delta Lady" maybe)... Sadly I can't be more help been a number of years since I read any of them.

[An Teallach]

I could certainly recommend this one (http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?&threadid=188495) as a good read. :ok:

[PPRuNe Pop]

Wasn't Bob Tuck's book 'Nine Lives?'

However, I would strongly suggest that you Google because you will find many.


Oooops! :O

[Jobza Guddun]

PP,

'Nine Lives' was the Autobiography of Alan Deere, and a thoroughly good book it is!

'The Big Show' by Pierre Closterman is worth a gleg.

'Fighter Boys' by Patrick Bishop is a v.good Battle of Britain factual title.

[brickhistory]

"Night Fighter" by Rawnsley and Wright - classic RAF nightfighter story - both the development of AI, the Beau, and the Mossie, as well as frank description of aircrew life

"Pursuit Through Darkened Skies" by Micheal Allen - another nightfighter story

"They Gave Me a Seafire" by R. Crosley - FAA ops in WWII

"Wings on My Sleeve" by Eric Brown - FAA test pilot, flew an amazing number of aircraft

[Flap62]

I found "First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum a fantastic read. It is a "typical" BofB story but very moving and beautifully written.

[Sloppy Link]

Fly for your Life - Robert Stanford-Tuck
Wingless Victory - Basil Embry

[woowoo]

Many thanks for the ideas. Certainly like the sound of a lot of them. I will do a bit of researching and have a think about what to choose.

Woo Woo

[Role1a]

If you’re into helicopters then try Chickenhawk by Robert Mason,
An incredible read

R1a

[flipster]

First Light - Wellum is an excellent book - best for a long time!

Try also,

Enemy Coast Ahead - Gibson
Only Owls and Bl00dy Fools - can't remember - try Amazon
Last Enemy - Hillary
Arnhem - various
Full Circle - J Johnson

Oh, and don't forget Catch 22 and Chickenhawk.

[Onan the Clumsy]

Serenade to the Big Bird by Bert Stiles - B17's over Europe

[Like This - Do That]

"Going Downtown" by Col Jack Broughton - Col Broughton's account of his USAF career encompassing Korea, leading the Thunderbirds, over 100 missions over North Vietnam in F-105s, and culminating in his court martial over the Turkestan incident.

Brig Gen Ken Bell's "100 Missions North" covers some of the same Vietnam / F-105 territory as "Going Downtown".

Rear Admiral Paul Gillcrist's books "Vulture's Row" and "Feet Wet" are both good reads too - from flying Grumman Panthers through flight test, F-8s, F-4s and Top Gun. Good sh1t.

Good luck with your search.

[C130 Techie]

Tail End Charlies by John Nichol and Tony Rennell. An excellent book about bomber command 1944-45.

Also agree that First Light by Geoffrey Wellum is a cracking read.

Although not aviation I recommend these

The Last Escape by John Nichol and Tony Rennell details the plight of POWs at the end of WW2 also excellent.

Stalingrad and the Battle for Berlin both by Anthony Beevor.

[GeeRam]

"The Blonde Knight of Germany" by Raymond Tolliver. The biography of the highest scoring fighter pilot, Erich Hartmann.

Agree with previous post regarding the CF Rawnsley 'Night Fighter' book, as well as the Robert Stanford Tuck and Eric 'Winkle' Brown books, especially the latter.

[ORAC]

Any price limit put on the books? A copy of Sled Driver is worth a bob or two. :E

[stbd beam]

The following link takes you to Amazon's list of Air Forces books in best selling order:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/271412/ref=br_dp_bl_4/026-8730869-4196455

[Widger]

I thought "Sea Harrier over the Falklands" was a very well balanced and unbiased tome. It's author was very aware of the need for jointery in the MoD and spent much of the book praising the capabilities of other squadrons, aircraft and Services.

A particularly excellent read if you are a "fishhead", 800Sqn, RAF or Senior Officer!

[bowly]

Pierre Clostermans book is excellent. Nuff said.

[air pig]

Three books only, what a terrible choice to have to make but, I would go for any of the the below

The First and Last by Adolph Galland.

50 years of the U2 by Chris Pocock.

The Instruments of Darkness by Alfred Price.

Chinnok by dave McMullon.

SR 71 by Paul Crckmoor.



:ok: :ok: :ok: :ok: :ok: :ok:

[Lazy_Student]

Another vote for 'First Light', although you'll probably get it quite cheaply at Amazon etc, so get it there and go for something more expensive... :ok:

[treadigraph]

If you do go for the Bob Stanford-Tuck "Fly for Your Life" biography (by Larry Forrester) try to get the unabridged version - it's much better!

[ProfChrisReed]

No-one has mentioned "Sagittarius Rising" by Cecil Lewis, which I think must be the best book on what it was like to fly in WW1 and (to a civilian) the book which I felt gave me a real insight into what military flying might be about.

Maybe it's too distant from the modern airforce to be a good choice for current military pilots, but it certainly captured some of what I feel about my private flying in gliders and I've never read anything which captured the magic of flying so well.

(And, if anyone ever wants to talk down military pilots, the sheer level of human sacrifice described here should shut them up for ever)

[Archimedes]

Good choice, Prof!

Also worth a look if you're into WW1 are Arthur Gould Lee, No Parachute and Norman MacMillan, Into the Blue . Both are out of print, but should be readily available from local libraries/inter-library loan.

[henry crun]

The Right Of The Line by John Terraine.
Sub titled The Royal Air Force in the European War 1939-1945

[johnfairr]

Winged Victory by V M Yeates is probably the most evocative of WWI flying books, on a par with Journeys End by Sheriff for the Army guys. Strange there seems to be no equivalent for the RN in WWI.

James McCudden, Five Years in the RFC, and King of Air Fighters, by Ira Jones, about Mick Mannock and his sojourns on 74 and 85 Sqns are also worth a read if you are into the old stuff.

These are the books that I grew up with in the 50s/60s as my Old Man had them and I naturally browsed the bookcase.

From the Japanese point of view, Samurai by Saburo Sakai is outstanding, but only if you get the version that was printed in the 50s/60s, which details the selection procedure for NCO pilots in the Imperial Japanese Navy. A couple of examples that spring to mind, jumping off diving boards onto the concrete below to practice aerobatics and trying to sharpen up your eyesight by spotting stars in the daytime and then swinging back to them after moving away.

All first class books, which have now got me trundling off to the bookcase myself.....

jf

[Chairborne 09.00hrs]

Bomber Command is dreadfully under-represented in this list of "must reads".

Might I propose "A Thousand Shall fall" by Murray Peden? Bomber Support Ops on 214 Sqn with Stirlings and Fortresses.

[brickhistory]

Have to disagree that Bomber Command is not represented in the offerings thus far. "Pursuit Through Darkened Skies" is a night fighter book, but most of the ops described are as part of 100 Group, Bomber Command.

In that category, include "Night Fighter" by J.R. D. "Bob" Braham also has to be included. His night intruder account in support of Bomber Command is poignant and funny as well.

[passpartout]

It's a bit early for this thread. Doesn't it usually start just before Christmas?

Is it sad that I've read most of these?

Anyway, my contributions:

Blond Knight of Germany - rubbish!
The First and the Last (Galland) - magnificent.

Nice and easy read, but worth it - Typhoon Pilot, by Desmond Scott.

Enemy Coast Ahead - whatever you may think of the sqn, and the boss, a humbling read.

But the one that had the most profound effect on me was Hugh Dundas' book, Flying Start.

He was an 18 yr old Plt Off in 1938; acting Gp Capt in 1943, commanding the Sicily Spitfire Wing. Very humble chap, but clearly knew what he was doing.

His career and mine were very similar, right up to the 18 year old Pilot Officer part.

[Bear 555]

3 I've very much enjoyed recently.

Chickenhawk

Phantom Over Vietnam

On Yankee Station



Slightly off the 'aviation' topic, but Tim Collins "Rules of Engagement: A Life in Conflict" (ISBN 0755313747) I have hardly been able to put down........

Bear 555
:-)

[Green Meat]

If you're into classic Brit jets then I can recommend Graham Pitchfork's well written study of the Buccaneer, or an oldy but goldy (if it's still available) is Brian Philpott's Meteor classic.

Another two that are worth a read if it takes your 'defence' interest are either of the insiders view of Delta Force (Col Charlie Beckwith and Eric Haney), although I prefer Haney's account as a good read.

[TheShadow]

For the effect of a very close-up and personal war upon an aviator and the resultant descent into his own personal hell, Chickenhawk by Viet chopper driver Robert Mason has got to be a modern classic.

For those who may have wondered what a helicopter pilot's life in Vietnam was like, it's a "must read".

Imagine sitting there in your anti-ballistic helmet, chicken-plate and flak jacket, with your 9mm/45 slewed around and down over the family jewels, sliding armour-plate slid forward, the sound of four M60's chattering away, and looking forward through the splintered windscreen at the dust being kicked up by the machine-gunner in the tree-line who's trading tracer with your crewman. You desperately want to pull pitch but you know you can't - not until the SAS/LRRP patrol makes it into the pad and gets aboard.

You saw the same sight picture two days previous, and you know that if you survive, you'll probably see it again a little later that week - or maybe as early as tomorrow. The unrelenting trauma of that sort of consistent pressure eventually drove Mason mad.... and he had a long road back.

[Flatus Veteranus]

I have just finished reading "The Burning Blue" by James Holland and enjoyed it greatly. It is a novel, but grounded on obviously serious study of the Battle of Britain and the air war in the Western Desert leading up to Alamein. The author consulted with many B o B survivors, including Geoffrey Wellum ("First Light"). There are convincing descriptions of life at Cambridge in the late thirties (the hero, Joss Lambert, joined the RAFVR through CUAS) and glimpses of life among the "landed gentry" in Wiltshire before the war and during the summer of 1940. ALthough written by a relatively young author in 2004, I believe he has caught the flavour of the period very well. It is beautifully written, and I would have guessed that it was written from first-hand memories of the times, but for the occasional intrusion of current colloquialsims. ISBN 0 09 943647 7.

[Duncan D'Sorderlee]

'Out of the Blue' edited by Laddie Lucas and 'There Shall be Wings' by Max Arthur are, I believe, both worth a read.

[Clockwork Mouse]

"Chickenhawk", for a chopper pilot, is the most awesome read.

"The Big Show" by Pierre Closterman is the definitive WW2 fighter pilot account.

Surprised no one has mentioned "F4 Phantom" by Robert Presst (not sure I've spelled him right).

As a youth I read a book called "Stuka Pilot" by Heinz Ulrich Rudel, one legged german ace for whom Hitler invented a special Iron Cross, who destroyed 1000 russian tanks in his Ju 87 and who also sank a russian battleship. He was an unrepentant nazi and I suspect his autobiography is now politically unacceptable and so long out of print. Made fascinating reading though.

CM

[GeeRam]

"Chickenhawk", for a chopper pilot, is the most awesome read.

"The Big Show" by Pierre Closterman is the definitive WW2 fighter pilot account.

As a youth I read a book called "Stuka Pilot" by Heinz Ulrich Rudel, one legged german ace for whom Hitler invented a special Iron Cross, who destroyed 1000 russian tanks in his Ju 87 and who also sank a russian battleship. He was an unrepentant nazi and I suspect his autobiography is now politically unacceptable and so long out of print. Made fascinating reading though.


I thought 'Chickenhawk' was a terrific read, but later tainted by the fact that the events described didn't all happen to the writer as suggested.

"Big Show" again, research has proved Closterman's story to be...erm.....personally biased. But it was a good read when I was a teenager though!

It's Hans-Ulrich Rudel.
And the special award was a golden version of the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. As a Luftwaffe Officer he wasn't allowed to be a Nazi party member, but as said, his unrepentant sympathy for the 'cause' tainted an otherwise remarkable miltary record.

[juk]

Got to chip in with

The Ravens - can't remember author but basically Air America in Laos / S.E. Asia. Damn good read.

Also enjoyed 'I Flew for the Fuhrer' - Heinz Knoke (could this be out of print ? - I wonder?)

[Talking Radalt]

Like others my recommendations are non-aviation but still defence related...

"Braver Men Walk Away" by Peter Gurney. A life of EOD from 1950s Germany to Belfast in the 70s to London in the 90s.
(Also offers useful insight if building a mess cannon. ;) )

or "Knife Edge" by Richard Villar (described as a "Special Forces surgeon".....but don't let that put you off. He's not "Dr McNab")

Agree on Chickenhawk. :ok:

[Pontius Navigator]

Not a book but we had a brief by a chopper pilot. He was in a low hover with no where to go. He looked to his right and saw a gook point a rifle straight at him.

Then, to his amazement, the gook swung two rifle lengths to the right for aim off and let fly.

[rjtjrt]

WW1.

SOPWITH SCOUT 7309
Taylor, Sir Gordon

John

[Max R8]

Thud Ridge by Col Jack Broughton. Possibly back in print, I brought a copy in a Stateside BX in the 80's. A classic account of F-105 ops in Vietnam. Col Broughton's wing suffered heavy casualties swapping multi-million $ F-105s for vietcong trucks on the Ho Chi Min trail. One conclusion he came to was that flying below 5000ft in hostile territory thick with light flak and where every paddy field farmer had an AK-47 was very unwise and costly in aircraft and crews.

Its a lesson we should have taken on board before committing Tornados to low level ops in Gulf War 1. The RAF's low level policy was designed to defeat the cold war WARPAC missile threat but ignored western SHORAD and the numerous 23mm AAA available to the lotech Iraqi AD boys.

Anyway, I digress, its a good read with an insight into modern combat leadership. We have learnt nothing new since then.

[woowoo]

So many suggestions and only 3 books to choose! Interesting to see certain titles keep being mentioned. I think I'll end up choosing three and then some more for my birthday and xmas wishlist :D

Woo Woo