A very good military read

[MSOCS]

I can thoroughly commend "Trafalgar" by Roy Adkins. Many accounts from the matelots and bootnecks who fought, conveyed to the reader via their written letters home.

[Rosevidney1]

How many of the general public today know (or even care) about British involvement in Finland 1939-41? Luckily Justin Brooke wrote 'The Volunteers' before he died a few years ago. It covers the Army, Air Force, Ambulance Service and Firemen. It was my pleasure to be his friend.

[PPRuNeUser0139]

"The Freedom Line" by Peter Eisner is a gripping account of the activities of the Comet Line - a British-funded, Belgian-run evasion network that was set up in 1941 to repatriate shot down Allied airmen. By the war's end, some 800 airmen had been returned to the UK. Well worth a read.
If anyone wants to know more, then google "CometePaysBasque".

[Wensleydale]

" The Scramble for Africa", Thomas Pakenham. Not strictly a war book but plenty of war in it at every level, from the grand strategic, as European powers balanced their Treasury outlay with risk and reward; to the desperate survival against enemy and elements. It details the role of trade, alliances, host nation support and local resources. My favourite was the alliance of the British with the Gungo, a fierce tribe of cannibals who ate their way through the battlefield.


A good book, but I preferred Pakenham's "The Boer War", which is one of the best written history books that I have read.

[Wensleydale]

"The Freedom Line" by Peter Eisner is a gripping account of the activities of the Comet Line - a British-funded, Belgian-run evasion network that was set up in 1941 to repatriate shot down Allied airmen. By the war's end, some 800 airmen had been returned to the UK. Well worth a read.
If anyone wants to know more, then google "CometePaysBasque".


Hello Sidevalve. Could I add that it is now safe to come out of hiding in SW France as the War finished a few years ago.;)

[Ogre]

I had a quick flick through the preceding pages and haven't spotted this, so apologies if it's been done before.

I've just received my copy of "The Buccaneer Boys" by Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork and I am looking forward to reading it. Stories by the crew who flew "the last all-British bomber", all I need now is somewhere where I won't be pestered.....

https://www.amazon.com/Buccaneer-Boys-Tales-British-Bomber/dp/1909166111

[kintyred]

"Their Greatest Disgrace". A truly excellent book about the campaign to clear the pilots of ZD576 (Mull of Kintyre) by David Hill, a long-serving civilian engineer working in MoD. The author pulls no punches, names names, exposes the deceit and lies. Depressingly it appears that nothing has changed. The book was self published as no publisher would touch it, fearing MoD's response. All proceeds from the sale to Medecins Sans Frontieres. 15 reviews on Amazon....all 5 stars.

[Slow Biker]

Coincidentally this afternoon saw The Buccaneer Boys in The Works at £4. Also paperback editions of John Masters' Bugles and a Tiger and The Road Past Mandalay, recommended in this thread. Thought they were out of print.

[JEM60]

I got 'Lightning Boys' and 'Buccaneer Boys' in The Works also. Hoping they will have more of the series. Just need some sunshine in my conservatory for some serious reading now.

[The Old Fat One]

Currently reading "Born of the Desert" by Malcolm James Pleydell MD MC (first MO of the newly formed SAS) first published in 1945, reprinted 2001 (which I think is when he passed away?).

Quite possibly the best autobiography I have ever read, and one that has been much quoted in many other books written about the formation of The Regiment.

Clearly a highly intelligent, perceptive and insightful bloke, his style is very contemporary and his reflections on the mindset of the guys are extremely revealing.

[The Nr Fairy]

A quick search for something else brought forth this, which looks like a little gem...

Looking down the Corridors: Allied Aerial Espionage Over East Germany and Berlin, 1945-1990 (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Looking-Corridors-Allied-Aerial-Espionage-Germany-Berlin/0750955775)

[BossEyed]

That is a fascinating book. To put it into context one should also read this (which I think has already been recommended in this thread):
Live and Let Spy: BRIXMIS: The Last Cold War Mission (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Let-Spy-BRIXMIS-Mission-ebook/dp/B00724WU2I/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484583486&sr=1-2) by Steve Gibson.

The "Reflections" section in later editions, added by the author many years (around 2011, I think) after initial publication is absolutely fascinating and a very good precis analysis of the state of the World then and today; it goes far beyond discussing BRIXMIS.

[Haraka]

Thanks to Kindle, most of the above books I have downloaded, inevitably knowing some of the authors personally. Gibson (with whom I am unfamiliar)'s BRIXMIS book I found a bit perplexing. For a "BRIX's" operator he seemed to me to be particularly out of touch regarding essential SA system familiarity at the time, notably SA-8 and SA-10. This is in total contrast to the sterling efforts of Pete Jefferies ( and Kevin Wright) who succeeded in getting MoD to agree to the release of details of a U.K. mission which was classified SECRET , platform TOP SECRET at the time in :
Looking down the Corridors: Allied Aerial Espionage Over East Germany and Berlin, 1945-1990.
(Which I gather is soon to be available in paperback).

[Old Bricks]

Haraka
The "tourers" on BRIXMIS comprised both Army and RAF, with the odd mysterious matelot. All, regardless of uniform, were trained to recognise, in detail, both ground and air-related kit, to the extent that we should be able to recognise differences that might indicate a new mark or model. However, tasking of each "tour" (between 2 and 5 days in the GDR), tended to concentrate on the natural differences ie the RAF covered mostly aircraft, airfields, fixed-site radars and SAMs and EW generally. Inevitably, we ran into ground targets such as tanks and AFVs, mobile SAMs, SSMs etc, and ground (Army) tours would see aircraft and helicopters. Steve Gibson, as an Army tourer, would have been tasked against SA-8 and 10 vehicles, but would not necessarily have been over-familiar with the tables of organisation.
As an aside, we all suffered from surprise items, sometimes ones that were not new. In 1986, the Soviets suddenly sprang a new Permanent Restricted Area (PRA) map on us which opened up the GDR Baltic coast for the first time in many years. This included the harbours containing the East German Navy. Until we got our first recognition docs on naval vessels, first reports from tourers around Peenemunde referred to "Medium-size grey ships" and "small grey ships" with side numbers! Total professionalism!

[thunderbird7]

Where's 'The Shadow' when you need him?

[Old Bricks]

TB7
You are probably thinking of the French liaison officer - Capitaine le Chadeau - rarely seen but very efficient.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Learned contributors,
Many thanks for an awesome thread. I have booked marked several, and all ready have many of them on my shelves.
However I find there is a serious dirth of books by "Warsaw Pact" pilots who flew in the 'cold war'. Didn't realistically expect too many ex soviet pilots rushing forth into print, but I thought some of the East German, Polish , Hungarian crews might have come forward along with representatives from the Baltic nations.
Any suggestions folks. Some of my suggestions to follow, in a latter post
Be lucky
David ( the avgasdinosaur )

[BEagle]

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Beyond the Front Line' - including your contributions, Old Bricks!

One of my colleagues was ex-BRIXMIS and would occasionally have us rolling about in hysterics with some of his tales...

On concerned the time when the spooks had provided him with a device with which to measure the thickness of armour on some new Sovietski tanksi - they were instructed to press it against the armour, press the button and take a reading... So one dark night on tour they found one and crept up to it and pressed the button as briefed...

But what they spooks hadn't told him was that the device used some sonic technique. As they pressed the button, there was an almighty and quite deafening 'BOING' which echoed through the night, so they bravely rushed into hiding. A few seconds later, the hatch flew open and some poor Soviet grunt appeared with his hands over his ears, who then peered around his tank wondering what the hell had caused the noise which had so rudely interrupted his slumbers. My colleague said that the hardest part was trying to stifle their laughter.

[Old Bricks]

AvgasDinosaur
You might like to try "Thinking the Unthinkable - The lives of Royal Air Force and East German Fast-jet Pilots in the Cold War" by Gp Capt Nigel Walpole, published 2012 by Astonbridge Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9537933-2-7.

[The Nr Fairy]

Reading the posts about Area 51 / Soviet types reminded me of a book I read recently about an F-14 WSO who worked at Top Gun, Miramar and was involved in the filming of Top Gun (the movie).

Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Topgun-Days-Dogfighting-Cheating-Hollywood/dp/1620871033)

It's all written by the one chap and concentrates on his journey from junior back seater to instructor at NFWS - heavy on technical detail and an interesting view of the place.

[Wander00]

Just started the Gerachty book on Brixmis - looks interesting! Also received yesterday Mike Brookes's most recent (4th book) "More Testing Times" . He and I are almost exact contemporaries entering the Canberra world in the sixties. He went on to be an instructor and then into ETPS and test flying. I enjoy his writing style, and references to a number of people I worked with or for, or otherwise knew. Usual disclaimers, but highly recommended reading

[PPRuNeUser0139]

I've just finished "Scramble" by Tom Neil.. and I'd rate it as one of the very best accounts of the BoB I've ever read - the book finishes with the story of the author's subsequent service in Malta.. His stories of his training had me laughing out loud! Some things never change.. Highly recommended.:ok::D

[Bob Wyer]

pprune to Kindle in less than 90 secs, tremendous story, what a privilege it was to have served on 249 Gold Coast sqn 65-69, Malta seemed like a second home, perhaps it was.

[PPRuNeUser0139]

What with Hurricane Mk 1s, "Malta dog", mosquitoes and fleas, it was hardly a rest tour for the great man!

[pzu]

Author of many a good military read primarily witha Naval setting

Douglas Reeman, author ? obituary (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/01/26/douglas-reeman-author-obituary/)

PZU - Out of Africa (Retired)

[MightyGem]

Author of many a good military read primarily witha Naval setting

Douglas Reeman, author ? obituary
Sad news. I've read all of his excellent books.

[Wander00]

Me too, have always enjoyed his books

[olympus]

Forgive my resurrecting this thread but I wanted to mention a few 'military' titles that I have recently read and enjoyed-

An Evil Boy ...He Flew Spitfires - Flt Lt A H Wittridge

Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer - Alastair Panton & Victoria Panton Bacon. Deals with just six weeks of the author's life as a Blenheim pilot before he became a PoW but an absolute page-turner. Highly recommended.

Fighter Pilot-The Life of Battle of Britain Pilot Bob Doe - Dr Helen Doe. An enjoyable bio of a BoB pilot who by his own admission had none of the 'normal' qualification to be a fighter pilot and RAF officer. Written by his daughter.

Everlasting Arms - Air Commodore John Searby. A memoir of Bomber Command.

No Flight From The Cage - Cal Younger. Originally published not long after the war and another page-turner. Engrossing account of wartime life (and of getting from Australia in order to participate in the war) and life as a PoW.

Warlike Sketches 1939-1945 - Arrol Macfarlane. The adventures of a WW2 Royal Artillery officer who came from Argentina and became an AOP Auster pilot operating initially in North Africa and then north through Italy during which time he managed to write-off six Austers. Another very interesting and enjoyable read.

[Chugalug2]

Kintyred:-
"Their Greatest Disgrace". A truly excellent book about the campaign to clear the pilots of ZD576 (Mull of Kintyre) by David Hill, a long-serving civilian engineer working in MoD. The author pulls no punches, names names, exposes the deceit and lies. Depressingly it appears that nothing has changed. The book was self published as no publisher would touch it, fearing MoD's response. All proceeds from the sale to Medecins Sans Frontieres. 15 reviews on Amazon....all 5 stars.

I totally endorse your comments, and of course the book as well. Mull was perhaps the worst airworthiness related UK military fatal air accident in the past 30 odd years, but by no means the only one. PPRuNe threads alone account for some 70 needless deaths in such tragedies, and David Hill's book deals with the "woods" of the dysfunctional UK Military Air Safety System, why it became so, who were responsible, the cover up since, as well as the loss of ZD576 itself. Those interested in the system's reform but are put off by the arcane nature of it all can do no better than to read this book. Highly recommended:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Their-Greatest-Disgrace-campaign-Chinook-ebook/dp/B01J1YVRH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1489245230&sr=1-1&keywords=Their+Greatest+Disgrace

[Fishtailed]

Olympus, I found this book years ago and agree it's worth a session with a pint or two!

[Dan Winterland]

One of my colleagues was ex-BRIXMIS and would occasionally have us rolling about in hysterics with some of his tales...

On concerned the time when the spooks had provided him with a device with which to measure the thickness of armour on some new Sovietski tanksi - they were instructed to press it against the armour, press the button and take a reading... So one dark night on tour they found one and crept up to it and pressed the button as briefed...

But what they spooks hadn't told him was that the device used some sonic technique. As they pressed the button, there was an almighty and quite deafening 'BOING' which echoed through the night, so they bravely rushed into hiding. A few seconds later, the hatch flew open and some poor Soviet grunt appeared with his hands over his ears, who then peered around his tank wondering what the hell had caused the noise which had so rudely interrupted his slumbers. My colleague said that the hardest part was trying to stifle their laughter.

I know that chap! Another funny aspect to his story was that he had a very common name and was posted to BRIXMIS because he was on his record of service, a fluent Russian speaker. However, there was another chap with the same name and rank who was the real Russian speaker and sometime in the past, they had got confused.

[kintyred]

Kintyred:-

I totally endorse your comments, and of course the book as well. Mull was perhaps the worst airworthiness related UK military fatal air accident in the past 30 odd years, but by no means the only one. PPRuNe threads alone account for some 70 needless deaths in such tragedies, and David Hill's book deals with the "woods" of the dysfunctional UK Military Air Safety System, why it became so, who were responsible, the cover up since, as well as the loss of ZD576 itself. Those interested in the system's reform but are put off by the arcane nature of it all can do no better than to read this book. Highly recommended:-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Their-Greatest-Disgrace-campaign-Chinook-ebook/dp/B01J1YVRH0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1489245230&sr=1-1&keywords=Their+Greatest+Disgrace

Thanks Chug,

David Hill has very kindly let me read the draft of his next book, which deals with the procurement failings of MOD. It will strike a chord with many current and retired servicemen. As ever he quotes chapter and verse of a number of sorry episodes. I don't want to give away the plot but it will come as no surprise to find that the bad guys are still in charge. I must just quote one cracking line. "....competence is simply not tolerated by senior MOD staff, because it raises the bar of expectation among the Services and Industry."
Another page turner.

[Flash2001]

Also by Wing Commander Closterman "Flames in the Sky"

[Wander00]

Mike Brooke's series of four books, latest is "More Testing Times", and IMHO as good a read as its predecessors

[The Sultan]

Anything by James Hornfischer:

Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Covers the battle off Samar where US escort carriers and escorts took on the Japanese fleet in daylight culminating in four escorts charging battleships and cruisers to point blank range. Lot of first person perspective.

Neptunes Inferno. Primarily covers the US surface navy at Guadalcanal. Like above heavy with first person accounts. Highlights the confusion, slaughter and sacrifice of the navy in this campaign. Fact I never knew; four times more sailors killed at Guadalcanal than ground pounders. Found the book impossible to put down.

[radar101]

Just got back from a trip round Myanmar (Burma). Took John Masters' "Bugles and a Tiger" and "The Road Past Mandalay" already mentioned in this thread.


The day after I had been reading of him and his boss standing on Mandalay Hill looking down on the Jap emplacements, I was standing on the hill doing the same thing (no emplacements any more).


I told our guide who led me to a plaque on a pillar commemorating the men of the 4th Gurkha Rifles who took the hill!


(Later went via Thailand to the Bridge over the River Kwai and the CWGC cemetery where it was very dusty in the air and poppy crosses were left)

[sharpend]

Obviously the tops has to be 'Fighter Pilot, by Robin Olds. No doubt about it. If you disagree, read the book.

[dragartist]

Just finished The Kamikaze Hunters by Will Iredale.
We don't know we are born today. Was chatting to an old FAA wartime Aviator last week. He still hates the little yellow baskets. Knowing that at least 10 downed airmen had been executed gave me the willies.
Just about to start The Rise and Fall of the Bomber by Greg Baughen. It covers the inter-war period.
I have scanned Dave Hills book. It leaves me too traumatised to read it in depth. SWMBO keeps suggesting I should stop reading military history and stick to Cebebies!

[Boy_From_Brazil]

I have just read The Silver Spitfire, by Tom Neil. He wrote it at the age of 92!

Neil was a 23 year old RAF Squadron Leader who was posted to the 100th Fighter Wing of the USAF. While flying P-51 operations in France he discovered and commandeered (for himself) an abandoned Spitfire.

Great insight into how the USAF fighter wings operated and how comparatively easy it was, in a war zone, to retain a Spitfire as a personal chariot.

[Slow Biker]

Fate is the Hunter, no doubt mentioned before; today in The Works for a bargain £3.

[Ddraig Goch]

Tony Cunnane autobiography including his time in the 50's and onwards RAF. A really good read and free. Download from his web site as a .mobi for Kindle :

Tony Cunnane's Autobiography (http://tonycunnane.uk/)

[rich34glider]

Just finished this one, and very good it was. Flew everything from F6F Hellcat to the SR71 and a lot more interesting stuff in between! Here is the link to a free pdf from the NASA website:

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/dryden/pdf/88797main_kerosene.pdf

[PPRuNeUser0139]

http://static.lexpress.fr/medias_4957/w_640,h_360,c_fill,g_north/v1404783205/james-salter_2538098.jpg
"Based on Salter's experience as an American fighter pilot flying F86s during the Korean War, the book captures the peculiar nature of aerial combat in the jet age. Salter was celebrated for the spare elegance of his prose, and his descriptions of flight here are among the best ever written. But the real story concerns the relationships between ambitious pilots who compete to prove themselves in deadly single combat against the Chinese MiGs that rise to challenge them."
Wouldn't argue with a word of that. Great read.

[Trim Stab]

This should be of interest to Ppruners.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kisses-Nimbus-SAS-MI6-Autobiography/dp/1911525778

Pete started off as an AAC pilot, was posted to Hereford on 8 Flight, then unusually did selection to become a fully badged trooper and sabre squadron member. In the Falklands war he was the pilot of the "borrowed" recce Huey on the hitherto undisclosed operation to test Rio Gallegos defences in preparation for a possible attack from Chile. He then went on to work for UKN in SIS. It does seem his book launch is going ahead, despite some opposition from GLD lawyers...

[trim it out]

"Picking up the brass" and "Map of Africa" are good time fillers that raised many smiles.

Link (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Eddy-Nugent/e/B0034OTO4M/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1)

[tarbaby]

"Manis Not Lost" Group Captain "Dickie" Richardson. A pilot who set up navigation in the RAF sounds almost heretical. A good read for conditions before WW2. I have often seen some of the names mentioned here.

[Martin the Martian]

Currently reading Looking Down the Corridors: Allied Aerial Espionage over East Germany and Berlin, 1945-1990 by Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies. I am sure some regulars here are far more familiar with the subject than I am, but I am finding it fascinating.

[Wander00]

Martin - I have that too - fascinating

[air pig]

Currently reading Looking Down the Corridors: Allied Aerial Espionage over East Germany and Berlin, 1945-1990 by Kevin Wright and Peter Jefferies. I am sure some regulars here are far more familiar with the subject than I am, but I am finding it fascinating.

Either books on Brixmis by Tony Geraghty and Steve Gibson are well worth a read, fascinating things that were got up to in East Germany during the Cold War.

[Stuff]

Fighter!: The Story of Air Combat is now free on Kindle for a limited time.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fighter-Story-Combat-Robert-Jackson-ebook/dp/B075GX6Z4F/?tag=ho01f-21

No idea if it's any good but the cover carries a fabulous recommendation, "Masterly account - Grimsby Evening Telegraph"

If it's good enough for the Grimsby Evening Telegraph, it's good enough for me.

[Martin the Martian]

Just caught up with Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer: An RAF Officer's Memoir of the Battle of France 1940 by Alastair Panton and Victoria Panton Bacon. Another superb read.

[MightyGem]

Fighter!: The Story of Air Combat is now free on Kindle for a limited time.

Thanks for that.

[langleybaston]

Fate is the Hunter, no doubt mentioned before; today in The Works for a bargain £3.

Just bought it and devoured it: gobsmacking, and hugely educating for a Met. man. A very interesting writing style, quite "different", as is another "different" classic, Edmund Blunden's Undertones of War.

[Prangster]

Masterly account of the radar war 39/45 and much more. Recently re-issued Professor RV Jones RAF's head of scientific intelligenge from 1938 onwards Penquin ISBN 978-0-141-04282-4

He has little time for Robert Watson-Watt

Original pub date 1978 the updated version expands on some chapters of the previous work especially the origins of the Oslo Report, read and be amazed.

[Mechta]

If you have ever had the dubious fortune to be part of the military procurement process in the 20th century, then 'The Free Enterprise Patriot', by John Rickey may amuse you. In the form of correspondence between the purchasing arm of the Colonial Army and the owner of a blacksmith's shop who wished to supply them with cannon, the correspondence is in the style you will most likely recognise.

Originally published in the early 1960s as a serial in the journal, 'Research and Development', and later as a book, it can now be read online. My personal favourite is when some stones accidentally fell in the gun as it was being bored...

The Free Enterprise Patriot - Introduction (http://www.first-team.us/assigned/subunits/82nd_fa/fep_saga/)

[albatross]

Just finished rereading this book....Cecil Lewis had a way with a word!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/539353.Sagittarius_Rising

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

"Shadows - Airlift & Airwar in Biafra & Nigeria 1967-70" by Michael I. Draper

Some of the aviation exploits were almost unbelievable !

NEO

[jolihokistix]

Apologies to the Mods. 'A very good military read' I took in the broader sense, not realizing this was a dedicated aviation thread. Samurai military warfare may have been a very good read, but it fell outside the remit here!

[Melchett01]

I might have missed them, or just looking in the wrong place, but why do we not see as many books written by UK Air commanders in the same way we get the various memoires and recollections of army types?

I was in Town today and noticed FM Bramhall's recollections were out. All the way through the Joint Ops X Planning Course they talked about Gen Richards and suggested his bio was worth reading amongst others which are strewn across bookshops. But other than Tedder's Quietly in Command I'm not aware of many others - we do lots of interesting reads, but many are lower levels of command. Are there any hidden away I may have missed? Surely they can't think they wouldn't be of interest?

[Mogwi]

Just finished rereading this book....Cecil Lewis had a way with a word!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/539353.Sagittarius_Rising

I had the great privilege of knowing Cecil as a friend and he was certainly a larger than life character. Not only was he an acoplished fighter pilot and fantastic wordsmith, he had huge charisma. At the age of 90, his wife found him trying to have carnal knowledge of the chamber-maid!

Cecil Lewis - fighter pilot, poet, author and lover of women. What a man!

Mog

[Slow Biker]

Just finished Trusted Mole, A Soldiers Journey into Bosnia's Heart of Darkness. The author, Milos Stankovic, was a Parachute Regt captain of part Serbian heritage posted as an interpreter to UNPROFOR during the Balkan war of the '90s. His insight into the Serb mindset made him a go-between the higher echelons of all sides His vivid description of the atrocities carried out left images in my mind that I find hard to ignore - the reader needs a strong stomach at times. There are examples of pure ineptitude such as Bianca Jagger's solution to the conflict: bomb the bridges; fine, except no aid would then be delivered. Back in UK, now a major the author was hauled out of Staff College and investigated for passing information to the Serbs and 'bringing the UK Government into disrepute'.
If you want deeper understanding of the events in Bosnia, read this book.

[Wander00]

SB - I recall the last bit of that story - what happened to him in the end?

[Slow Biker]

W00, to avoid a spoiler check yr PMs.

[Wander00]

SB - thanks - I have replied. W

[albatross]

Darn good books on Ferry Command.
Words on Wings Press | Home of Don McVicar's Aviation Books (http://wordsonwingspress.com)

[Onceapilot]

Masterly account of the radar war 39/45 and much more. Recently re-issued Professor RV Jones RAF's head of scientific intelligenge from 1938 onwards Penquin ISBN 978-0-141-04282-4

He has little time for Robert Watson-Watt

Original pub date 1978 the updated version expands on some chapters of the previous work especially the origins of the Oslo Report, read and be amazed.

Agree, Just bought and re read. A very good read and, a surprising book of insights into some wartime high-command decisions. The info about Churchill is particularly good. There are fairly damning illustrations of how Tizard, Lindeman, Watson Watt and others were resistant to scientific intelligence that threatened their personal empires and reputations, to the extent that the German bombing of several major cities was probably worse than it needed to be, due to the negative input of some of these figures. Also sad, was a later failure to employ known high frequency jamming equipment because of failed allied detection equipment. Prof Jones makes some estimates of unnecessary UK civilian population deaths that the general recognised war histories do not expose.
Later in the book, RAF Bomber Command get a good pasting for terrible emcon. Again, the calculated figures for bomber losses due to the failure to implement simple emcon and the resistance of some like Watson Watt to the use of Window are staggering, we are talking thousands of crews unnecessarily lost on night OPS. This is material that should figure more strongly in the history books.
Overall, strong stuff.:oh:

OAP

[Warmtoast]

Melchett01

Your #437 above.
I might have missed them, or just looking in the wrong place, but why do we not see as many books written by UK Air commanders in the same way we get the various memoires and recollections of army types?MRAF Sir John Slessor's "The Central Blue" is worth a read. However he left the RAF in mid-1950's so story is relevant to what was happening then (and earlier).
Having seen and photographed him on his farewell visit to the Rhodesian Air Training Group I always remember him and when his memoirs came out borrowed a copy from the library.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/John%20Slessor/Slessor%20-%20Arrival%2013th%20April%201952%20Cropped_zpslr8lsez4.jpg


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r231/thawes/RAF%20Thornhill/John%20Slessor/Marshal%20of%20the%20RAF%20Sir%20John%20Slessor_zpsaqcqdheu. jpg


Photos taken at 5 FTS (RAF Thornhill). His son John, an instructor at 5 FTS is on the left in the bottom photo.

[Double Hush]

With a slowly growing 'library' courtesy of this thread, I would like to recommend one that I took a punt on - Mosquito Pathfinder by Albert and Ian Smith.

This is is the record of an NCO navigator who started on Wellingtons and then ended up on Pathfinder Mossies (clue's in the title I suppose...) and gaining a commission. What makes this one stand out for me is the different perspective Albert Smith brings to the narrative. He brings a personal touch, describing what might be thought of as more mundane aspects of everyday life but actually helps to paint a more fuller picture of WWII operational life. His description of Oboe Ops also makes one realise how technically advanced the RAF had become by the end of the war.

But what does one do with the books once read???

[Rosevidney1]

Pass to a literate friend and hope he does the same for you! :)

[WIDN62]

Double Hush - I have sent you a PM.

[Wander00]

Endure the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune - otherwise known as SWMBO!

[Fg Off Bloggs]

This has just been voted 'Book of the Year' in the 'biography' category by members of the Aviation Enthusiasts' Book Club.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Cold-War-Fast-Jet-Navigator/dp/1526706598/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1512308111&sr=1-1

[isaneng]

I would.

But the very mention of 'Navigator'.....

[Brian 48nav]

Jealous eh?

[just another jocky]

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K Gann.


Not a military story but "The finest book on aviation ever written" according to the cover. I am certainly enjoying the style of writing as well as the tales of early commercial aviation.

[Rosevidney1]

Harry's War by Harry Drinkwater. It is about WW1 in an Infantry regiment with a surprising amount of aviation mentioned, being observed by captive balloon by day and frequently bombed by night. Almost certainly the best book about the Great War that I have ever read. The author kept a secret diary that he was able to expand to write this book in the 1920s. It was stored in the loft of his house and was not discovered until a few years ago, some 50 years after his death.

[Nigerian Expat Outlaw]

May I recommend Kisses From Nimbus by P.J. "Red" Riley ?

Joined the Royal Signals, trained as an Army Pilot, became the WO I/C 22 SAS Flight, completed the SAS selection and transferred then became an MI6 operative.

Fascinating and entertaining, written from a military mans' perspective. Available on Kindle.

NEO

[pulse1]

I have only recently bought this book by Mike Edwards and have only read the first few chapters so far. I really only bought it because I knew Mikes's father many years ago. However, I am amazed and delighted at what a good read it is. His attention to detail is quite exceptional but he manages to cover it all in an interesting way and I am learning the most amazing things. For example, I never knew that Indian pilots flew in WW1, one of them shooting down 6 German aircraft in two weeks before being shot down himself.

It is the biography of AVM Harjinder Singh, an orphan who joined the fledgling Indian Airforce as a sepoy, trained to become an engineer and pilot. Through battles against the Japanese and Germans into the jet age he became a "pillar of the IAF.

Mike Edwards MBE became involved with the IAF when, as a BA pilot he visited India and helped to restore their vintage aircraft collection to flying status. His book starts with 50th Birthday Celebrations of the IAF with Mike flying their Tiger Moth to close the air display.

[Wander00]

"Rhapsody in Blue" by Graham Williams. Interesting story, and surprised by the number of references to people I have known over the years. Even photos of Padre Ray Hubble playing a piano in an NBC suit. I knew Ray after we had both left the RAF and he was a Member of the Yacht Club of which I was Secretary, and we were neighbours. He became Chaplain of the Club for the 5 year term and together we arranged several memorable ash scattering and funerals for former RAF and RN aircrew. On one occasion the deceased, former Sailing Master to HM The Queen, and FAA Observer, and one time inhabitant of Stalag Luft 3. In the "congregation" were 3 other former Stalag Luft 3 residents. Hair on the back of my neck time!

[air pig]

Just received 'A most enigmatic war' about R V Jones and british scientific intelligence 1939-45. A weighty tome but flicking through looks very good,

[Wander00]

Air Pig- I assume that this is not Jones's book, but a commentary on his and other work, in which case I suspect a most interesting read

[Onceapilot]

Just received 'A most enigmatic war' about R V Jones and british scientific intelligence 1939-45. A weighty tome but flicking through looks very good,

Must be a bit of an......Enigma? :rolleyes:

OAP

[air pig]

Air Pig- I assume that this is not Jones's book, but a commentary on his and other work, in which case I suspect a most interesting read


W 00, no it is not by R V Jones book but by James Goodchild.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Enigmatic-War-Scientific-Intelligence/dp/1911512552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516926212&sr=1-1&keywords=a+most+enigmatic+war



Then there is this, showing Jones himself being interviewed for the BBC series Secret War, narrated by ex RAF pilot William Wollard of Tomorrows World fame.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Most-Enigmatic-War-Scientific-Intelligence/dp/1911512552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516926212&sr=1-1&keywords=a+most+enigmatic+war

[Wander00]

Air Pig - VMT

[Buster11]

I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but John Steinbeck's Once There Was a War is worth a place on your bookshelves. It consists of dispatches he wrote for the New York Herald Tribune during the latter part of WW2 and finally published as a single book in the mid-1950s. I believe he also did some reporting from Vietnam, but don't know if that was published as a book.

[Lookleft]

Some good books on the war in Afghanistan are available. "Ordinary Soldier" Chris Beattie, "Not a Good Day to Die"Sean Naylor,"Horse Soldiers" Doug Stanton (the book that the movie 12 Strong is based on), "Outlaw platoon" Sean Purnell, "Roberts Ridge" Malcolm MacPherson, "18 Hours" Sandra Lee and "Lions of Kandahar" Rusty Bradley, "No Front Line" Chris Masters.:ok:

[kintyred]

Somewhat off topic but I've almost finished reading 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing. The incredible story of Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to cross Antarctica is very well told by Lansing and puts all those aircrew survival exercises into perspective. As a story of leadership of a disparate bunch of civvies is stands well on its own and that he didn't lose anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Highly recommended.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Ivan Southall: (Hard to find now)
They Shall Not Pass Unseen - A version of the history he wrote of his RAAF Coastal Command Sunderland Squadron
Fly West - written as kids book, I was a kid when I read it, but I don't remember it as a kids book though - His experiences as a Sunderland Captain.
Softly Tread the Brave - Story of WWII mine clearance Officers John Mould GC GM and Hugh Syme GC GM and Bar. Cracking book about unbelievably brave men.

Peter Shankland
Malta Convoy - Operation Pedestal and the Ohio

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Other oldies, but goodies:
Virginia Cowles - The Phantom Major - about David Stirling and the birth of the SAS in the Western Desert. There is a sequel, Wings of the Wind which I did not know existed, so must try to find.
Alastair Mars - 'Unbroken': Story of a Submarine - his experiences as captain of HMS Unbroken in the Med.

[Traffic_Is_Er_Was]

Somewhat off topic but I've almost finished reading 'Endurance' by Alfred Lansing. The incredible story of Shackleton's ill-fated attempt to cross A ntarctica is very well told by Lansing and puts all those aircrew survival exercises into perspective. As a story of leadership of a disparate bunch of civvies is stands well on its own and that he didn't lose anyone is nothing short of a miracle. Highly recommended.
If you liked that, try Mawson, by Peter Fitzsimons - hard men in a hard land.

[FAR CU]

https://productimages.worldofbooks.com/images/0552108758.jpg




Hilarious in places. Such as the arrogant American officer in an Indian bar who Lacey drank under the table then carried him out to a tattoo stall and had . .. .. . . you have to read it.

[GLIDER 90]

RAF In Camera 1970s by Keith Wilson excellent buy!!

[kintyred]

If you liked that, try Mawson, by Peter Fitzsimons - hard men in a hard land.

Thank you!

[The Nr Fairy]

I've just seen this book Life and Death in the Battle of Britain by Guy Mayfield, an RAF chaplain.

There's a short article about the background on the BBC here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-43730220).

[MOSTAFA]

Well I am half way through "Falklands Gunner" a damn good read so far written by Tom Martin was my Flight Commander in two AAC different Squadrons. A really good book so far Tom, albeit from memory somebody must be helping you with the big words!! I would recommend it to anybody.

[SRFred]

If you liked that, try Mawson, by Peter Fitzsimons - hard men in a hard land.



Better yet try "Scott's northern party" by Raymond Priestley.

[Training Risky]

Invasion by DC Alden.

Awesome what-if thriller with good detail (and only a few typos and plot holes), characterisation and pace. It describes in detail now the Islamic State could rise up and invade Europe (again). I can't put it down.

[VictorSR]

For the of you who have committed or even heard of a few indiscretions - try this!

https://vimeo.com/279826104

[SASless]

Fate is the Hunter by Ernest K Gann.


Not a military story but "The finest book on aviation ever written" according to the cover. I am certainly enjoying the style of writing as well as the tales of early commercial aviation.


In my flying career I spent some time flying over the mountains along the east coast of the USA.....in the weather Gann describes.

He nailed it....I can lay awake with my eyes closed as I recall his words and SEE what he did.

Cold Fronts, rain, ice, turbulence, lightning......yes.....he wrote a masterpiece.

[mnunes]

Hi,
I work in the film industry and am trying to contact Michael Draper about his book. I'm wondering if anyone knows how I could get in contact with him?
Thanks,
M.N.

[The AvgasDinosaur]

Please try via Air-Britain historians. I understand he is a member.
be lucky
Daavid

[Prangster]

ISBN 978 1 4456 8285 3 Amberley Publishing
What a corker. The Race to Stop Hitlers A Bomb. Reads more like a James Bond Novel than fact. for instance. 21st June 1940 SS Broompark Ex Bordeaux arrives Falmouth bearing. The entire stock of Norwegian Heavy Water liberated from France, all of the French nuclear research archive and 27 French nuclear scientists all gathered in by Wild Jack Howard 20th Earl of Suffolk and a swashbuckler of the first swash. He aslo incidentally comes home with working examples, drawings and spare parts for the 20mm Hispano cannon plus 600 tons of American machine tools destined for the French aero industry and 'liberated' from the dockside. As if that's not enough excitement Werner Heisenberg he of the Uncertainty Principle, subjects Leipzig to to an atomic blast in 1943 when a small experimental reactor with no scram facility runs away and blows up. Pictures available on Bing!

[Wander00]

Biography of Lord ("Sam") Elworthy due out end of October, should be an interesting read. However, a very good read IMHO is Anthony Furse's biography of Wilfrid Freeman. Without Freeman I suspect we might have lost the air war, and thus been defeated by Germany

[Double Hush]

"Malta Spitfire" by George Buerling & Leslie Roberts. ISBN 978-1-906502-98-0

Have to recommend this one; just read it and could not put it down. The biography of George "Screwball" Buerling, written in 1943 and therefore has some of the raw emotions that can be lost in other biographies written after WWII had ended.

[cafesolo]

WanderOO. Can you offer an ISBN for the biog of Wilfred Freeman,please ? Regards.

[Innominate]

cafesolo - My copy's ISBN is 1-86227-079-1. BTW it's Wilfrid, not Wilfred

[air pig]

Across an angry sea by Lt Gen Sir Cedric Delves experiences when he led D Squadron 22 SAS during the Falkands War. os well worth a read. Very descriptive book not just about the battles he and his men fought but also of the environment they operated in.

[cafesolo]

Innominate. Thank you. Have ordered.

[Wander00]

And I have amended to Wilfrid

[cafesolo]

May I humbly recommend to anyone suggesting books of interest to include the ISBN number ? I went first to "Just Books.co.uk. to find No Trace. Then to Amazon,the same. When Innominate set out the ISBN (post 484,above ) I returned to Just Books to find a whole page of offers for this publication,mostly offered through Amazon. And magic ! From nothing to another full page. Incidentally, the prices offered at Just Books were marginally more than the prices at which Amazon were dealing.

Thank you,WanderOO,for the amendment.

Happy reading to all Ppruners. Cafesolo.

[oldmansquipper]

Tales of daring do, punching holes in the sky, pressing on regardless and wizard heroics are all part and parcel of the the military aviators life. There is a pleathora of good reads out there ....but sometimes, something a little gentler can put things into perspective especially when viewed from the ground. John Mount's novel "Rig a dig dig (Boy Entrant Blues)" does just that

It's a novel largely about the 'rites of passage' suffered by 16 year old boys joining up at time of great social change, but where old and sometimes cruel traditions were paramount ensuring the continuation of the higherarcic "Entry System" of Boy training. It is set at St Athan during the early sixties where the main character joins up with the 45th Entry and we follow him through ITS, the Wings, workshops and graduation to his first posting. As an ex BE myself, there are so many "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" moments that it took me very little time to read. (It is pretty obvious that much of it is based on Johns own experiences as a B/E with the 45th) Having said that, it IS a novel and should appeal to many outsiders who just like a good read. My good lady is reading it now and she asked if it really was like that back in the day. She is a good few years younger than me and she said it gave her a great insight to my early 'formative' years in the Air Force. Apparently, she understand me much better now!!!!

Those of you who have gone through the B/E or Apprentice training of the 50s and 60s should find it very entertaining and will nudge at the memory banks a bit. If you went through St Athan in those times you WILL find so much comes flooding back. Those of you who were direct entry, Cranners, Sleaford Tech or whatever might just have their eyes opened a bit.

A word of warning, the layout is a little random at times as John has self published, but, as I say, well worth a read.

Available as paperback only through Amazon books but very reasonably priced at around £6:50.

[langleybaston]

Totally agree, Murray Peden's book is fantastic. Really strong on the day to day minutiae of the training process, and then being on a heavy bomber squadron. You have to constantly remind yourself that the author was only 18/19 at the time, and a pathfinder captain on Halifaxes! Brilliant book.

Halifaxes? I must have read the wrong book.
Stirlings and B 17s, and not Pathfinders either.

[Lyneham Lad]

Tempting. The 45th were 'Senior Entry' when I arrived at Saints in Jan 63 (48th Entry).

[Wander00]

Mike Brooke has kindly sent me a copy of his latest book "Flying Past" as a "fund raiser" for RAFA Sud Ouest France. I could not resist a quick look:it recounts his experiences display flying in aircraft from the earliest days of flying to (then) modern jets. Fascinating stuff as there is a lot about the flight characteristics of very different aeroplanes. Usual disclaimer but strongly recommended. My copy is on order. (ISBN 978 0 7509 8768 4)

(His previous 4 books are very readable too)

[MMHendrie1]

A review of Ladies of Lascaris: Christina Ratcliffe and the Forgotten Heroes of Malta's War: This account of the life of an interesting lady and acquaintances set against the backdrop of the Second World War siege of Malta is a ‘good read’: all that an author may expect. The thread of the story, Christina Ratcliffe, is interesting in itself but superimposed on the well-researched situation of Malta at war it creates a tale of the indomitable spirit of the population.

The story of a young girl, perhaps a little feckless but strong in character, travelling so widely in the 1930s would be interesting enough. This story shows how she develops into a charismatic lady under very difficult conditions who helped create an entertainment group in the early part of the war and became a watch supervisor in the plotting room of the wartime Air Headquarters of the most bombed area in the world.

Her romantic involvement with an RAF pilot and the dangerous life he led is well recorded without being mawkish. Her commitment to Warburton is shown to be complete making the decline of her later years more poignant and touching.

To complete the story, creating a real feel for the time, the recollections of various characters living in Malta makes for a complete picture of how people of different callings were affected by the privations of a siege that lasted for over two years.

I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good factual human story set against a fascinating account of a crucial period of history.

[PapaDolmio]

My contribution:

Novels:
Convenant with Death- John Harris. The life and death of a New Army Battalion on the Somme. Loosely based on the Leeds Pals.
Bomber- Len Deighton. Covered already.

Non Fiction:
To the victor the spoils- Sean Longden. The 21st Army Group in NW Europe 1944-45. More of a 'social history'- you won't look at a WW2 vet in quite the same way again.
Singapore Burning- Colin Smith. Staggering incompetence at virtually every level. Hardly anyone comes out of it with any credit although it does shed a slightly better light on Arthur Percival and the bum deal he got dealt. Also deals in detail with the loss of the PoW and Repulse in detail.

Favourite quote: Apparently Arthur 'Bomber' Harris and Adm Tom Phillips had served together prior to going their separate ways and frequently had animated discussions about the battleship vs aircraft debate. After one such debate an exasperated Harris said Tom, one day you'll be standing on the bridge of your battleship and it will be sunk by torpedo carrying aircraft. As you slip beneath the waves your last thought will be "That was a f*****g big mine".
Whilst not a great fan of Harris and if true, I did think it rather good.

[Jackw106]

A leader from the front Col Robin Oldshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwBK0a3n658

[Argonautical]

"The Earth Is Weeping" : Peter Cozzens"
The epic story of the Indian Wars of the American West. A very readable and interesting book. Nothing to do with flying but it is military. Over 500 pages but it reads very easily and gives the story from both sides. it was quite an eye opener to me just how much the disunity amongst the tribes contributed to their own downfall. Highly recommended.

[phantom menace]

Sagittarius Rising by Cecil Lewis RFC WW1

No Moon Tonight by Don Charlwood RAF WW2

[Chugalug2]

Jackw106, thank you for the YouTube video of Christina Olds' tribute to her Dad. So full of love and pride, and rightly so. I would commend it to all, never mind the book itself on which her presentation is based.

You need to put aside an hour and threequarters to do so, which I only realised when she wasn't half way through, but you won't regret it, and I defy anyone who does so to have a dry eye at the end of it. His headstone is surrounded by bottles and coins. You bring a fresh bottle to replace an empty one, you drink a toast and "Throw a Nickel on the Grass...". Most will know why, just watch the video if you don't. Hell, watch the video even if you do!

[Slow Biker]

Field Service by Robert Edric. A novel set on the Somme in 1920. The war is long over but the army has retained men to recover the dead from battlefield burial places, identify them where possible and re-inter them in cemeteries under the auspices of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is a'quiet' book, not a lot goes on, no great denouement but rather a finely drawn study of character. Over the years we have all met the officers from the commission: the colonel, his staff captain and the chaplain; also the captain, lieutenant and sergeant at the coal face.
When visiting the Somme and Flanders it didn't occur to me how the many cemeteries were originally established, this book gave me some understanding.

[racedo]

"The Earth Is Weeping" : Peter Cozzens"
The epic story of the Indian Wars of the American West. A very readable and interesting book. Nothing to do with flying but it is military. Over 500 pages but it reads very easily and gives the story from both sides. it was quite an eye opener to me just how much the disunity amongst the tribes contributed to their own downfall. Highly recommended.

I think the original title of teh thread is correct and would happily argue with anybody who tries to make this only a "flying" thread read. This is a great thread because nobody is attempting to sell anything just share what they have read.

In relation to the tribes downfall, it wasn't just disunity, it was sheer numbers. To quote an Indian Leader ( using as it was then), "If we stop and kill 30 people in a Wagon train it does not stop the White faces coming, however if we lose 10 men on an attack on a Wagon train it could be the end of a tribe, we can't replace the numbers and these maybe the hunters of food for the tribe."

Ultimately White Mans Greed was what destroyed everything.

Disgressing a little bit but Indian culture and their attitude to the Land, Animals etc made them the first Environmentalists, where as Pale Faces were happy to destory mountains with water / chemicals to obtain Gold / Silver etc.

[Argonautical]

Disgressing a little bit but Indian culture and their attitude to the Land, Animals etc made them the first Environmentalists
I reckon their environmental credentials are somewhat overrated, they had no qualms about driving whole herds of buffalo over cliffs when it suited them.

[racedo]

I reckon their environmental credentials are somewhat overrated, they had no qualms about driving whole herds of buffalo over cliffs when it suited them.

Which they then ate and smoked the meat, used skins for warmth etc.

[orionsbelt]

Robert Stitts revised 2nd addition.
Just published by MMP publications

ISBN-10: 8365281546
ISBN-13: 978-8365281548

and available from online outlets.
For 206 and 220 Sqdn and other units who flew the B17
This is a revised version of Roberts 2013 publication with additional information and pictures.
My late Father flew his 1st tour as a Flight Engineer with 220 Sqdn in the Azores and contributed to Roberts research for these books.
***

[alemaobaiano]

The Hooligans of Kandahar, by Joseph Kassabian. On Kindle

ASIN: B07D26JRXJ

This is a very irreverent read, but many of those who have deployed to war zones are going to relate to this mob.

[Slow Biker]

Painting the Sand by Kim Hughes. An EOD operators tour in Helmand 2009. A bit ott in places - 'this is what I was born for' etc but it describes what young soldiers, not out of their teens, went through - enough death and gore to last a lifetime. Hughes was awarded the George Cross for his actions in one incident when confronted with multiple IEDs, terribly injured men and mutilated bodies. He also demonstrates his compassion when, following a blast, he tells a shocked infantry officer 'don't worry sir, I'll get your (dead) boys out'.

[tdracer]

I'm currently reading "Sink 'Em All: Submarine Warfare in the Pacific" by Admiral Lockwood (he was the commander of the US Pacific Submarine Service for most of WW II). A very good read (I've long found the sub war in the Pacific fascinating).
Currently available for Kindle for $0.99.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0763TGKW9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_image_o01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[SASless]

Which they then ate and smoked the meat, used skins for warmth etc.



The one thing we should learn from history is that of the American Indian's failure to control immigration of non-indigenous persons with different religious beliefs.

[Green Flash]

Slight thread drift, but please may I suggest a couple of good military listens?

We Have Ways Of Making You Talk, by James Holland and Al (Pub Landlord) Murray. And you can forget the pub landlord persona straight away; Murray is a keen student of WW2 and knows his stuff. He is currently reading The Cauldron by Zeno - Arnhem by someone who was there - and its b*00dy riveting; a chapter a day. They also have a twice weekly podcast about anything re WW2.

13 Minutes To The Moon, by Dr Kevin Fong (ex NASA). Apollo 13, with lots of archive and interviews.

Both quite remarkable podcasts IMHO, available via iTunes.

[The Nr Fairy]

I loved Painting The Sand - in a similar vein to "Braver Men Walk Away" ( www.amazon.co.uk/Braver-Walk-Away-Peter-Gurney/dp/0002550512) and Chris Hunter's books ( www.amazon.co.uk/Chris-Hunter/e/B001I9S7QQ )

The Al Murray / James Holland podcast is at https://podcasts.apple.com/lu/podcast/we-have-ways-of-making-you-talk/id1457552694 and 13 Minutes to the Moon at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-minutes-to-the-moon/id1459657136 (iTunes) or https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w27vq4km (BBC)

[PPRuNeUser0139]

I'm in the middle of "The Lonely Sea and the Sky (https://tinyurl.com/ya6mr9d6)" by Sir Francis Chichester. I'd always assumed he was "just" a yachtsman.. but his story is much, much more than that.
In 1929, he flew from England to Australia in a D H Gypsy Moth (https://tinyurl.com/ycrrl9l8) - then had it shipped to NZ from where he wanted to be the first to fly the Tasman Sea back to Oz (via Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island..) For the navs out there, the section where he describes how he managed to fly the aeroplane and navigate using dead reckoning backed up with sun shots is absolutely incredible.. I won't give away any more of the flying side of the story. I've yet to start reading about his solo circumnavigation of the world in Gypsy Moth IV.

[Fg Off Bloggs]

Volume 2 - The Tornado Years, now out, I see!
THE TORNADO YEARS

[TwoTunnels]

Not exactly military, but well worth a read.
"The Spy and the Traitor" by Ben MacIntyre...the Oleg Gordievsky story.
Can't put it down at the moment - it's almost like I'm on det!

[MightyGem]

Just reading "A War With Russia", by General Sir Richard Shirreff, retired ex Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. Written as a "history" of Russia's invasion of the Baltic States.
Book Review: 2017: War With Russia. An Urgent Warning from Senior Military Command by Andrew Monaghan ? The Changing Character of War Centre (http://www.ccw.ox.ac.uk/blog/2016/6/10/book-review-2017-war-with-russia-an-urgent-warning-from-senior-military-command-by-andrew-monaghan)

[bobward]

I'm part way through Putin's People by Catherine Belton. Quite an eye opener to be sure!

[SLXOwft]

MightGem's post on Gen. Shirreff's book put me in mid of 'Shan' Hackett's World War Three book's, however my recommendation is his "I was a Stranger" the account of how he evaded and escaped after Arnhem, being sheltered while recovering from severe wounds by extremely brave Dutch civilians.

Next to it on my bookshelves are Noreen Riols's "The Secret Ministry of Ag. & Fish: My Life In Churchill's School for Spies" an account of her SOE service and Ewen Southby-Tailyour's "Reasons in Writing: a Commando's View of the Falklands War" both of which I found good reads. On the subject of the last I recently read Chis Parry's "Down South: A Falklands War Diary" and had difficulty putting my Kindle down (might be biased though - him being a looker and all :)) .

[Mogwi]

Covid reading has included Malta Spitfire Pilot by Denis Barnham. A brilliantly written account of his 10 weeks flying Spitfires from Malta in the early summer of '42. It makes my 6 weeks in the South Atlantic look like very tame!

Also Going Solo by Roald Dahl. This covers his story from the start of the war as a volunteer pilot in East Africa, through his near-fatal crash in a Gladaitor in the dessert and then flying Hurricanes in Greece as the Germans advanced ever closer.

Both rivetting stuff.

mog

[MAINJAFAD]

Favourite quote: Apparently Arthur 'Bomber' Harris and Adm Tom Phillips had served together prior to going their separate ways and frequently had animated discussions about the battleship vs aircraft debate. After one such debate an exasperated Harris said Tom, one day you'll be standing on the bridge of your battleship and it will be sunk by torpedo carrying aircraft. As you slip beneath the waves your last thought will be "That was a f*****g big mine".
Whilst not a great fan of Harris and if true, I did think it rather good.

Read Harris's own account of the Conversation in the last chapter of his own account of his life up to his retirement in "Bomber Offensive"

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KTM7GSS/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

He shared accommodation with Phillips while on a Joint planing team and knew Leach quite well to boot. He had a lot of time for Tom Phillips despite their disagreement's about aircraft v Battleships, which of course Harris was totally correct about. This book actually puts a lot of often quoted misquotes taken from it in context and some of Harris's views are quite surprising.

[Training Risky]

Just started Invasion: Uprising by DC Alden. The first volume in 2016 is an awesome alternate future fiction describing how an Islamic State with its $hit together by 2029 would invade Europe. Some of the future tech is a bit Star Trek, but the story is a rip roaring blood and guts tale. This concluding part will cover the fight back!

[Whinging Tinny]

Covid reading has included Malta Spitfire Pilot by Denis Barnham. A brilliantly written account of his 10 weeks flying Spitfires from Malta in the early summer of '42. It makes my 6 weeks in the South Atlantic look like very tame!

Also Going Solo by Roald Dahl. This covers his story from the start of the war as a volunteer pilot in East Africa, through his near-fatal crash in a Gladaitor in the dessert and then flying Hurricanes in Greece as the Germans advanced ever closer.

Both rivetting stuff.

mog
Al Murray reads Denis Barnam's book on We Have Ways of Making You Talk. He is currently working his way through Pierre Clostermann's book 'The Big Show' the experiences of a French fighter pilot flying for the RAF in WWII. Both worth a punt.

[Phantom Driver]

" The Limits of Air Power "-(Mark Clodfelter) does a good job of explaining why the greatest military force the world had ever known was still unable to win a conventional war against a basically peasant Vietnamese army .

[heights good]

For those who have an interest in air combat or the legend of John Boyd, then this book is a great read.

It explains where a lot of the Threatweb and kinematic data we have used for yrs has come from and the background to the OODA Loop.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1220x2000/eb1d84bf_68f4_4fe5_a5db_bc71423f02a4_64dab4233366392772ba14a f7685943c67bfae0b.jpeg

[Doctor Cruces]

Second that motion. A really good read.

[BVRAAM]

Col. Boyd gave us the greatest jet fighter the world has ever known - the F-15 Eagle.

For that, he will always be a legend alone... and that doesn't scratch the surface of his excellence.

He really did change the air war.

[frodo_monkey]

Col. Boyd gave us the greatest jet fighter the world has ever known - the F-15 Eagle.

For that, he will always be a legend alone... and that doesn't scratch the surface of his excellence.

He really did change the air war.

I think you need to read the book... his was the F16 - he was against the F15.

[radar101]

Also Going Solo by Roald Dahl. This covers his story from the start of the war as a volunteer pilot in East Africa, through his near-fatal crash in a Gladaitor in the dessert and then flying Hurricanes in Greece as the Germans advanced ever closer.

The inflexibility of his command chain was gobsmacking. I thought by that stage of the war sqn cdrs etc were more switched on.

[Haraka]

An Officer. Not a Gentleman. Mandy Hickson
The Service autobiography of one of the first Lady RAF fast jet Pilots.
The author takes you through, in a candid manner, her progress in the system up to and including operational flying on II(AC) Tornadoes.
Recommended.

[Geriaviator]

Combat Crew by John Comer. As riveting a read as Wellum's First Light, B17 turret-gunner Comer draws us into his life of nissen huts and muddy Norfolk airfields, of towering clouds and terror in the skies over Germany. Available on Kindle.

[Green Flash]

I hope I have not committed a PPrune no-no but there is a rather good reading list on the WHWOMYT website here at https://wehavewayspod.com/books/

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Team,

I'm looking for a definitive but relatively concise guide to the evolution of air combat in WW1. Anyone know any good academic papers or shortish book on the subject?

Target

[Video Mixdown]

Team,

I'm looking for a definitive but relatively concise guide to the evolution of air combat in WW1. Anyone know any good academic papers or shortish book on the subject?

Target
Try Aces High - The War in the Air Over the Western Front 1914-18 by Alan Clark.

[LeftBlank]

Try, “A brief history of The Royal Flying Corps in World War One” by Ralph Barker.
It is an excellent read.

[mopardave]

Combat Crew by John Comer. As riveting a read as Wellum's First Light, B17 turret-gunner Comer draws us into his life of nissen huts and muddy Norfolk airfields, of towering clouds and terror in the skies over Germany. Available on Kindle.
My god........I'd forgotten all about that book! Fabulous and moving read!

[AR1]

A Rumour of War - Philip Caputo - Vietnam War Infantry Officer

The Devils Guard - George Robert Elford - Ex-German SS Foreign Legion in Vietnam

The Big Show - Pierre Closterman DFC & bar - WWII Free-French fighter pilot in the RAF

Reading the latter, and for three days now, enjoyed it. However by day four as he's bounced by another 40 190'a I'm thinking of all the other books i've read, Paul Richey etc, were nowhere near this exciting. Hope im not doing Pierre a disservice, but I can't help but question the heroics and smell a bit, well. Bovine.

Anyway. Back to the book.

[rich34glider]

My current read (2nd time around) which I'm really enjoying: The Silver Spitfire by Tom Neil. The tale (in his own words) of a 23 year old Sqn Ldr seconded to the yanks at the beginning of 1944 .. and an illicitly acquired personal spitfire!

[Ddraig Goch]

Hi a hope this hasn't been mentioned before:
"The history of Dive Bombing" by Peter C. Smith. The idea that it covers, along with the history, are the reasons that the upper echelons of the RAF desired not to be too involved, at the time, in dive bombing because they saw themselves as upholders of strategic bombing ideology ( Trenchard and Douhet ) not Army cooperation. There is more about the history of dive bombing from the start in 1911 to 2007 and is very informative.

I found this book very good, it can be found here at the longest river also other quality book sellers. For those with a kindle £0.82 !

https://www.amazon.co.uk/History-Dive-Bombing-Comprehensive-Onward/dp/1844155927/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2UFYDYUL45746&dchild=1&keywords=a+history+of+dive+bombing&qid=1609489971&sprefix=History+of+Dive+Bombing%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1

[Mogwi]

Hostile Skies released as an audio book shortly.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hostile-Skies-Battle-Falklands/dp/B08NF66VPK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Hostile+skies+audiobook&qid=1612950761&sr=8-1

[MPN11]

Just finished reading it, and agree with your comments.

It was also flagged up on the famous "Gaining an RAF Pilot's Brevet in WW II" thread", where the late Danny42C featured so often and was a Vengeance pilot in the Far East.
https://www.pprune.org/10958303-post12788.html

[deltahotel]

+1 for Clostermann.

Carrier Pilot by Norman Hanson who ended up flying Corsairs in the Pacific theatre.

[Green Flash]

+1 for Clostermann.

Carrier Pilot by Norman Hanson who ended up flying Corsairs in the Pacific theatre.

+2 for Clostermann. Al Murray has narrated the audiobook of Big Show too

[Jhieminga]

My god........I'd forgotten all about that book! Fabulous and moving read!
I'll third that... and had also forgotten about it. Will dig it out today.

[Yellow Sun]

We Were Crew Dogs (http://wewerecrewdogs.homestead.com/Home.html) is best described as a lifetime anthology of of stories contributed by B52 crew members. It consists of 8 volumes and 3 themed selections dealing with Linebacker 2, the Vietnam War and Emergencies and Incidents. Inevitably there is duplication in the individual contributions and some are more interesting or entertaining than others. However, the books do describe the nitty gritty of life in SAC in its heyday with life being ruled by the alert schedule. There are also some excellent accounts of the lengthy airborne alert sorties - Chrome Dome - that are of some historical value as the crew members who flew on them are now a small and rapidly diminishing cohort. One of the later volumes contains a rare account of cooperation between Harpoon armed B52s and the Nimrod in the anti-ship role.

Worth reading a couple of volumes to get the flavour. As well as the linked website they’re also available from the well known South American river.

YS

[Ddraig Goch]

I've just finished " Shadow divers" by Robert Kurson. ISBN (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)) 0-375-76098-9 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-375-76098-9) (paperback) OCLC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)) 60426012 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/60426012) Dewey Decimal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewey_Decimal_Classification) 910.452
It's a very gripping true story about a group of divers working at extreme depths ( for the time ) and their encounter with a Uboat found where there shouldn't be one.
Available from all good bookshops, Abe books (second hand ) and the Internet Archive https://archive.org/ to loan for 14 days. I found it hard to stop reading!

nb Internet Archive is hard to navigate but persevere and you will get a free read.

[finestkind]

I'm in the middle of "The Lonely Sea and the Sky (https://tinyurl.com/ya6mr9d6)" by Sir Francis Chichester. I'd always assumed he was "just" a yachtsman.. but his story is much, much more than that.
In 1929, he flew from England to Australia in a D H Gypsy Moth (https://tinyurl.com/ycrrl9l8) - then had it shipped to NZ from where he wanted to be the first to fly the Tasman Sea back to Oz (via Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island..) For the navs out there, the section where he describes how he managed to fly the aeroplane and navigate using dead reckoning backed up with sun shots is absolutely incredible.. I won't give away any more of the flying side of the story. I've yet to start reading about his solo circumnavigation of the world in Gypsy Moth IV.
Totally agree. A very interesting individual.

[Haraka]

I was on the Quay in Plymouth when Gypsy Moth was coming in. Suddenly his wife, who was wearing a brightly coloured Zoot Suit, started jumping up and down and waving.
Gypsy Moth suddenly came about in the harbour entrance and started heading back out to sea..
My mate then remarked.. " Looks like he's just remembered why he left in the first place!"

[Chiefttp]

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1238x1050/9fecf2ef_1045_48b5_8dbf_9e3a93c91ce5_542c25da5a08b366d1aab41 178ecc3e313a15756.jpeg
I enjoyed this look into RAF Pilot training in the early 1980’s. He also has an accompanying book about his previous assignment as an enlisted engineer on Vulcans.

[hoodie]

Does he say whether it was a hot buffet or just cold cuts and salad?

[ORAC]

Perhaps a Ploughman’s?

[Mogwi]

Hostile Skies now available in Spanish, courtesy of publisher in Buenos Aires.

https://elcazadorlibros.com.ar/producto/cielos-hostiles/

No feedback yet!

Mog

[hunterboy]

Blimey! That’s brave!….I’d be very interested to see what kind of reception it gets. It’s a great book, but having spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires over the years, it doesn’t take much to set ‘em off!

[Chugalug2]

There is a link to the Military Zone Forum where these comments were posted about the book (Google Translated from the Spanish) :-

https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/data/avatars/m/0/6.jpg?1453814231 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/members/spirit666.6/)spirit666 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/members/spirit666.6/)

29 May 2021 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2921515)



#6.143 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2921515)

https://elcazadorlibros.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cielos-hostiles.jpeg

I finished reading "Hostile Skies" and I leave my comments because it is a book of three lucas and maybe this will help you decide to buy or spend that money on another book or something else. We all know Sun Tzu's phrase "If you want to know how you

did in the war, ask your enemy" Well, this is a book written by an English pilot.

With all that this implies and where it is quite difficult to be objective because there are many stories difficult to digest. It is a very well balanced book between the account of the actions and the feelings of Morgan himself. That he includes many letters to his family as well as to a former lover at first baffles, but then he makes much more sense by showing without any qualms his fears, fears, tiredness and the desire for everything to end as quickly as possible.
For Morgan as for the rest of the pilots, the war was a
job. An annoying, tiring and very dangerous job. Concepts such as patriotism, commitment or loyalty to their Queen are not mentioned on any page of the book, marking very clearly the substantial difference in values between our pilots and the English.
Some of the accounts of the attacks and the shoot-downs are
crude. Hurt. Morgan has not been deprived of anything, nor of venting the countless failures of the Sea Harrier, the lack of coordination in many missions or the little experience of some English pilots. The fear of the Exocet, the attacks of our aviation and the anti-aircraft defenses of Puerto Argentino are a constant.
There is abundant information of the attacks, tactics, strategy even technical data that allow to know very in depth the Sea Harrier as the weaponry
used. It touches on some sensitive issues with the filming of some shootdowns, the attack on The Narwal, the Condor air base or the effect of the Beluga bombs.
In short, a book that is different, difficult and hard for us but that allows us to revalue the actions, courage and heroism of our pilots, who were very close to complicating "the work" for the

English. And very close as perhaps in no other English book is reflected.

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#6.144 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922318)

As Harrier pilots I read three books: Morgan's, Ward's and Pook's.
I share that Morgan's seems the most "experiential", in the sense that he relates both the actions of war and his own feelings, even going so far as to whitewash his personal "inner front" (lover). It also details some post-war aftermath for him.
The account of the actions of 8 June is very hard for us. I thought it was very good, if you want to read experiences from somewhere else.
I also thought pook's was pretty good. He is less passionate than Morgan, but relates quite well his involvement in the war.
And Ward's... His fame precedes him. He is quite superb, hyper critical of the RAF. If you manage to get the whole facet out of your ego, it's also worth reading.

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#6.145 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922324)

Morgan is the wretched one who in the account of the fighting on June 8, indicates that when he saw the destruction of the Foxtrot boat, he wanted to kill the pilot because he deserved it and when he saw the ejection of this, I wish he was not saved?
Or I'm wrong???

Thanks

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#6.146 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922348)

k'pla said: (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/goto/post?id=2922324)
Morgan is the wretched one who in the account of the fighting on June 8, indicates that when he saw the destruction of the Foxtrot boat, he wanted to kill the pilot because he deserved it and when he saw the ejection of this, I wish he was not saved?
Or I'm wrong???

Thanks
By training and belief no Argentine pilot has made public his thoughts and feelings when attacking a frigate or destroyer. That doesn't take away from the fact that several had in mind to "collect some outstanding debt" for a colleague who was no longer there.
Such is
war. Of all the worst, the worst.

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#6.147 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922385)

k'pla said: (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/goto/post?id=2922324)
Morgan is the wretched one who in the account of the fighting on June 8, indicates that when he saw the destruction of the Foxtrot boat, he wanted to kill the pilot because he deserved it and when he saw the ejection of this, I wish he was not saved?
Or I'm wrong???

Thanks
which pilot is the one that ejects? velazco ?

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31 May 2021 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922396)



#6.148 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2922396)

I think it was the Ten Arraras

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#6.149 (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/threads/libros-sobre-el-conflicto-de-mlv.11989/post-2927106)

FerTrucco said: (https://www.zona-militar.com/foros/goto/post?id=2922318)
As Harrier pilots I read three books: Morgan's, Ward's and Pook's.
I share that Morgan's seems the most "experiential", in the sense that he relates both the actions of war and his own feelings, even going so far as to whitewash his personal "inner front" (lover). It also details some post-war aftermath for him.
The account of the actions of 8 June is very hard for us. I thought it was very good, if you want to read experiences from somewhere else.
I also thought pook's was pretty good. He is less passionate than Morgan, but relates quite well his involvement in the war.
And Ward's... His fame precedes him. He is quite superb, hyper critical of the RAF. If you manage to get the whole facet out of your ego, it's also worth reading.Beyond the combat of June 8, our Military Airmen were attacking, it was them or us.
What if it has NOTHING of chivalry was the attack on the Narwal.
The insanity that these two SHR had, one of them commanded by David Morgan, with an unarmed ship sailing at very few knots... they could have been approached by the British Sea King, as they eventually did.

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[Mogwi]

Encouraging reaction from La Nacion (Argentina) and El Pais (Spain). Also, good vibes from some Argentine pilots who were there.

https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/malvinas-david-morgan-el-as-de-la-aviacion-britanica-que-se-acerco-a-los-pilotos-argentinos-nid14062021/

https://elpais.com/internacional/2021-06-14/memorias-de-un-piloto-ingles-a-casi-cuatro-decadas-de-la-guerra-de-las-malvinas.html

[SASless]

WWII story of the rescue of downed Allied Aircrew from Yugoslavia by the American OSS and Partisan groups....using C-47 Transports landing on a hand cleared airstrip.

Very little notice was given for the gallantry of so many who risked their lives to see to the safe return of so many airmen.

It also discusses the politics that existed that hampered the safe return of downed aircrew and the later Communist takeover under Tito which led to the arrest, trial, and execution of the leader of the partisan group that was so instrumental in the safeguarding and tranposrt of those rescued.

"The Forgotten 500". by Gregory A. Freeman

[wiggy]

I enjoyed this look into RAF Pilot training in the early 1980’s. He also has an accompanying book about his previous assignment as an enlisted engineer on Vulcans.

Blimey., thanks for highlighting that, Ron P was a year above me at school in Ludlow and then by chance about a decade later was on the course ahead of me through CFS at Scampton...

Better rush out and buy it...

[bobward]

Just finished John Nichol's book on the Tornado in GW1. To this layman (=spotter) it was an excellent book. It's one of the first I've read that gives the viewpoint of the families left behind,
as well as the air and ground crews. Highly recommended!

[John Nichol]

Thank you Bob, that's much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed it.
It was a tricky undertaking writing about some of my good friends but it it's been really interesting getting the reactions from many of the crews who were there, and even appear in the book. Most say that they hadn't really understood the full story of the Tornado force, what everyone did, what their own friends went through, and especially what the families endured back home.

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[MMHendrie1]

I posted this on Amazon a few days ago, but I'd like to repeat it here, with a couple of additions:

This is an extraordinary story, long overdue. And John Nichol is well quallfied to tell it, better than most.

I thought I knew the Tornado GR1 well, and the people who flew it. It was my working life for seven years and I knew many of those mentioned, and flew with quite a few. Yet John Nichol, whom I did not know, has peeled away thirty years of a fading memory, to get to the very heart of an astonishing story: delving with immense sensistivity into the hearts and minds of those who served and those who loved them. John has a gift for descriptive writing. And he does not spare us harrowing detail. He tells us how it was. He was there.

For me this was an exceptionally tough read, an emotional roller-coaster, that I could not put down, desperate to know what happened even though, in broad terms, I already knew. But it must have been an awful lot tougher for the many contributors to recount their stories. To fly into hell and back, then do it again, and then again, with one or two less than before, is unimaginable. How they coped belies belief. Those captured found themselves in another hell of man's making. How the families came to terms with fear, with loss, and with not 'knowing' is particularly well told; they have my absolute admiration.

This is a worthy testament to an iconic aircraft, to the airmen and women who flew it and kept it in the air, and to the families on whom they relied.

Yes, it is an extraordinary story, and it is extraordinarily well told.

Wherever Rocky is now, I'm sure he would join me is saying 'Well done, John', on lots of counts.

[John Nichol]

Thank you MM - truly appreciate your comments

[POBJOY]

DEVOTION (Adam Makos) Corsairs in Korea, and the struggle of a young non white pilot to get to operational status off carriers with an ending that is truly gripping and true.
Little slow to start but a good account of the conditions in theatre, and the then normal segregation system. Used as a base story for a couple of films with the usual change of machines and avoiding the non pc bits. A very good read and well researched. Apologies if already mentioned.

[Cat Techie]

The Groundcrew Boys . First Chapter says what happens to Stew and Petes bird when SEngO and WO Eng saw it!

[Ddraig Goch]

I have just finished reading "The last stand of the tin can sailors" by James D. Hornfisher, who has recently died aged 55. I recommend it most highly as the best account of the Battle Leyte Gulf - Samur during the US invasion of the Philippines in WW2 that I have read..

[SASless]

Goch,

The account of the "Sammy B", the "Johnston", and the rest of the Tin. Cans and Escort Carrier Air Wings is a must read for anyone in the military of any Nation.

When your opponent Mans the Rail and renders a Salute as they run by you as you are in the water after your being sunk....that tells of you gallantry and the respect the Enemy had for you.

Hornfisher's books are all excellent accounts of a time when both Men and Ships were made of Iron.

[Less Hair]

Here is an excellent one:
Rockets and People by Boris Chertok, soviet space engineer. Translated by NASA. 4 big parts, free to use.
It's the history of the soviet space program but includes many other historical details like the war ending in Berlin and nuclear arms history. Very well written by some key engineer himself not just some ghost writer. Not propaganda but the real thing honestly written by somebody in the know.

https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html

[SASless]

Just finished reading "Facing the Mountain" by Daniel James Brown....a true story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II.

ISBN 9780525557401

The book relates in detail the experiences of Japanese Americans during the times prior to, during, and shortly after Pearl Harbor and recounts in detail how poorly Japanese Americans were treated by the US Government and the American People....and also relates the combat experiences of the 100th and 442 Infantry Regiments, the 522nd Artillery Battalion, and Nisei assigned to Military Intelligence along with their campaigns in the European Area of Operations where they earned a reputation for being excellent Soldiers with a very. aggressive nature in combat.

There are lessons to be learned from this book that directly apply to some unusual contemporary thinking by some.

In the l words of the Rudy Tokiwa quoted by the Author....."You know it is coming out to be, it doesn't make no difference what you look like, it's what you're doing and what you've done for the Country that counts."

Rudy was a member of the 442nd (Go For Broke) Infantry Regiment who was severely wounded by artillery shrapnel during a combat action that saw the 442nd breach the Gothic Line in Italy....while his family was still in a "Concentration Camp" back home.

To demonstrate the gallantry of the Nisei Soldiers.....They made up 0.11 percent of Eighteen Million Americans who served in the US Military during WWII, of which 473 received Medals of Honor.....the members of the 442nd who served (18,000) they were awarded 4.4% of the MoH's awarded to all branches....21 in all.

4,000 of them were wounded or killed.

They certainly earned the Right of being called Americans.....and not "Japanese-Americans" and certainly proved their gallantry and loyalty despite the terrible treatment they and they families received.

[Ddraig Goch]

I have just finished reading 2 books that are set in the second world war. They are true stories set on the periphery of the war and in climates totally different; both are epics of survival at the worst of times.



They are:



Lost in Shangri-la. A True Story Of Survival Adventure And The Most Incredible Rescue Mission Of World War II



ISBN 13 9780061988356


Frozen in time. An epic story of survival and a modern quest for lost heroes of World War II



ISBN 13 9780062133434
Both by Mitchell Zuckoff



I recommend both highly

[Centaurus]

I have just read "Winged Life" the biography of David Beaty by his wife Betty Campbell Beaty and published in 2001. I discovered this marvellous book only a few weeks ago in a little old second hand book shop in Melbourne and bought the book for two dollars. It turned out to be one of the greatest books I have ever read. In years gone by I have read many of his previous books where he flew in the the RAF during WW2 and where he flew a great variety of aircraft including Wellingtons and Liberators on anti U-Boat operations over the Atlantic. His exploits against Axis aircraft and shipping during the Battle of Malta are the stuff of legends.
Beaty was a prolific writer on flying safety subjects - both wartime and peacetime. He flew for BOAC after the war. I recall reading his book The Naked Pilot where he interviewed many senior BOAC pilots asking them to describe the mistakes they had made during their flying careers. It was from those interviews - often granted reluctantly - that formed the basis of The Naked Pilot.

By chance I was visting relatives in Kent during the 1980's when someone said Beaty lived nearby. My wife and I drove to his cottage (in Sussex?) and found im tending his garden. I introduced myself as an Australian airline pilot as well as a former RAAF anti-submarine Lincoln pilot of the 1950's era and that we were visiting UK where I was on contract as a flight simulator instructor on the 737. He immediately invited us in for a cup of tea. I said I flew 737's with a South Pacific operator called Air Nauru. In that airline I had flown into many of the Pacific battle grounds of Guadalcanal, Guam, Tarawa and others. Often we carried veterans of those wars returning to old haunts. He was intrigued at my stories -more so because in those days the big battles of the Pacific and the Atlantic were so far removed from each other.

He wrote a book called Call me Captain about his time in BOAC as a copilot after the war where he flew with the classic white gloved snob captains of that era before being promoted to a command himself. It was when interviewing those personalities for his planned book The Naked Pilot that he discovered their marked reluctance to talk about their own "pilot errors."
That was understandable I said to him. I suggested to him that should he write a sequel to The Naked Pilot, perhaps he should also interview their copilots who would have seen various cock-up's by their captains.
To my surprise Beaty terminated our conversation rather abruptly and that was that. I had crossed a certain line obviously. Notwithstanding that strange incident I found Beaty to be a wonderful character in every respect and it wasn't until long after meeting him in his rose garden and having tea and a chat that I discovered his biography a few weeks ago and read of his of his wartime exploits.
I will leave it at that. But if nothing else I strongly recommend to anyone interested in WW2 aviation history to keep an eye open for The Winged Life. An absolutely enthralling read.

[megan]

Also recommend his "The Story of Transatlantic Flight".

[Watson1963]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

He had a fine career as an aviation author, fact and fiction, including "Cone of silence" from 1959, made into a film the following year. The scenes inspired by the public inquiries of the 1950s are uncomfortable viewing.

List of his other books here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Beaty_(author)

[Centaurus]

Sky Stories by Dave Unwin is another more recent good read. The variety of warbird ex-military aircraft he has flown in his job as an aviation journalist is astonishing as are his astute observations of their handling characteristics.

[Douglas Bahada]

Bomber by Len Deighton. Fiction

[tartare]

I can thoroughly endorse Rockets and People.
Absolutely brilliant - and will forever change your view of the Soviet space program.

[SimonK]

Bomber by Len Deighton. Fiction

The Radio 4 adaption (shown at the same time as the mission would have been flown) is on Youtube and bloody amazing it is too:

https://youtu.be/F6U0e5DUdNQ

Edit: link is disabled by PPRune for some reason, just search for "Bomber Deighton"

[DaveUnwin]

Thanks for the kind words Centaurus! If anyone's interested, some of the types assessed in Sky Stories include the Spitfire Tr.9, Beech C-45, Fieseler Storch, Boeing B-17 and Bucker Jungmeister.

[Ken Scott]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas Bahada
Bomber by Len Deighton. Fiction


The Radio 4 adaption (shown at the same time as the mission would have been flown) is on Youtube and bloody amazing it is too:


I enjoyed the book, particularly the viewpoint of the Germans in the story, not one that we normally get.

I didn’t especially rate the radio play, I found the characters in that rather thinly drawn, with the contrast between the ‘good old NCOs’ being stymied at every turn by the ‘dimwit officers’ rather cartoonish. The officers get their ‘just desserts’ in true left-wing BBC style though...

[1771 DELETE]

My suggestion for a jolly good read would be Sniper One.

https://www.amazon.com/Sniper-One-Scope-Under-Siege/dp/0312542429

It tells the story of surviving in Al Amarah, i spent a couple of nights in the overhead of that town watching the Warriors and MBTs entering to get resupply to those holding out. At the same time, one young army driver won a Victoria cross. Fascinating to read of the conditions on the ground, the author says that the used more ammunition defending themselves than was used in the whole of the UK part of GW2, Not sure how true that is but our buddy aircraft fired a lot of 30mm shells in the two nights.

[Douglas Bahada]

Michael Collins "Carrying the fire". Superb. Military. Test Pilot. Apollo 11. A defining Classic.

[magyarflyer]

I am sure mentioned before but “shadows” about air war in Biafra by michael Draper incredible book
reading if for the third time
available free in the internet if you spend some time
incredible good book fascinating stories about pilots with cojones …

[JulieAndrews]

Nothing to do with Flying but a good Military read none-the-less
"The Habit of Excellence - why British Army Leadership Works" by Langley Sharpe

[DaveUnwin]

Tall Tales of the South Pacific by John Laming. He served 18 years with the Royal Australian Air Force and flew P51 Mustangs, Vampires, DC-3s, Convair 440s Lincolns etc etc - even got his hands on a RAN Sea Fury a couple of times, and then went onto a successful civil career. An excellent read - very well written.

[DaveUnwin]

Should of course be 'Tall TAILS of the South Pacific'!

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/mike_sooty/status/1461375131465441282?s=21

[Cat Techie]

https://twitter.com/mike_sooty/status/1461375131465441282?s=21

Might have to buy that seeing Mike served on the Premier Sqn of all time as I did. (he has already told me that some charecters are mentioned, one being RIP).

[Senior Pilot]

Tall Tales of the South Pacific by John Laming. He served 18 years with the Royal Australian Air Force and flew P51 Mustangs, Vampires, DC-3s, Convair 440s Lincolns etc etc - even got his hands on a RAN Sea Fury a couple of times, and then went onto a successful civil career. An excellent read - very well written.

And much of his wonderful prose and tales are here on PPRuNe, such as https://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/640538-you-ll-never-make-pilot.html 👍 😎 🇦🇺

[Warmtoast]

“Wellington – Years of the Sword” by Elizabeth Longford

I have always been fascinated by the exploits of the Duke of Wellington, as taught to me from school days and the history of the Battle of Waterloo etc, but interest was rekindled in 1957 when I was posted to RAF China Bay (Sri Lanka) across the bay from the RN Naval Base at Trincomalee on the eastern coast of the island. The reason being that at Trincomalee there is an old colonial Fort (Fort Frederick) once occupied by Arthur Wesley later the Duke of Wellington. This fort was built by the Portuguese in 1623, rebuilt by the Dutch, and occupied by the British in 1782, re-conquered by the Dutch and finally liberated by the British East India Company. The Wellington connection is that inside Fort Frederick it was possible to visit Wellesley Lodge the bungalow that Wellington lived in when he was in Trinco as a Colonel in the British East India Company in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, finally returning home in 1805.

For most of us, Wellington equals Waterloo. However, Waterloo was one peak only in the career of this extraordinary man. Between 1794 and 1815 he participated and led his troops in over 20 campaigns and battles including India, the Peninsular wars in Spain and Portugal and finally at Waterloo. The success of this biography that it reveals the subtlety and full variety of Wellington’s genius as well as the fascinating complexity of England in his time. Of special interest to me are the details of the battles he fought in India before he became famous in his European campaigns, in particular the defeat of the Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore and his first major victory at the Battle of Assaye. In the book Longford recounts, when a friend asked Wellington what was the best thing he ever did in the way of fighting, the Duke sombrely replied: “Assaye.” In April and May 1799, Wellington participated in the siege of Seringapatam in Mysore, and led an attack on the entrenchments of the fortress there. After Seringapatam was taken, Wellington was made civil governor and remained there until 1802 afterwards travelling to Ceylon and taking up residence at Fort Frederick in Trincomalee.

So when this book and its companion volume “Wellington – Pillar of State” were published in the 1970’s I added them to my library.


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Wellington was born Arthur Wesley, third son of the Earl of Mornington, in 1769 - the same year as Napoleon (In 1798, he changed the spelling of his surname to “Wellesley” by which he is known today). His family, which belonged to the ruling class of Englishmen in Ireland, was long on the tradition of proud service to the King and chronically short of funds! Neither his childhood nor his years at Eton were happy; but at seventeen when he went to Anjou, to study at France’s Royal Academy of Equitation, he came into his own, learned well, and emerged qualified and cosmopolitan.

On 7th March 1787, he was gazetted as an ensign in the 73rd Regiment of Foot and for the next few years rose through the ranks. He courted Kitty Pakenham but her family would not allow her to marry him - his family was not rich enough, so he went to India at the age of twenty-seven still a bachelor.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/768x885/wellesley_in_india_bac7aafeba482b1e4ef8d90311df2dd49a509abb. jpg
Wellington as he looked around the time of his return from India


It was in India that he made his name and amassed a fortune consisting mainly of prize money gained during his campaigning in India, so on his return to England in 1805 he returned with around £42,000 (£4 million in today’s money). When his brother’s term as Governor-General of India ended in March 1805, the two brothers returned together to England on HMS Howe and it just so happened that on the voyage home HMS Howe stopped at the little island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic and the brothers stayed in the same building in which Napoleon would live during his later exile.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/959x605/ft_frederick_trincomalee_in_1957_01e320a0cf18d8f05e07f19646d 671ec3ae4928e.jpg
Fort Frederick as I photographed it in 1957 whilst stationed at RAF China Bay
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In 1805 he returned England as a Knight of the Bath, a Major-General, a hero to his countrymen and acceptable, at last, to the Pakenhams, (he had courted Kitty by post over the twelve intervening years; it was scarcely surprising that the woman he married proved different indeed from the charming girl he had left.)

When he was forty, the youngest Lieutenant-General in the army, he took command of the allied armies in the Peninsular War. With Napoleon’s downfall, abdication and exile to Elba, the hero of Europe began a debauched career as ambassador to Paris. All the ladies, from the formidable Madame de Staël to the melting Signora Grassini, vied-often successfully-for his favours. His behaviour with them and as a diplomat caused some disquiet, and there was evident relief when he was dispatched to the Congress of Vienna. When word came of Napoleon’s escape, Wellington took command once more, and after the spectacular eve-of-battle ball in Brussels, led the British and Dutch-Belgian armies that together with the Prussian army, led to his triumph at Waterloo.

Lady Longford’s biography draws on material from private papers and Wellington’s own uninhibited correspondence. ‘Wellington: The Years of the Sword’ is a marvellous book – her account of the Battle of Waterloo runs to 54-pages, making it an outstanding read.

As a PS. Elizabeth Longford wrote a follow-up about Wellington - “Wellington - Pillar of State” which records his time as a diplomat and prime minister (twice) and numerous affairs. This too is very readable, especially if you want a complete history of this fascinating man. Intriguingly Elizabeth Longford was related by marriage to the Pakenham family (Kitty Pakenham being of course Wellington’s wife) and the author happens to be Kitty’s great-great-great-great niece, so she has a particular interest in the subject.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1550/two_books_bb39df2b7c85f1240cfc57ee700db206d994c114.jpg
The companion book "Wellington Pillar of State"
FWIW I live not too far away from his stately pile (Stratfield Saye the mansion in Hampshire given to Wellington by a grateful nation) and it is well worth visiting (Covid restrictions allowing) if only to see the 18-ton funeral carriage (created from melted-down cannons captured at Waterloo) that carried his body from Chelsea Hospital to St Paul’s Cathedral in November 1852. When I visited some years ago, visits were by guided tour only and with very limited opening times (about four days at Easter and the whole of August). I found the guided tour very interesting. Anyway, passed on FWIW – the book is worth a read. Additionally the statue of Wellington on his horse Copenhagen that was originally at Marble Arch in London was moved in 1885 to Aldershot and gets a mention in TripAdvisor (reputedly as visiting the statue in Aldershot is the only reason to visit Aldershot!).

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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/516x403/funeral_carriage_3_0b979a8c56313eb9a2e8be055f37b109ca1f26e3. jpg

PPS. Came across this caricature in the second of Longford’s books about Wellington, “Wellington-Pillar of State” — obviously alluding to his reputation as a ‘ladies-man’ par-excellence’!

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1591x1270/print_for_uploading_5a6b6e9b0292ad332fa64cba930efd2ecac87ce8 .jpg
Hand-coloured etching dated April 1819 — © The Trustees of the British Museum


Description

A scene in St. James’s Park. Wellington, handsome and debonair, wearing uniform, bestrides a cannon on a gun-carriage, taking a long stride as if riding a velocipede. The muzzle is pointed towards three ladies (left), two of whom affect alarm. One runs to the left, looking round from behind a fan; she takes the arm of a young woman holding a large muff, and wearing a pelisse to the knee above long drawers, who says: “It can’t do any harm, for he has fird [sic] it so often in various Countries, that it is nearly wore it [sic]!” The third clasps her hands ecstatically, saying, “Bless us! What a Spanker! - I hope he won’t fire it at me - I could never support such a thing!” Two other ladies watch from the right, behind the Duke. In the background are Buckingham House (left) and the Chinese bridge (right).
So all-in-all a very good read

The Years of the Sword is an outstanding military read, if only for the 50-pages or so that describe the Battle of Waterloo and it gets 10 out of 10 from me - Enjoy!
WT

[SLXOwft]

The Years of the Sword is an excellent book, I loved Wellington's insight into Nelson's character that is quoted in the book. How he could change from an arrogant, preening bore into an insightful and interesting interlocutor depending on what he (Nelson) knew/thought about his audience, met a few others like that.

[topgas]

Additionally the statue of Wellington on his horse Copenhagen that was originally at Marble Arch in London
I think it was actually at Hyde Park Corner - but they do look very similar :)

[Blossy]

I'm sure I can remember the mounted statue of the Duke being in Aldershot in the 1960s.

[oldmansquipper]

Probably already been nominated as a good military read but I’ve just finished ‘the glider gang’ by Milton Dank

Certainly opened my eyes and tells what really happened during the WW2 airborne operations. The blue on blue, attrition rates and the piss poor planning that went on makes pretty uncomfortable reading, when compared to the sanitised versions that we all grew up with.

I am in awe.

[Warmtoast]

I'm sure I can remember the mounted statue of the Duke being in Aldershot in the 1960s.

It's still there near the Royal Garrison Church.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/750x500/aldershot_statue_2_c774907cf71799afe8259f0e8c5d08905f0448a5. jpg
Duke of Wellington statue at Aldershot

[BATCO]

The Edge of the Sword. By Gen Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley
Although the author served with distinction in WW2, this book concerns his exploits in the Korean War. In April 51 as the Chinese swept into S Korea they needed to cross the Imjin River in order to surround Seoul. At the Imjin they met 1 Bn The Gloster Regiment. The Bn held fast for several days against overwhelming odds (literally waves of Chinese being killed attempting to rush their position). But The Glosters couldn't hold on forever and eventually were surrounded and captured. Farrar-Hockley continues his story of his, and comrades', time in captivity.
A fantastic read of high intensity warfare and in great detail - he was after all actually there, (on a par with We Were Soldiers Once...And Young). Likewise the harrowing experience of captivity in the hands of the fanatical and ideological Chinese.
Still time to get it by Christmas.

Batco

[ORAC]

https://twitter.com/wavellroom/status/1472630311733407745?s=21


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Metal-Dust-Afghanistan-2001-14/dp/1472831012

[622]

It's still there near the Royal Garrison Church.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/750x500/aldershot_statue_2_c774907cf71799afe8259f0e8c5d08905f0448a5. jpg
Duke of Wellington statue at Aldershot
...I bet his wife was miffed that he took the TV remote with him! :E

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Oh please PLEASE put a 'Like' button on PPRuNe, just for posts like 622's :ok:

[twinboom]

Apologies if earlier in the thread, i have browsed over the years but not start to finish: RIFLEMAN by (and autobiography of) Victor Gregg, with Rick Stroud.
Real boy’s own stuff - but it’s all a true story - and Devastating on Dresden, he was there. You’ll have to read it to find outs how that came about.

[Jackonicko]

https://twitter.com/mike_sooty/status/1461375131465441282?s=21

This is hands down the best aviation book of the year for me, and one of the all time great aircrew bios.

[MrBernoulli]

A chance encounter on the web led me to this wartime tale of incredible bravery:

'Return to the Reich: A Holocaust Refugee's Secret Mission to Defeat the Nazis' by Eric Lichtblau (2019)
ISBN 10: 1328528537
ISBN 13: 9781328528537

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This is the publisher's blurb:

The remarkable story of Fred Mayer, a German-born Jew who escaped Nazi Germany only to return as an American commando on a secret mission behind enemy lines

Growing up in Germany, Freddy Mayer witnessed the Nazis’ rise to power. When he was sixteen, his family made the decision to flee to the United States—they were among the last German Jews to escape, in 1938.

In America, Freddy tried enlisting the day after Pearl Harbor, only to be rejected as an “enemy alien” because he was German. He was soon recruited to the OSS, the country’s first spy outfit before the CIA. Freddy, joined by Dutch Jewish refugee Hans Wynberg and Nazi defector Franz Weber, parachuted into Austria as the leader of Operation Greenup, meant to deter Hitler’s last stand. He posed as a Nazi officer and a French POW for months, dispatching reports to the OSS via Hans, holed up with a radio in a nearby attic. The reports contained a gold mine of information, provided key intelligence about the Battle of the Bulge, and allowed the Allies to bomb twenty Nazi trains. On the verge of the Allied victory, Freddy was captured by the Gestapo and tortured and waterboarded for days. Remarkably, he persuaded the region’s Nazi commander to surrender, completing one of the most successful OSS missions of the war.

Based on years of research and interviews with Mayer himself, whom the author was able to meet only months before his death at the age of ninety-four, Return to the Reich is an eye-opening, unforgettable narrative of World War II heroism.

To expand a little on the description above, Fred Mayer spent some considerable time, with the help of forged documents and a stolen uniform, posing as a convalescing German officer, all the while living in officers' quarters in Innsbruck! The forged documents included a paybook, and the Reich actually ended up paying the Jewish spy in it's midst! Courage and fortitude on this scale certainly gets my utmost respect, and convincingly underlines the real meaning of the term 'hero'.

I obtained my brand new hardback copy of the book on the UK Abebooks website (https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=30959258608&searchurl=pt%3Dbook%26xpod%3Doff%26bi%3D0%26ds%3D50%26bx%3Do ff%26sortby%3D17%26an%3DLichtblau%252C%2BEric%26recentlyadde d%3Dall&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title2) (abebooks.co.uk), for £9.01, including postage. It is also available via the international version of the site (abebooks.com).

There is also a paperback edition available, plus an Amazon Kindle version

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Wikipedia's entry for Fred Mayer's here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Mayer_(spy)).

If you cannot afford the time to read the book, this 52-minute film on Youtube will give you the lowdown on this remarkable chap and his colleagues. Interviews with Fred Mayer and friend Hans Wynberg are included in the film:

The Real Inglorious Basterds! - True Story of the Jewish Commandos Who Inspired Tarantino

[Cat Techie]

This is hands down the best aviation book of the year for me, and one of the all time great aircrew bios.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1632x1224/romania35_ab8621671e95d842addc6c34a0e41eae8f80909a.jpg
Indeed it is a great read and seeing I was on 6 with Sooty, it brought back some memories. Ex Lone Cat 04. I remember OC 6 at the time (Ex Red Bull Air Race Director) saying the exercise was eye opening and was more like a Sqn exchange in actual output. Mike's stories of the airboure stuff backs OC6's assessment! I have photos of the dead Migs as well Jacko!

[mopardave]

"Death of a Hero"........about Captain Robert Nairac and his disappearance back in the '70's. Intrigued me as a child........the book gives a real insight into the murky and extremely violent goings on back then.

[dagenham]

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1632x1224/romania35_ab8621671e95d842addc6c34a0e41eae8f80909a.jpg
Indeed it is a great read and seeing I was on 6 with Sooty, it brought back some memories. Ex Lone Cat 04. I remember OC 6 at the time (Ex Red Bull Air Race Director) saying the exercise was eye opening and was more like a Sqn exchange in actual output. Mike's stories of the airboure stuff backs OC6's assessment! I have photos of the dead Migs as well Jacko!

just read it too after an Xmas present of kindle and would echo your endorsement. Very good read, with a bit of dust in the air in the middle.

[oldmansquipper]

I’m not sure a very ‘good’ read is entirely appropriate, however….

A Noble Anger. - David Hill

A painful assessment of the continuing corporate failings which led to the tragic death of Cpl Jon Baylis.

Not for the faint hearted.

[[email protected]]

I’m not sure a very ‘good’ read is entirely appropriate, however….

A Noble Anger. - David Hill

A painful assessment of the continuing corporate failings which led to the tragic death of Cpl Jon Baylis.

Not for the faint hearted.

Just read it - heads should roll in MoD - another preventable death in service with a Service Inquiry and a Coroners Inquest failing to point the blame where it actually lies. (yes I know neither is there to apportion blame but when so much evidence is covered up or excluded, someone should be brought to account)

The bottom line? You get as much Flight Safety as you are prepared to pay for and the RAF has clearly run out of money....................

[EngAl]

Just finished Typhoon by Mike Sutton.
Could hardly put it down - Really interesting and no ego trips from someone who achieved a lot.
Just got a copy of Death of Hero which already looks like another good recommendation.

[CAEBr]

Just finished Typhoon by Mike Sutton.
Could hardly put it down - Really interesting and no ego trips from someone who achieved a lot.

EngAl, fully agree, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it wholeheartedly.
I've started Dave Montenegro's Red Arrows book. It starts off fairly well but I've got more annoyed as I go on. It's billed on the cover as "The Official Story of Britain's Iconic Display Team" and it shows that MoD PR are directing it and not letting a serving officer give his view. (Presumably that was less of an issue with Mike Sutton's book)
The team make up is repeatedly described as Enid and the rear section. All mention of Gypo has been wiped out - why, it relates to an early members nickname not those who recently tarmaced Cranwell's melted hardstanding.
Reference to Red 1 continually quotes "he or she" despite never having had a female in that position and won't for at least another 7 years based on how the process is described.
The final nail that almost made me throw it across the room is in describing Sean Cunningham's accident and stating it was MBA's failure to pass on information about tightening a nut and bolt which they finally admitted in 2018.
As a PR exercise it really highlights why David Hill's book is a far better read.

[dervish]

The final nail that almost made me throw it across the room is in describing Sean Cunningham's accident and stating it was MBA's failure to pass on information about tightening a nut and bolt which they finally admitted in 2018.

I wonder this is the MOD PR machine putting words in his mouth? Only a complete moron would believe this after reading and watching the evidence. If you want the truth, buy "Red 5".

[Chugalug2]

Just read it - heads should roll in MoD - another preventable death in service with a Service Inquiry and a Coroners Inquest failing to point the blame where it actually lies. (yes I know neither is there to apportion blame but when so much evidence is covered up or excluded, someone should be brought to account)

The bottom line? You get as much Flight Safety as you are prepared to pay for and the RAF has clearly run out of money....................
I'm not sure current lack of money is the culprit, though the more there is of it the better of course. The causal theme running through all of David Hill's books is the cover up of the fatal damage done to UK Military Air Safety in the late eighties/early nineties by certain RAF VSOs looking for a short term financial saving. What they managed to achieve was long term damage to UK Military Air Safety. Airworthiness is a delicate plant that must be carefully nurtured with the constant attention of professionally trained and experienced engineers. To ensure that the money it would normally take to enable that could be siphoned off to pay for their follies, those VSOs made certain that those same engineers were replaced by untrained and inexperienced apparatchiks, and just to make sure that they remained untrained and inexperienced the Regulations were pulped. This madness was the beginning of the cover up and succeeding generations of the Star Chamber have kept it going rather than come clean. The resultant airworthiness related fatal air accidents have been recorded in the many accident threads appearing in this forum and of course David Hill's books.

We have a classic chicken and egg situation here. The reform needed can only come about if UK Military Air Regulation and Accident Investigation are made independent of the MOD and of each other, but as long as the MOD controls them the cover-up will continue. It needs leadership to break that log jam and make reform possible. Meanwhile the canker that killed Jon Bayliss will go on killing. Perhaps even more alarmingly it is infecting every fleet, new and old, for lack of the professional TLC that airworthiness requires. One day the RAF and FAA will again have to confront another Air Power for Supremacy of the Sky. Unless reform is enabled they will do so with one arm tied behind their back. If that all sounds rather hysterical then read David Hill's books and decide for yourself. I commend them all, the latest being A Noble Anger, and can be found in Kindle or Paperback versions down a South American river a mere click away.

[mopardave]

Just finished Typhoon by Mike Sutton.
Could hardly put it down - Really interesting and no ego trips from someone who achieved a lot.
Just got a copy of Death of Hero which already looks like another good recommendation.
Death of a Hero is a cracking read.......my neighbour came across R.N. several times whilst he was serving in N.I. Fascinating!!

[Thud105]

I enjoyed Typhoon but two parts baffled me. When taxying out for the type's combat debut, the author suddenly realises the map of the target hasn't been loaded. Would you not check that before starting the engines? Also, when one of the Tornadoes goes tech and the crew taxi back for the spare, wasn't that the perfect moment to taxi back and load the maps? Instead, he sits there at idle for 20 minutes, burning into his reserve fuel. At the very least, why not simply turn the engines off until the spare Tornado appears? NOTE this is not a criticism, there may be perfectly valid answers and I just don't know them.

[mike rondot]

I just finished TYPHOON by Mike Sutton.

Spoiler alert : By a country mile it is the best aviation book of the year and will be acclaimed as one of the best pilot autobiographical works of all time.

Don’t take my word for it, go buy a copy, read it and learn what really makes a ground attack fighter pilot tick. It is brilliant, cleverly written and expertly edited. Enjoy…

[Big Pistons Forever]

I just finished TYPHOON by Mike Sutton.

Spoiler alert : By a country mile it is the best aviation book of the year and will be acclaimed as one of the best pilot autobiographical works of all time.

Don’t take my word for it, go buy a copy, read it and learn what really makes a ground attack fighter pilot tick. It is brilliant, cleverly written and expertly edited. Enjoy…

I just finished it as well and it definitely was a good read.

[Mogwi]

Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield.

The true story of a Long Range Dessert Group patrol whose aim was to find and kill Rommel in the North African wastelands. Amazing story of the most incredible hardships overcome and vicious battles fought before they (spoiler alert!) actually catch up with him. The meeting is not quite what any of the participants anticipated!

Wonderfully written by a man who became a literary agent after the war, it paints the picture of the danger and chaos experienced by these men in vivid detail. Also depicted is the fierce loyalty forged between men by violent action. A real page-turner with more than a whiff of cordite to make the eyes smart.

Mog

[longer ron]

Killing Rommel by Steven Pressfield.

The true story of a Long Range Dessert Group patrol whose aim was to find and kill Rommel in the North African wastelands. Amazing story of the most incredible hardships overcome and vicious battles fought before they (spoiler alert!) actually catch up with him. The meeting is not quite what any of the participants anticipated!

Mog

Absolutely agree - a cracking read Mogwi although it is classified as a novel - so perhaps a work of fiction based on true LRDG experiences ??

For anybody interested in the LRDG/desert warfare (although Dessert sounds tastier ;) ) I would also recommend...

Lost in Libya – In Search of the Long Range Desert Group (2009)

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/36199

A very nicely made docu by Brendan O'Carroll about the hunt for 3 LRDG Chevvy Trucks abandoned at Gebel Sherif in Libya (1941),including commentary from some NZ LRDG vets and some unique 8mm movie footage of the LRDG at work by 'Wink' Adams (LRDG Trooper)
Link to trailer above - it is available to download from vimeo for a small fee ,it is HD quality and quite a large filesize (11.9 gigs) - took approx an hour to download onto my decrepit old PC :)

[bspatz]

HMS Rutland is a recently published book that manages to combine 19th and 21st century naval action in a very enjoyable action yarn. Very readable with an intriguing storyline which even manages to include some naval aviation activity.

[oldmansquipper]

I wonder this is the MOD PR machine putting words in his mouth? Only a complete moron would believe this after reading and watching the evidence. If you want the truth, buy "Red 5".

Derv. Is the author the same Mr Montenegro as got a much watered down bad press from same MoD PR machine earlier in the year? I wonder if the ‘words’ were a tad quid pro quo?

[artee]

I've recently finished reading SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben MacIntyre. It's the authorised history from the SAS archives. Excellent reading.

Britain's Special Air Service - or SAS - was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat whose aimlessness in early life belied a remarkable strategic mind. Where most of his colleagues looked at a battlefield map of World War II's African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel's desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: Given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind enemy lines and sabotage their airplanes and war matériel.

Paired with his constitutional opposite, the disciplined martinet Jock Lewes, Stirling assembled a revolutionary fighting force that would upend not just the balance of the war but the nature of combat itself. He faced no little resistance from those who found his tactics ungentlemanly or beyond the pale, but in the SAS' remarkable exploits facing the Nazis in Africa and then on the continent can be found the seeds of nearly all special forces units that would follow.

Bringing his keen eye for psychological detail to a riveting wartime narrative, Ben Macintyre uses his unprecedented access to SAS archives to shine a light inside a legendary unit long shrouded in secrecy. The result is not just a tremendous war story but a fascinating group portrait of men of whom history and country asked the most.

[STUPREC]

"Crashed and Burned". Brutal and deeply moving. Still available on Amazon

[dervish]

Derv. Is the author the same Mr Montenegro as got a much watered down bad press from same MoD PR machine earlier in the year? I wonder if the ‘words’ were a tad quid pro quo?


Yes, old man. I think it was mentioned on another thread that his name has been removed from the book's cover, which is still available. I wonder if MOD asked for that? Not sure how that works. But for a book written in 2021/22 I can't believe anyone would really believe what it says about the Sean Cunningham accident, which leads me to believe the content was strictly controlled or dictated by MOD. As I said, if you want the truth read "Red 5" or any of Mr Hill's books. I recently re-read his first one "Their Greatest Disgrace" as the Kindle version has been republished, this time with the complete main submission to the Mull of Kintyre Review. It left me in no doubt that the Review had nowhere else to go.

[langleybaston]

Please indulge me.

I lurk on this thread [whilst shooting my mouth off on others] and have followed up a good few good references.

WARNING Potential thread drift.

Which of us writes books, in addition to reading? And on what subjects?
I expect a note from the Mods in the near future of course.

[Lyneham Lad]

Thoroughly enjoyed "Typhoon" by Mike Sutton and after reading the considerable numbers of positive reviews here have just ordered John Nichol's "Eject! Eject!".

PS - although non-Mil, also ordered "Concorde" by Mike Bannister (former Concorde Chief Test Pilot). To my mind it is still one of the most beautiful man-made objects ever created. :)

[Ninthace]

In the days when students or schoolkids had summer jobs, I worked on Concorde in the wind tunnels at a company called ARA at Bedford. We ran several different trails on models in the supersonic and transonic tunnels and yes I have to agree with you, she was a work of art as well as being well ahead of her time. I also reckon you have not seen engineering until you have seen Rolls Royce engineering, The models of the intakes we put through the supersonic tunnel, in an effort to get the variable geometry and the pattern of shock waves within the intake right, were mind blowing in their precision.

[Jhieminga]

ARA still exists, it has an interesting heritage: https://www.ara.co.uk/about-ara/our-heritage/

I finished Mike Bannister's 'Concorde' recently. It's a good read and certainly provides a very clear insight into what happened to the Air France Concorde at Gonesse. To get back on track a bit.... I also really enjoyed 'Fall Out Roman Catholics and Jews (https://amzn.to/3EAFS1f)' by Tony Haig-Thomas, and 'Lightnings to Spitfires (https://amzn.to/3Ew7jJl)' by Clive Rowley. Perhaps they have been mentioned before...

[mike rondot]

I enjoyed this pilot's story. The title was an unfortunate choice given the self-immolation by the Reds earlier this year, but don't let that put you off, it is a very good read, especially if you like your stories from the cockpit unembellished by political correctness.
The final chapters are a brief description of his time with the Reds; the rest of the book is best described as a 300-page love letter to the Buccaneer, Hunter and Fleet Air Arm. Buy it and enjoy, you will not be disappointed.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/171x261/9781914424588_copy_7089ccb09c55206f96a1619f413e5f8f05fd2936. jpeg

[cliver029]

HMS RUTLAND


Has similar overtones to the Jacaranda Trilogy by Larry Jerome-Croft even down time slips and to names plus Jane Austin?

[Bergerie1]

May I recommend something completely different, The Letters of Private Wheeler, 1809-1828. He fought with Wellington's army throughout most of the Peninsula Campaign and, although having only a basic education, writes vividly of the experiences of the ordinary soldier. In fact, he write so well, that John Keegan said. "In a later age he would have become a successful war correspondent... He was one of military history's great originals".

You can buy the book from Amazon and Waterstones, and I highly recpmmend it.

[MightyGem]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and recommend a series of novels by an ex AAC pilot, Karl Jackson, entitled, “Harry’s Game”.

Over 9 books, they follow the life of RAF pilot Harry Cornwall through WW2. Book One starts in France in Spring 1940 and covers the Battle of France and the retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk.

The following books include: the Battle of Britain, the early defence of Malta,(including Faith, Hope and Charity. Any author that does that has to worth a read), a flag waving tour of the USA, a second tour in Malta(flying reconnaissance in Martin Marylands and Spitfires), a tour on Mosquitoes and flying Lysanders into occupied France. A posting to a Tempest Sqn, a secondment to an American P38 Sqn to mention just a few of the plot lines.

They are available in the Amazon Kindle store and as soon as you look at the link you’ll see that there is a HUGE twist in the tale.

However, I found the author’s style of writing very immersive, so give them a try.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JC5MSRX?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1696960695&sr=1-2&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

[kration]

I’m going to go out on a limb here and recommend a series of novels by an ex AAC pilot, Karl Jackson, entitled, “Harry’s Game”.

Over 9 books, they follow the life of RAF pilot Harry Cornwall through WW2. Book One starts in France in Spring 1940 and covers the Battle of France and the retreat and evacuation from Dunkirk.

The following books include: the Battle of Britain, the early defence of Malta,(including Faith, Hope and Charity. Any author that does that has to worth a read), a flag waving tour of the USA, a second tour in Malta(flying reconnaissance in Martin Marylands and Spitfires), a tour on Mosquitoes and flying Lysanders into occupied France. A posting to a Tempest Sqn, a secondment to an American P38 Sqn to mention just a few of the plot lines.

They are available in the Amazon Kindle store and as soon as you look at the link you’ll see that there is a HUGE twist in the tale.

However, I found the author’s style of writing very immersive, so give them a try.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JC5MSRX?binding=kindle_edition&qid=1696960695&sr=1-2&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

I'll check them out. They sound a bit like the George Yeoman books by Robert Jackson that I read eagerly as a child. The movement from one setting to another opens up a lot of scenarios. The Lysander one is very interesting.

[oldmansquipper]

I’ve just finished ‘Eject Eject’ and I found it a very good read, indeed. Highly recommended.

Having worked on escape and survival systems for nearly 50 years - 11 of them in R&D with a well known purveyor of Gentleman’s (and now Ladies) explosive airborne furniture - I was particularly pleased to see John N has clearly explained the difficulties with integrating the ‘female’ (other genders are apparently now available!) form into a system designed specifically for males…..We got there eventually, though. 😉

I am now halfway through ‘Typhoon’ and so far, it’s a belter! Beautifully written, Holding even my wandering attention, it’s a page turner for sure one of the easiest reads I’ve had in years.

As a ‘vocational’ pilot myself and who served on the most prodigious of the Jaguar Sqns (II(AC)) Mike’s explanation of the many challenges facing Jag operators at the time is eye opening. I wonder how many of those challenges would have been solved if the Jag had continued in service with its proposed major upgrade in place? . However, It was so sad to see the hierarchies BOI default position - ‘pilot lost control’ - in many of the tragic losses experienced on the Force.

great stuff, both. 🫡 THANK YOU!

[exMudmover]

“The Right of the Line,(The RAF in The European War 1939-45 )” by John Terraine

A tremendous, heart-warming story of the light blue. A masterful summary of operations and personnel, attitudes and heroism and duty at all levels. In it he argues cogently that the RAF took the traditional superior placing of “The Right of the Line”, because of its achievements and sacrifices in WW2. If you accept that then maybe you should also believe that the RAF should have taken over the position of Senior Service within the British Armed forces.

Sample quote from the final pages:

And what of the aircrew, the flyers, the ones who left their burnt bones scattered over all of Europe? In those young men we may discern the many faces of courage, the constitution of heroes: in lonely cockpits at dizzy altitudes, quartering the treacherous and limitless sea, searching the desert’s hostile glare, brushing the peaks of the high mountains, in the ferocity of low-level attack or the long, tense haul of a bombing mission, in fog, in deadly cold, in storm … on fire …in a prison camp… in a skin-grafting hospital … My title shows what I think of them: there is not prouder place, none deserving more honour, than the right of the line.

He does not neglect the groundcrew:

When we look below the ranks of the highest commanders, amid so much heroism, so much military virtue, it becomes invidious to start naming names. The overwhelming majority of the RAF’s million were to be found in the ground crew – that assembly of skilled, educated, individualistic, irreverent, dependable men without whose untiring labours the aircraft would not have flown, the operations would not have happened, the victory could never have been won, and this book would never have been written. The off-hand diffidence of their generation still caused many of them to brush aside their war service with comic or sardonic anecdotes, an attitude reflected in their scurrilous joyful songs , and summed up in what may almost be called the anthem of the “erks” – “Bless (or otherwise) ‘Em All”:
Many of them would rather die than admit to any pride in their part in what they liked to present as the most almighty F**k – Up from beginning to end. “Binding” every inch of the way, they made victory possible; they were splendid.

[lsh]

Cheating Death - Combat Air Rescues in Vietnam and Laos. George J. Marrett

I found this an outstanding book.
A really interesting and capable "big-piston" aircraft doing an incredible job.
Well written, no histrionics. These guy's were brave and resourceful.

lsh

[Lonewolf_50]

Damned Lucky
Memoir (with a ghost writer) of an American B-17 pilot from WW II (my son in law met him in person a few years ago): John Luckadoo.
He really brings the gritty, visceral fear and anxiety of each mission (trying to get to 25 to rotate home before you die in a flaming wreck) of B-17 crews.