His profound respect for the RAF aircrews of the Second World Warhas led aviation historian Pat Cunningham DFM to record the experiences of ten of those who volunteered to hazard their lives when bombing operations were Britain's only effective method of striking back. The young men who engaged in flying duties came from disparate backgrounds but having qualified in their specialist categories were skilfully merged as interdependent crew members. The fact that 8 305 of the 55 573 men killed in RAF Bomber Command died in accidents alone highlights the perils they faced. Others included technical malfunctions notwithstanding that each had implicit faith in their supporting ground personnel. Then again the pressure to get them operational meant that many completed the required 30 bombing sorties with less than 500 hours' experience. Even so they were required to navigate over hostile blacked-out terrain in uncertain weather & with few radio aids in machines packed with highly volatile substances. ' We were buoyed up ' as one reflects wryly 'with the supreme confidence of ignorance.' Any ignorance however did not blind them to the odds against them so there was always fear to contend with. 'I cannot conceive ' says another 'that anyone who flew on ops did not feel afraid at some time.' Bomber Command experiences over Central Europe feature largely but operations over Italy the Indian Ocean & Burma have their place This tribute by the author offered as the Aircrew Association fades away is backed by the perspective given by 20 000 hours of operational & non-operational flying gained in 40 years of Service & Civil aviation. ...

Following the Casablanca Conference in January 1943 at which the Americans refused to back Britains plan to invade the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean to be followed by an invasion of the Greek mainland a weakened British attempt was made with disastrous results. The Americans wished to concentrate all their forces in capturing Sicily & then invading southern Italy. In this first comprehensive account of aerial operations over the Eastern Mediterranean/ Aegean the first chapter covers the disastrous Hurricane attack on Crete (Operation Thesis) an attempt to divert Axis attention from Sicily; subsequent chapters deal with British landings on the islands of Kos & Leros when Spitfires vainly attempted to hold the Luftwaffe at bay. Meanwhile Beaufighters flying from North Africa & Cyprus roamed over the Aegean attacking shipping & aerial transports with success but at a heavy cost until the Germans withdrew from the Aegean & the Greek mainl&. In addition specially modified Spitfires are detailed to combat pressurised high-altitude Ju 87 spy planes used by the Luftwaffe based on Crete & the Fleet Air Arm with its Seafires Wildcats & Hellcats over the Aegean. Also the book

Includes:: many first-hand accounts from both British & German aircrew extracted from official reports & memoirs.

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There has been bookshelf after bookshelf of books compiled written & published about British aircraft the Royal Air Force & the activities of its pilots during World War Two. Tales of derring do bravery & gallantry quite rightly litter the bookshelves & libraries but little has appeared in print about the what could be called the unsung heroes those that designed built & maintained the fighting equipment used to eventually defeat the enemy. This is all the more incredible when one realises that there exists a huge archive of images that have survived which clearly show the skills & scale of what went on. These images of war
- many of which are seen here for almost the first time in seventy years
- form a remarkable tribute to the designers engineers & workers who did so much. Following the end of the Great War the Royal Air Force was drastically reduced in both manpower & equipment. The application of a Ten Year Rule in which the British Government foresaw no war being fought during the next ten years resulted in minimal defence expenditure throughout the 1920s. Financial resitrictions went on until the early 1930s when it at last became apparent that Germany was developing expansionist & aggressive tendencies that could no longer be ignored. The British Government & Air Ministry at last began to develop plans of their own to expand & develop the Royal Air Force. A number of plans were approved by the Cabinet but each one was often replaced by a revised one before the original could be completed. Between 1933 & 1939 the Royal Air Force was given higher priority in terms of rearmament plans than the other services. The policy was driven by the pursuit of parity with Germany more than by defence & strike needs for there was no fixed ratio of bombers to fighter aircraft to guide procurement. There could be no expansion without manufacturing capacity & luckily these manufacturers were not only capable of producing but they also recorded much of their activities & remarkably a huge archive of images have survived which clearly show the skills & scale of what went on. These images of war
- many of which are seen here for almost the first time in seventy years
- form a remarkable tribute to the designers engineers & workers who did so much.



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In April 1916 a group of early aviators gathered in the fields beneath the crags & ramparts of Stirling Castle to form what was to become one of the Royal Air Forces most distinguished fighter squadrons. Few squadrons can match the history of 43 Squadron which has included being the first to undertake ground attack operations during the First World War shooting down the first enemy aircraft over England in the Second World War & achieving the remarkable double of shooting down 6 enemy aircraft in one day in both World Wars. Its distinctive emblem of the Fighting Cock embodies the spirit & resilience of a fighter squadron that has been in the vanguard of RAF operations for almost a century. Perhaps the Fighting Cocks finest period occurred during the Battle of Britain when its Hurricanes destroyed 60 enemy aircraft with a further thirteen probables" & twenty-five more damaged. With the advent of the jet age 43 Squadron became the first unit to fly the Hunter seeing operational duties in Aden before re-equipping with the Phantom until the end of the Cold War. This new edition of the Fighting Cocks history brings the story up to date & covers its 20 years of service with the Tornado F3 including the Gulf War NATO operations over Bosnia & the Iraq War. * This new edition of the Fighting Cocks history brings the story up to date * Few squadrons can match the history of 43 Squadron* Fighting Cock embodies the spirit & resilience of a fighter squadron that has been in the vanguard of RAF operations for almost a century" ...

It's 1983 & Daisy Lane is battling to keep her son Jamie under some kind of control. His older brother Eddie is about to come out of prison after a stretch for manslaughter & his release couldn't come soon enough. In Eddie's absence Jamie has matured from a tearaway teenager to a hardened criminal with a psychotic edge to his character. He's responsible for the death of Roy's bit-on-the-side along with a string of other violent episodes. Only Eddie can keep his young brother from acting out his darkest desires. As Eddie emerges from prison he finds that the world has moved on. The criminal underworld is tougher with fewer allegiances than ever before. Eddie decides to reject Roy's offer of help & instead go it alone setting up his own gang
- who plan the most audacious heist Britain has seen in decades. Will Eddie manage to pull it off? Or will his brother be his undoing?
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Military history as it should be written sound in reasoning precise in detail & firmly placed within the relevant political military & social contexts. It incorporates the testimony of private & general & does not shirk where necessary from passing judgement or according praise. The battles: Ticonderoga 1758. The French defeat the English; Queenston Heights 1812. Brock defeats an American invasion; Ridgeway 1866. Fenians invade the Niagara; Leliefontein 1900. Gallant rearguard action in the Boer War; Moreuil Wood 1918. Rare & disastrous cavalry action in the First World War; Le Mesnil-Patry 1944. Enthusiasm & courage unavailing in the face of the Waffen SS; Kapelsche Veer 1945. Unnecessary & costly fight for a boggy Dutch isl&. ...

Every year in Afghanistan after winter has passed & the opium poppies have been harvested local men re-emerge to confront the latest foreign 'invader' & the fighting season begins again. The soldier's experience is full of contrasts. From the thrill of adventure in a vast open country to the frustration of being withdrawn from action by behind-the-scenes bureaucrats; from watching a friend fall victim to a suicide bomber to being charmed by ordinary people caught in the conflict. Fighting Season is a no-holds-barred account that will change the reader's view of the Afghan campaign & offers a true perspective on the West's ability to fight terrorism & promote democracy in foreign lands. ...

This stunning collection of over 170 large-format colour illustrations

Includes:: paintings of ships

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On 27 August 1979 Paul Burns's life changed for ever. Travelling through Warren Point in Northern Ireland when the IRA detonated two massive bombs he was involved in a devastating explosion
- eighteen soldiers were killed that day; Paul was one of only two who survived. Newly recruited to the Parachute Regiment Paul was performing a tour of duty in Northern Ireland when a four-tonne truck in which he was travelling was destroyed by a massive IRA bomb. Eighteen of his friends & colleagues were killed in the Warrenpoint blast
- the biggest single loss of life for the British Army during the Troubles. Paul barely survived. His body was broken. His left leg was amputated below the knee. His skin was burned down to the bone. Those who saw him wondered if it might not be kinder to let him die. At just eighteen Paul thought his life was over. But he refused to be beaten. He had made a promise to himself that he would make up for the loss of his friends' lives by living his own life to the full. & just over five years later he was a member of the elite parachute display team The Red Devils. In 1996 he entered the record books as a member of ' Time & Tide': the first ever disabled crew to sail around the world. Today he works as a disabled extra in tv & film
- amongst his accolades he can count a role in Hollywood blockbuster Gladiator. His story is a remarkable tale of one man's determination to make the most of his life against the odds.


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Commanded by the controversial Major-General Ivo Thomas the 43rd (Wessex) Division was branded the Fighting Yellow Devils out of respect by its Wehrmacht & Waffen SS opponents. The 43rds distinctive divisional badge of a golden Wyvern
- half-serpent half-dragon
- was to be seen in all the ferocious battles in Normandy the Low Countries & Germany between June 1944 & May 1945. They suffered 12 500 casualties including 3 000 killed in action. The 43rd had its roots firmly in the West of England drawing its infantry battalions from the county regiments of Cornwall Dorset Hampshire Somerset Wiltshire & Worcester with occasional reinforcements during the Normandy campaign by foreign regiments from Berkshire Essex & other counties. This book tells the story of the divisions campaign in Northwest Europe from Normandy to Bremerhaven in the words of the soldiers who actually fought with it: privates sergeants & young company commanders all have their individual tales to tell. Here are first-hand accounts of the landings on the shores of Normandy; the battles for the River Odon Hill 112 Maltot & Mont Pincon; the break-out to the River Seine & the forcing of the vital bridgehead at Vernon; the only infantry division to make a single-handed attempt to relieve Arnhem
- a gallant & costly failure; the clearance of the Roer triangle (Operation Blackcock) & the Reichswald (Operation Veritable); the crossing of the River Rhine & the advance northwards to take the port of Bremen; & the final triumphant advance to the Cuxhaven peninsula northwest of Hamburg.


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