The Secret Life of Fighter Command
The Secret Life of Fighter Command

Author: Sinclair McKay

Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA

Published: 2015-07-02

Total Pages: 361

ISBN-13: 1781314780

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Bring[s] alive the all-engulfing drama of 1940, as Hitler’s Luftwaffe attempted to establish air superiority over England. . . . Poetry and sharp politics.” —The Times During the dark days of 1940, when Britain faced the might of Hitler’s armed forces alone, the RAF played an integral role in winning the Battle of Britain against the Luftwaffe, thus ensuring the country’s safety from invasion. The men and women of Fighter Command worked tirelessly in air bases scattered throughout the length and breadth of Britain to thwart the Nazi attacks; The Secret Life of Fighter Command tells their story. From setting up the ground-breaking radar systems along the coast of the Southeast of England, to the distribution of spotters of bombing waves coming along the Thames Estuary, the boffins who designed and built the guidance and detection structures to organize a winning defense umbrella, to the Wrens who plotted enemy movements and then conveyed this to the various RAF squadrons stationed in the UK’s zonal defense system—all of them played a part in maintaining the security over Britain. Through exclusive interviews with various members of this unique and world famous organization, bestselling author Sinclair McKay tells the human story of how Britain survived the Nazi onslaught and enabled our Hurricanes and Spitfires to triumph over the German air force.

The God Con
The God Con

Author: Lee Moller

Publisher: FriesenPress

Published: 2017-06-24

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1525506803

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The crucifix is in! You can fool most of the people most of the time. In The God Con, Lee Moller, a life-long atheist and skeptic, looks at organized religion through the lens of the con. Organized religion has been selling an invisible product, that it never has to deliver, for thousands of years. It has given us bigotry, rampant pedophilia, terrorism, and bloodshed beyond imagining. And its acolytes have, in turn, given organized religion power over their bank accounts, their reproduction, and their very “souls”.

The Women Behind the Few
The Women Behind the Few

Author: Sarah-Louise Miller

Publisher: Biteback Publishing

Published: 2023-03-09

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1785907980

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The courageous pilots of the Royal Air Force who faced the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, affectionately known as 'the Few', are rightly hailed as heroes. Recently, efforts have been made to recognise the thousands who supported RAF operations behind the scenes. And yet one group remains missing from the narrative: the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. WAAFs worked within the Dowding System, the world's most sophisticated air defence network. Throughout the Blitz, they used radar to aid Fighter and Bomber Commands in protecting Britain's civilians. WAAFs were also behind the discovery of the terrifying German V-weapons. Their work was critical ahead of the Normandy landings and they were present in their hundreds at Bletchley Park. In this thrilling book, Sarah-Louise Miller celebrates their wartime contribution to British military intelligence. Hidden behind the Few but vital to their success, WAAFs supplied the RAF with life-saving information. Here, for the first time, is their story.

Air Marshal Sir Keith Park
Air Marshal Sir Keith Park

Author: Murray Rowlands

Publisher: Pen and Sword Aviation

Published: 2021-03-03

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1526767910

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A long-overdue biography of the dedicated commander from New Zealand who helped ward off the Luftwaffe and save Britain from a Nazi invasion. The Battle of Britain from July to September 1940 is one of the finest moments in Britain’s history. While credit rightly goes to “The Few,” victory could never have happened without the inspirational command and leadership of New Zealander Keith Park. He and Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding ensured that Fighter Command was prepared for the Nazi onslaught. Promoted to Air Vice Marshal, Park took over No 11 Group, responsible for the defense of London and South East England in April 1940. A shrewd tactician and hands-on commander, Park carefully husbanded his limited resources and famously wore down Goering’s Luftwaffe, thus forcing Hitler to abandon his invasion plans. Shamefully, Dowding and Park were dismissed from their commands in the aftermath of victory due to internal RAF politics. Fortunately, Park’s career was far from over and his management of the defense of Malta made a significant contribution to victory in the Mediterranean. This balanced and well overdue account aims to ensure that Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park receives the credit for this victory that he so richly deserves. Includes photographs

My Secret Life in Hut Six
My Secret Life in Hut Six

Author: Mair Russell-Jones

Publisher: Lion Books

Published: 2014-07-18

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0745956653

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The story of the World War 2 de-coders of Bletchley Park continues to fascinate. How did Mair Thomas, a musician brought up in the Welsh valleys, find herself in the rarefied atmosphere of Hut Six, surrounded by hundreds of others, all desperately trying to break the German Enigma Code? Sworn to secrecy and working in cramped and uncomfortable conditions, Mair discovered her degree in German and Music was just what was needed. Drawn from the public schools and Oxbridge her background was very different to that of most of her colleagues and she didn't immediately fit in. This captivating memoir unpacks her daily life and explores the relationships she built. My Secret Life in Hut Six provides a fascinating insight into one woman's battle against Nazi Germany vividly capturing an era of danger, strain and day to day difficulties that were brightened occasionally by visits from the top brass, such as Winston Churchill.

The Secret Life of an American Codebreaker
The Secret Life of an American Codebreaker

Author: Jan Slimming

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2022-02-24

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1526784165

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The tale of a college student’s top-secret life: “A welcome addition to the seldom told story of the role of American women in [WWII] codebreaking.” —The Spectrum Monitor The Secret Life of an American Codebreaker is the true account of Janice Martin, a college student recruited to the military in 1943 after she was secretly approached by a professor at Goucher College, a liberal arts establishment for women in Baltimore, Maryland. Destined for a teaching career, Janice became a prestigious professor of classics at Georgia State University, but how did she spend three years of her secret life during the war working in Washington D.C.’s Top Secret Intelligence? Why was she chosen? How was she chosen? What did she do? This intriguing biography also delves into the stories of several other World War II codebreakers, male and female. With extensive research, unpublished photographs, and recorded interviews, we discover the life of Janice Martin from Baltimore and her Top Secret Ultra role in helping to combat U-boats in the Battle of the Atlantic, work she and her colleagues undertook in a foundation provided by both British and American intelligence. From the early days to D-Day and beyond, the book reveals the hidden figures who were part of this incredible time in history.

Vegan Veteran
Vegan Veteran

Author: Peter Burdin

Publisher: AuthorHouse

Published: 2022-03-23

Total Pages: 123

ISBN-13: 1665597496

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A hundred years ago, vegans were regarded with disdain and seen as weird and weakly. In Vegan Veteran, author Peter Burdin shares the story of his father, Roy, as he battled to promote a vegan and vegetarian diet, a diet that’s finally become mainstream as a healthy lifestyle choice and a major contributor to combatting climate change. Burdin also tells how Roy lived through World War II as he worked on the top-secret-radar project that thwarted Hitler’s attempts to invade Britain, defeated the Nazi war machine in Normandy, assisted in the Desert War, and played a key role in Operation Market Garden at Arnhem and the liberation of the concentration camps. Vegan Veteran narrates a compelling biography filled with adventure, love, and resilience that sweeps through the horrors of the World War I, the poverty of the Great Depression, World War II, and the privations that followed in the post-war world of the nuclear weapons age and the Cold War. Above all, it’s the story of two of the so-called Greatest Generation, their wartime romance which survived the war, the great social upheavals that followed, and the family they created.

Command Of The Air
Command Of The Air

Author: General Giulio Douhet

Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing

Published: 2014-08-15

Total Pages: 620

ISBN-13: 1782898522

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

Dowding of Fighter Command
Dowding of Fighter Command

Author: Vincent Orange

Publisher: Grub Street

Published: 2008-10-30

Total Pages: 375

ISBN-13: 1908117745

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

An extensive biography of the life and distinguished military career of the Scottish air chief marshal. Making full use of archival sources, studies by other scholars, and information provided by family members, Vincent Orange has completed the first biography of Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding to cover his entire life. Soldier, pilot, wireless pioneer, squadron commander, spiritualist, champion skier, “Stuffy” Dowding is perhaps best known as the creator of the first radar-based air defense system and his no less remarkable management of such throughout the Battle of Britain. Dowding served in “delightful and dangerous Iraq,” helped to pacify unrest in the Holy Land, was involved in the R.101 airship disaster, and oversaw the creation of Britain’s first eight-gun monoplanes, the Hurricane and Spitfire. Controversially dismissed from Fighter Command and refused the R.A.F.’s highest rank, he nevertheless became the first airman elevated to the peerage since Trenchard. Westminster Abbey was packed for his memorial service in March 1970 with more than 46 air marshals in attendance; and in 1988, H.M. the Queen Mother unveiled a statue in his honor. With his expert eye, respected historian Orange has analyzed and evaluated every episode of Dowding’s exceptional career to produce the definitive biography.

RAF Bomber Command: 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure' 1936-1945
RAF Bomber Command: 'Strike Hard, Strike Sure' 1936-1945

Author: Ron Mackay

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Published: 2022-03-31

Total Pages: 716

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

-> Historically rich in detail with previously unpublished photographs from private archives -> Researched and written by an aviation and military historian renowned author -> Essential for military/historians, modellers, flight-sim enthusiasts (War Thunder, IL-2 Sturmovik: Great Battles and DCS) and those interested in the complexities of aircraft design and production during the Second World War ‘They sowed the wind and now they are going to reap the whirlwind.’ Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris The concept of an aerial campaign on a nation’s industrial and military might was advocated by Britain before the start of the First World War; however, a stringent post-war economy ensured that the creation of Bomber Command in 1936 witnessed a daunting disparity between the aim of striking at an adversary’s ability to sustain itself and the means to do so. From 1939 to 1942, Bomber Command was very weak in terms of human and material losses. The navigational means with which to accurately guide bombers to targets was almost completely lacking while the enemy defensive network inflicted serious casualties. Consequently, the punishment handed out was minimal. The resurgence of Bomber Command’s fortunes coincided with the appointment of Sir Arthur Harris. The advent of four-engine designs such as the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax ensured that a greatly increased bomb tonnage could be delivered. Also, electronic aids such as Gee, Oboe and H2S simplified the task in finding targets. Therefore, by 1944-1945, the RAF’s bombers pulverised Hitler’s Third Reich. Although flak and night-fighters took a heavy toll on the bombers, the RAF’s nocturnal offensive in conjunction with the USAAF’s daylight assaults crippled Germany’s ability to fight back.