Of Stirlings And Stalags An Air Gunners Tale

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Of Stirlings and Stalags: an air-gunner’s tale

Author : W.E. ‘Bill’ Goodman
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 1300705566
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Of Stirlings and Stalags: an air-gunner’s tale by : W.E. ‘Bill’ Goodman

Download or read book Of Stirlings and Stalags: an air-gunner’s tale written by W.E. ‘Bill’ Goodman and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2013-02-06 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When William 'Bill' Goodman died in 2002 little did his daughters know the extent of the memoirs he had been writing in the few years before his death. Bill's life, from joining the RAF in 1941 at the age of 18 to his demob in 1948, was fraught with adventure. He describes his service with 7 Squadron at Oakington; he then highlights the terrifying events of the night their Stirling was shot down over Holland, his subsequent incarceration at Stalag Luft 3, periods in other camps and, finally, the long debilitating march back home. All this with fascinating commentary, vivid description and the intimacy of his experience. The reader will meet his fellow airmen and POWs, the man who shot down their Stirling on that eventful night, the heroes of the Dutch resistance and, surprisingly, a kindly and caring guard in Stalag Luft 3! A fascinating first-hand account of a young man's wartime experience.

Eyewitness RAF

Author : James Goulty
Publisher : Pen and Sword Aviation
ISBN 13 : 1526752387
Total Pages : 393 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Eyewitness RAF by : James Goulty

Download or read book Eyewitness RAF written by James Goulty and published by Pen and Sword Aviation. This book was released on 2020-12-14 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A detailed, realistic picture of what it was like to serve in the Royal Air Force during WWII, both on the ground and in the air, using firsthand accounts. Much has been written about the Royal Air Force during the Second World War—memoirs, biographies, histories of Fighter and Bomber commands, technical studies of the aircraft, accounts of individual operations and exploits—but few books have attempted to take the reader on a journey through basic training and active service as air or ground crew and eventual demobilization at the end of the war. That is the aim of James Goulty’s Eyewitness RAF. Using a vivid selection of testimony from men and women, he offers a direct insight into every aspect of wartime life in the service. Throughout the book the emphasis is on the individual’s experience of the RAF—the preparations for flying, flying itself, the daily routines of an air base, time on leave, and the issues of discipline, morale, and motivation. A particularly graphic section describes, in the words of the men themselves, what it felt like to go on operations and the impact of casualties—airmen who were killed, injured, or taken prisoner. What emerges is a fascinatingly varied inside view of the RAF that is perhaps less heroic and glamorous than the image created by some postwar accounts—but gives readers today a much more realistic appreciation of the whole gamut of life in the RAF seventy-plus years ago.

Flying against Fate

Author : S. P. MacKenzie
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700624694
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Flying against Fate by : S. P. MacKenzie

Download or read book Flying against Fate written by S. P. MacKenzie and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-08-04 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During World War II, Allied casualty rates in the air were high. Of the roughly 125,000 who served as aircrew with Bomber Command, 59,423 were killed or missing and presumed killed—a fatality rate of 45.5%. With odds like that, it would be no surprise if there were as few atheists in cockpits as there were in foxholes; and indeed, many airmen faced their dangerous missions with beliefs and rituals ranging from the traditional to the outlandish. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie considers this phenomenon in Flying against Fate, a pioneering study of the important role that superstition played in combat flier morale among the Allies in World War II. Mining a wealth of documents as well as a trove of published and unpublished memoirs and diaries, MacKenzie examines the myriad forms combat fliers' superstitions assumed, from jinxes to premonitions. Most commonly, airmen carried amulets or talismans—lucky boots or a stuffed toy; a coin whose year numbers added up to thirteen; counterintuitively, a boomerang. Some performed rituals or avoided other acts, e.g., having a photo taken before a flight. Whatever seemed to work was worth sticking with, and a heightened risk often meant an upsurge in superstitious thought and behavior. MacKenzie delves into behavior analysis studies to help explain the psychology behind much of the behavior he documents—not slighting the large cohort of crew members and commanders who demurred. He also looks into the ways in which superstitious behavior was tolerated or even encouraged by those in command who saw it as a means of buttressing morale. The first in-depth exploration of just how varied and deeply felt superstitious beliefs were to tens of thousands of combat fliers, Flying against Fate expands our understanding of a major aspect of the psychology of war in the air and of World War II.

Stories from the Stalags

Author : Martin W Bowman
Publisher : Air World
ISBN 13 : 1399073338
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Stories from the Stalags by : Martin W Bowman

Download or read book Stories from the Stalags written by Martin W Bowman and published by Air World. This book was released on 2024-06-30 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1942 until the end of the war in Europe, the aircraft of the RAF’s Bomber Command and the United States 8th and 15th Air Forces provided twenty-four-hour ‘round-the-clock’ bombing of the Third Reich. Aircraft and crew casualties were heavy as bomber after bomber succumbed to flak and fighter defenses. For those not killed outright by the Luftwaffe’s onslaught, only baling out over hostile enemy territory could offer any hope of survival. But this generally meant solitary confinement, interrogation, indignities and even extreme hardship for the men who became known as ‘Kriegies’, a word derived from the German Kriegsgefangenen meaning ‘prisoners of war’. Many months of incarceration, sometimes in appalling conditions, would become commonplace for those held in camps throughout Germany, Poland and the Greater Reich. Here, at first hand, are stories of some of those Allied bomber crewmen faced with sudden leaps into that dangerous unknown. For most, and particularly the injured, capture was immediate – imprisonment inevitable. For some evasion was possible, but rarely for long. For others taken prisoner, staying alive was uppermost in the minds of most and in many cases only the comradeship of fellow prisoners and, for some, thoughts of escape became a constant preoccupation. Never to be forgotten too are the conditions and suffering endured by many PoWs when, in the face of the relentless Soviet Army advance into Germany, the camps were hastily emptied and the prisoners forced to march westward as the Germans staged their last gasp, futile attempts to prevent the ‘Kriegies’ falling into Russian hands. For these men, many of whom had been behind the wire for years, this was the final injustice. Martin Bowman’s revealing narrative describes in adrenaline-pumping detail the furious air battles that led to the predicament of many shot-down airmen, as well as the personal campaigns they fought to regain their freedom. Fascinating for its gripping and factual recreation of the bombers’ encounters with enemy fighters and flak, as well as the confrontations in captivity between PoWs and guards, Stories from the Stalags provides a real insight into the war as some of those who ‘fell from formation’ saw it.

The True Story of the Great Escape

Author : Jonathan F. Vance
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
ISBN 13 : 1784384399
Total Pages : 525 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (843 download)

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Book Synopsis The True Story of the Great Escape by : Jonathan F. Vance

Download or read book The True Story of the Great Escape written by Jonathan F. Vance and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2019-08-30 with total page 525 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The real history behind the classic war movie and the men who plotted the daring escape from a Nazi POW camp. Between dusk and dawn on the night of March 24th–25th 1944, a small army of Allied soldiers crawled through tunnels in Germany in a covert operation the likes of which the Third Reich had never seen. The prison break from Stalag Luft III in eastern Germany was the largest of its kind in the Second World War. Seventy-nine Allied soldiers and airmen made it outside the wire—but only three made it outside Nazi Germany. Fifty were executed by the Gestapo. In this book Jonathan Vance tells the incredible story that was made famous by the 1963 film The Great Escape. It is a classic tale of prisoners and their wardens in a battle of wits and wills. The brilliantly conceived escape plan is overshadowed only by the colorful, daring (and sometimes very funny) crew who executed it—literally under the noses of German guards. From the men’s first days in Stalag Luft III and the forming of bonds among them, to the tunnel building, amazing escape, and eventual capture, Vance’s history is a vivid, compelling look at one of the greatest “exfiltration” missions of all time. “Shows the variety and depth of the men sent into harm’s way during World War II, something emphasized by the population of Stalag Luft III. Most of the Allied POWs were flyers, with all the technical, tactical and planning skills that profession requires. Such men are independent thinkers, craving open air and wide-open spaces, which meant that an obsession with escape was almost inevitable.” —John D. Gresham

A Trenchard Brat at War

Author : Thomas Lancashire
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 1473819911
Total Pages : 199 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (738 download)

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Book Synopsis A Trenchard Brat at War by : Thomas Lancashire

Download or read book A Trenchard Brat at War written by Thomas Lancashire and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2009-06-18 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the story of Thomas Lancashire who joined the RAF in 1936 and became one of the famous 'Trenchard Brats' at RAF Halton to be educated and learn the trade of fitter. He was first posted to 7 Squadron in 1939, at that time flying Whitley bombers but decided to advance himself to become a flight engineer on the new Stirling heavy bomber. He was posted to 15 Squadron at Wyton and completed a full tour that included the famous Lbeck raid, the Thousand Bomber assault on Cologne and the follow up on Essen during which he was almost shot down over Antwerp. In July 1942 he was rested and became an instructor until being posted to 97 Squadron flying Lancasters. On his ninth raid of this tour, 11 August 1943, the aircraft was attacked by a night fighter over Belgium but he successfully baled out and was eventually picked up by the Resistance and handed to an escape line.Eventually the group of evaders was betrayed by a German agent and placed in captivity, ending up in Stalag Luft IV at Mhlberg. During this time he escaped but was eventually recaptured and he was forced to share the growing despair and hardships in late 1944, enduring overcrowding, hunger and cold, until the Russian Army liberated the camp and he was airlifted back to the UK.His post-war career took him to Canada where he was employed on the Avro Arrow project until it was abandoned and he was forced to seek work in the USA. He worked with Boeing until his retirement .

Through Footless Halls of Air

Author : Floyd Williston
Publisher : GeneralStore PublishingHouse
ISBN 13 : 9781896182445
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (824 download)

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Book Synopsis Through Footless Halls of Air by : Floyd Williston

Download or read book Through Footless Halls of Air written by Floyd Williston and published by GeneralStore PublishingHouse. This book was released on 1996 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Long Road

Author : Oliver Clutton-Brock
Publisher : Grub Street Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1909808547
Total Pages : 541 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis The Long Road by : Oliver Clutton-Brock

Download or read book The Long Road written by Oliver Clutton-Brock and published by Grub Street Publishing. This book was released on 2014-03-19 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of the airmen imprisoned in Nazi Germany’s largest World War II prisoner-of-war camp, the notorious Stalag Luft 7. This book is firstly a testament to those of many nationalities who found themselves imprisoned at Stalag Luft VII, Bankau (Luft 7 for short) in Upper Silesia, the Luftwaffe’s last prisoner of war camp. Having survived the trauma of action against, and capture by, the enemy, some as far back as 1940, they came from France, the Low Countries, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Poland, the Balkans, Italy, Hungary, the Mediterranean and other seas, and from North Africa. Many of their experiences and adventures have never been documented before. It is also the complete history of their prisoner of war (POW) camp, Luft 7, told in full detail for the first time, a camp that existed for barely thirty-two weeks from its opening in early June 1944 to its closure in mid-January 1945.

The True Story of the Wooden Horse

Author : Robert J. Laplander
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 1473835143
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (738 download)

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Book Synopsis The True Story of the Wooden Horse by : Robert J. Laplander

Download or read book The True Story of the Wooden Horse written by Robert J. Laplander and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-04-30 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This in-depth historical study reveals fascinating new insight into the famous Wooden Horse escape of three Allied POWs from a Nazi prison camp. In 1943, three British prisoners of war plotted a daring and ingenious escape from Stalag Luft III by making use of a hollowed-out gymnastic vaulting horse. A year before the events of The Great Escape—which would take place at the same camp—Lieutenants Michael Codner, Eric Williams, and Oliver Philpot executed the plan that Williams later recounted in his classic memoir The Wooden Horse. Now Robert Laplander presents a revealing new account in this comprehensive study of Stalag Luft III and the many attempts at escape that occurred there during the Second World War. As Laplander explains, Williams' memoir was impeded by both a lack of necessary historical scope and regulations of the Crown. In The True Story of the Wooden Horse, Laplander makes use of newly released official documents and eye-witnesses reports. Supplemented by illustrations, including shots of a full-scale replica of the vaulting horse, this volume presents an exhaustive account of the escape in its entirety, set in the context of the camp’s history.

Bomber Command

Author : Roddy MacKenzie
Publisher : Air World
ISBN 13 : 1399017756
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (99 download)

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Book Synopsis Bomber Command by : Roddy MacKenzie

Download or read book Bomber Command written by Roddy MacKenzie and published by Air World. This book was released on 2023-02-16 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Roddy MacKenzieâs father served in Bomber Command during the Second World War, but like so many brave veterans who had survived the war, he spoke little of his exploits. So, when Roddy started on his personal journey to discover something of what his father had achieved, he uncovered a great deal about the devastating effectiveness of Bomber Command and the vital role it played in the defeat of Third Reich. He realised that the true story of Bomber Commandâs achievements has never been told nor fully acknowledged. Roddy became a man on a mission, and this startlingly revealing, and often personal study, is the result. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph takes the reader through the early days of the Second World War and introduces all the key individuals who turned the Command into the war-winning weapon it eventually became, as well as detailing the men and machines which flew night after night into the heart of Hitlerâs Germany. The main focus of his book is the destruction and dislocation wrought by the bombing to reduce, and ultimately destroy, Germanyâs ability to make war. In his analysis, Roddy dug deep into German archival material to uncover facts rarely presented to either German or English language readers. These demonstrate that Bomber Commandâs continual efforts, at appalling cost in aircrew casualties and aircraft losses, did far more damage to the Reich than the Allies knew. Roddyâs father served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and Roddy naturally highlights its contribution to Bomber Commandâs successes, another aspect of this fascinating story which the author believes has not been duly recognized. Bomber Command: Churchill's Greatest Triumph will certainly raise the debate on the controversial strategy adopted by âBomberâ Harris and how he was perceived by many to have over-stepped his remit. But most of all, this book will revise peopleâs understanding of just how important the endeavours were of those men who flew through the dark and through the searchlights, the flak, and the enemy night fighters, to bring the Second World War in Europe to its crushing conclusion.

Boldness Be My Friend

Author : Richard Pape
Publisher : Review
ISBN 13 : 0755360494
Total Pages : 290 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (553 download)

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Book Synopsis Boldness Be My Friend by : Richard Pape

Download or read book Boldness Be My Friend written by Richard Pape and published by Review. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Escape... escape... escape... by God!"' was his constant exhortation. "Never mind hunger pains, discomfort, or any other agony. Let escape become your passion, your one and only obsession until you finally reach home."' Shot down over Berlin in 1941, Richard Pape's saga of captivity is a story of courage unmatched in the annals of escape. Four escapes took him across the breadth of German-occupied Europe; to Poland and Czechoslovakia; to Austria and Hungary. Aggressive and impetuous, his adventures sweep the reader along on a torrent of excitement.

Survival at Stalag IVB

Author : Tony Vercoe
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476613796
Total Pages : 213 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

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Book Synopsis Survival at Stalag IVB by : Tony Vercoe

Download or read book Survival at Stalag IVB written by Tony Vercoe and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-03-27 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In addition to concentration camps, World War II Germany was also home to 54 prisoner-of-war camps, the largest of which was Stalag IVB. Throughout the more than five years of its existence, Stalag IVB supported numerous satellite camps, eventually housing thousands of prisoners of many nationalities. Here Poles, French, Belgians, British, Americans, Dutch and Russians fought to survive in a place where life's most basic needs were barely fulfilled. Interned in the camp for several months from late 1943, Tony Vercoe engaged in a struggle for life, sanity and escape. This historical chronicle evokes the heartbreaking reality of day-to-day life in Stalag IVB. Rich with firsthand accounts by the author and other veterans of the camp, it provides particulars regarding rations, prisoner-of-war registration, camp hygiene, inmate activities and prisoner morale. Special emphasis is placed on the role of the International Red Cross in prisoner survival and the multinational "melting pot" characteristics of the camp itself. Possibilities of flight and the events that motivated prisoners' daring escape attempts are discussed, along with the consequences of their frequent failures. Closing chapters detail the camp's final months and the prisoners' long awaited deliverance.

Wire and Worse

Author : Charles Rollings
Publisher : Ian Allan Publishing
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 318 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Wire and Worse by : Charles Rollings

Download or read book Wire and Worse written by Charles Rollings and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Graphic portrait of life as an RAF prisoner of war.

They Hosed Them Out

Author : John Bede Cusack
Publisher : Wakefield Press
ISBN 13 : 1743051069
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (43 download)

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Book Synopsis They Hosed Them Out by : John Bede Cusack

Download or read book They Hosed Them Out written by John Bede Cusack and published by Wakefield Press. This book was released on 2012 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A classic Australian war novel, inspired by the author's experiences as an airgunner in the Second World War. This new, revised and annotated edition includes chapters never before published, a fascinating biography of John Bede Cusack by his daughter, Kerry McCouat, and an informative introduction by editor Robert Brokenmouth.

The Night Air War

Author : Martin W. Bowman
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 178383191X
Total Pages : 267 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (838 download)

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Book Synopsis The Night Air War by : Martin W. Bowman

Download or read book The Night Air War written by Martin W. Bowman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-07-31 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Of the 7,953 Bomber Command aircraft lost on night operations during the Second World War, an estimated 5,833 fell victim to Luftwaffe night fighters. In this detailed re-enactment of the air war over Western Europe and the raids flown by the men of RAF Bomber Command, the author has pieced together official data and the words and memories of the pilots and air crew who participated in the proceedings. Across fifteen chapters, many unique experiences are regaled, enlivening the history of the night bombing raids that were hurled against Hitler's war machine during the latter half of the Second World War. They span the period between November 1943 and 1945 and cover the encounters between the Luftwaffe and RAF Bomber Command during their heyday. 'No Operation Was Easy' was a commonly coined phrase amongst this group who, night after night, struck out at targets such as the 'The Big City' (Berlin), Stuttgart and the Ruhr. These truly epic stories, gleaned from the memories of the men who made up Bomber Command, serve as an appropriate epitaph to their collective effort.

Flying Among Heroes

Author : Norman Franks
Publisher : The History Press
ISBN 13 : 0752486497
Total Pages : 198 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (524 download)

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Book Synopsis Flying Among Heroes by : Norman Franks

Download or read book Flying Among Heroes written by Norman Franks and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the extraordinary career of a Second World War bomber pilot, Flying Among Heroes brings together adventure and human daring with the harsh realities of being a member of the wartime Royal Air Force. Tom Cooke, like hundreds of other young men in 1939, joined up to the RAF just a few days before war began aged 18, being selected for pilot training. Just five years later, he had flown fifty-one operations, taken part in the Berlin bombings and three 1,000-bomber raids, and had even taken part in special operations in conjunction with the SOE. Not only did Cooke volunteer for an optional second and third tour of operations, but he was also shot down over France on his thirteenth special operation, survived the bale out with his crew and evaded capture. Helped by the French Resistance, he managed to make his way into Spain and was taken back to England from Gibraltar. Unsurprisingly, considering Cooke's outstanding bravery and patriotism, he was decorated multiple times in his career. Franks and Muggleton make use of primary documentation, including Cooke's own words, and contemporary images to put together a poignant story of wartime duty. In an effort to portray the situation for many young men like Cooke, much information is included on other squadrons and operations, as well as on Bomber Command itself. In all, 55,000 men of Bomber Command gave their lives to the cause of the Second World War; this is the tale of just one of those remarkable young men who survived the hardships of war, returning victorious to a nation of heroes.

Airborne Espionage

Author : David Oliver
Publisher : The History Press
ISBN 13 : 0752495526
Total Pages : 323 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (524 download)

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Book Synopsis Airborne Espionage by : David Oliver

Download or read book Airborne Espionage written by David Oliver and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2005-01-13 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the outbreak of the World War I there was no formal organization for the transport of spies across enemy lines by aircraft and no communications network between the air forces and their agents. The exploits of British and Commonwealth, American, Free European, Soviet, German, Italian and Japanese airmen and units are recorded in this account.