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Book Category:
UK AND COMMONWEALTH
NAVAL AVIATION BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
Book Category:
UK & COMMONWEALTH
NAVAL AVIATION PIONEERS & WORLD WAR ONE BIOGRAPHIES
| In
the Teeth of the Wind : The Story of a Naval Pilot on the Western Front
1916-1918. By Squadron Leader C.P.O. Bartlett, Nick Bartlett (Editor).
United States Naval Institute; ISBN: 1557503931 Our Price: RRP: |
 |
This
book is the war journal of a naval aviator who flew 101 combat missions
over and around the Belgian coast, first reporting to what was known as
5 Wing RNAS during September of 1916. This unit became 5 Squadron RNAS
in December of that year, and was known as such until becoming 205 Squadron
RAF in April of 1918. This remarkably well-written journal covers the entire
period of 5 Squadron's operation, and preserves the history of that unit
in an easily read style. There are many war journals in publication, but
this one is a bit different since 5 Squadron was basically a bombing squadron.
Most of the author's missions were flown in the DH-4 two-seater, and his
harshest criticism is reserved for those pursuit pilots who were less than
diligent when on escort duty. The book includes first person comparisons
of the handling qualities of many different aircraft of the period, including
captured enemy aircraft, and a few single seaters that the author flew
on rare occasions.
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details
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| Hardcover
- 159 pages (August 1994) |
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Category A-Z index |
| Sailor
in the Air; The Memoirs of Vice Admiral Richard Bell Davies, VC RN. By
Richard Bell Davies (P. Davies). Publisher: Davies |
|
Autobiography
by one of only four RN naval aviators who have won the VC, and only the
second in WW1. He was a Fleet Air Arm pioneer: his career started in the
early days of naval flying & in WW1 where he took part in operationin
in France and the Dardanelles where he received the Victoria Cross. He
served on the aircraft carriers Campania, Furious, Argus, Eagle, and involved
in the the first deck landings on a carrier. He subsequently became Head
Naval Air Section, Admiralty; and Rear Admiral Naval Air Stations.
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| Hardcover
- 245 pages (1967) - Out of print |
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| In
the Royal Naval Air Service: Being the War Letters of the Late Harold Rosher
to His Family (Vintage Aviation Library, No 10). By Harold Rosher. Greenhill
Press. ISBN:ASIN: 0947898409. Our Price: RRP: |
|
The
War Letters of the late Harold Rosher RNAS to his family.
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to view details
|
| Paperback
(1986) |
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Category A-Z index |
Book Category:
UK & COMMONWEALTH
WORLD WAR TWO NAVAL AVIATION BIOGRAPHIES
| Eugene
Esmonde, VC, DSO. By Chaz Bowyer. William Kimber & Co Ltd. ISBN: 0718304098 |
|
This
is a biographical study of one of only two Fleet Air Arm airmen who was
awarded the VC in WW2. It is a study of a man whose deep faith and untarnished
personal code of honour ultimately led him to his self-sacrifice in an
act epitimising devotion to duty and astonishing courage. From his early
years, through his time as a pilit with the RAF, Imperial Airways and the
Fleet Air Arm, the text reveal the character and deeds of this gallant
Irishman who took part in the attacks on the Battleship Bismarck in the
Atlantic, before a final sortie against frightening odds on 12th February
1942 over the English Channel against the German warships Scharnhorst and
Gneisenau, which brought him a posthumous award of a Victoria Cross.
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details in Amazon.com
|
| Hardcover
- Out of Print (1983) |
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| Churchill's
Anchor, the biography of Admiral Sir Dudley Pound. By Robin Brodhurst.
Pen & Sword Books / Leo Cooper; ISBN: 0850527651 Our Price: £20.00 |
 |
Dudley
Pound served for longer on the Chiefs of Staff Committee in wartime than
any other serviceman in either of the two World Wars. He was the professional
head of the Royal Navy from July 1939 until his resignation, shortly before
his death, in August 1943. He had to cope with the problems of Hitler by
day and Churchill by night, of trying to make the old ships of the Royal
Navy face the challenge of the modern navies of Germany, Italy
and Japan. Pound had to run the operational HQ of the Admiralty while also
chairing the Chiefs of Staff Committee. As such he was involved in some
of the most controversial decisions in the Naval War in Norway 1940, the
sinking of the French Fleet, the despatch of The Prince of Wales and Repulse
to Singapore, the scattering of convoy PQ17 while, all the while, courageously
fighting failing health and enduring huge strain. However by the time of
his death the Battle of the Atlantic had been won and the Mediterranean
cleared.
Churchill's Anchor
aims to put Dudley Pound's achievements into context. He held a succession
of key commands from a battleship at Jutland to the Mediterranean fleet
for four years, alternating with key appointments at the Admiralty. He
was at the centre of naval affairs from 1914 until his death in 1943.
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| Hardcover
- 335 pages (October 2000) |
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| A
Diary of a Matelot" 1942-1945. By John L. Brown. Square One, Worcester.
ISBN: |
|
This
book is about the times of one matelot on HMS Formidable in WW2.
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|
| Hardcover
- (1991) |
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Category A-Z index |
| On
the Edge, by R.G. Brown. CANAV Books. $19.95 $18.50 B |
|
F/L
R.G.Brown recounts his flying career. From EFTS on Finches and SFTS on
Harvards, then overseas to fly Horsa gliders. Brown finally gets on photo
recce Mustangs with 268 Sqn. He gives an excellent description of this
specialized work, e.g. photographing V-1 sites. Shot down, he tells of
evading and working with the Maquis. What a war!
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 195 pages (Date) |
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| Up
In Harm's Way: Flying with the Fleet Air Arm. By Cdr. R.M. Crosley.
Airlife Publishing Ltd; ISBN: . £ RRP: |
|
Second
volume by Cdr Crosley, a personal account of his flying with the FAA in
the latter part of the war and post-war period.
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details
|
| Hardback
- (1995) |
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Category A-Z index |
| Not
Peace But a Sword. By Wing Commander Patrick R.P.H. Gibbs DSO DFC. Grub
Street; ISBN: 0948817682. Our Price: £16.95 |
|
The
author wrote this biography during World War II and the book is an imediate,
lucid and personal account of his naval aviation experiences before the
outbreak of conflict and during the first two years of action to the beginning
of 1942. The author trained as a torpedo pilot at Cranwell College on Tutors
and Hinds, then transferred to the Fleet Air Arm serving on the carriers
HMS Furious and HMS Courageous, thence as instructor to RAF Gosport was
commissioned in the RAF in 1930. His furst wartime posting was with 22
Beaufort squadron at RAF North Coates with 812 Swordfish squadron,
and subsequently he was posted to the Middle East where he served first
in the Air Staff at HQ in Cairo, thence to command 39 RAF Beaufort squadron
at Malta. Recalled to the Air Ministry he was invadided out of the RAF
in 1944. Other work by the author includes "Torpedo Leader".
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|
| Hardcover
- 224 pages new edition (29 March, 1993) |
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War
in a Stringbag; the classic Second World War Fleet Air Arm autobiography.
By Charles Lamb. Cassell Military; ISBN: 030435841X List Price: £6.99
Our Price:
£5.59 |
 |
An
autobiography by a World War II Fleet Air Arm Swordfish pilot. Charles
Lamb fought and survived an exceptional war flying the obsolete and inelegant
Fleet Air Arm biplane, the 90-knot Fairey Swordfish, popularly known as
the "Stringbag". Charles Lamb fought in the thick of action. He was the
last to land on Courageous before she was sunk in September 1939. He made
29 sorties over northern Europe, minelaying, U-boat hunting and dive bombing;
he attacked E-boats throughout the nine days of Dunkirk; he was one of
the two pathfinders who led the way to the Battle of Taranto, when 20 Swordfish
virtually destroyed the Italian fleet. He was shot down by Stukas, but
flew again, into the desert, to Greece, and from a secret base in Albania.
In Malta, he successfully carried out orders to "sink Rommel's shipping".
He also made cloak-and-dagger runs ferrying British agents to and from
Tunisia. This is his story, from the first day
of war as a Lieutenant
on board Courageous to the accident aboard Implacable in action against
the Japanese in June 1945, which ended his war but not his flying career.
It is a story of determination, action, spirit and pride.
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|
| Paperback
- 335 pages (25 January, 2001) |
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| The
Attack on the Taranto, blueprint for Pearl Harbor. By Thomas P. Lowry &
John W.G. Wellham. Stackpole Books; ISBN: 0811726614. Our Price: £9.50 |
 |
Tells
the story of the greatest of the Fleet Air Arm strikes in WW2, the attack
on the Italian Fleet at Taranto, in November 1940, John Wellham being one
of the veterans taking part in the operation. The attack was regarded by
many as the Blueprint that the Japanese used for their own attack on Pearl
Harbor the following year.
When carrier-launched
Japanese bombers struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, there were at
least a few who were not surprised. They had seen it all before. In November
1940, in a series of striking parallels, British carrier-launched Fairey
Swordfish aircraft virtually put the Italian fleet out of World War
II for good. Never before has there been a thorough study of the attack
on Taranto made available for the popular audience. Thomas P. Lowry has
devoted years of research in Britain and elsewhere to the subject and John
W. G. Wellham is one of the surviving Fleet Air Arm pilots who flew the
raid. Between them, Lowry and Wellham have created a model study of men,
machines, and nations all bound together on the road to making history.
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details
|
| Paperback
(September 2000) |
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Category A-Z index |
| Fly
Navy, edited by Charles Manning. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN: 0850527325.
Our Price: £15.96. RRP: |
|
To
mark the Millennium, 95 members of the Fleet Air Arm Officer's Association
have recalled their experiences of over 55 years of post-war naval flying.
Fly Navy is a unique and entertaining anthology of flying stories, which
will delight all with even a passing interest in service life and aviation.
A 'warts and all'
persepective of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm post-Second World War, covering
flying operations world-wide and active service in Korea, Malaya, Aden,
Borneo, Suez, the Falklands and the Gulf. 95 first-person accounts accompanied
by rich array of photographs, many never previously published. Foreword
by HRH Prince Andrew, himself a Sea King pilot in the Falklands.
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 239 pages (1 June, 2000) |
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Category A-Z index |
Memoirs
of a Reluctant Batsman - New Zealand Servicemen in the Fleet Air Arm 1940-45.
By A. O. "Cappy" Masters; Janus Publishing Company; ISBN:
1857561481. Our
Price: £15.95 RRP: |
|
Book
about the involvement of New Zealand Servicemen in the Fleet Air Arm 1940-45.
"I have to nominate one pilot from 809 Squadron capable of
being a carrier batsman. You are it." So began 'Cappy' Masters
war career, armed with two ping-pong bats. This book contains a wealth
of anecdotes he had collected as a serviceman during the war, some sad,
many happy, all conveyed with intelligence and feeling. This is a
first-hand account of the involvement of New Zealand servicemen in the
Fleet Air Arm during World War II. It is written with particular reference
to the "forgotton fleet", the British Pacific Fleet in the Indian Ocean.
"Cappy" Masters describes his training, his involvement in many theatres
of war and the friendships that were created during the war. Narrated with
humour, "Cappy" relates the exciting, amusing and even the boring times
of an involvement with the Royal Navy, via the Fleet Air Arm, where the
"Poms" and the "Kiwis" managed to get along pretty well and make an effective
contribution to the war effort.
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|
| Hardcover
- 400 pages (February 1995) |
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| A
Formidable Hero: the Last Battle. By Larry Milberry. ISBN: 096907039X |
|
The
story of FAA pilot and VC winner R.H. 'Hammy' Gray.
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| Hardcover
- (1987) |
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Category A-Z index |
| No
Higher Honor by Jeff Nesmith. Longstreet Press; ISBN: 1563525526. Our Price:
£14.64. |
 |
No
summary available.
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 280 pages (1999) |
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Category A-Z index |
| A
Formidable Hero; LT R. H. Gray, RCNVR, VC,DSC. By Stuart E. Soward. CANAV
Books. ISBN: 096907039X |
 |
The
life of Lt. Robert Hampton Gray, VC DSC RCNVR, from the time of his enlistment
in Calgary, through his time in the Fleet Air Arm including his involvement
in the attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz from HMS Formidable to
his death just a few days before the end of the war in the Pacific. He
received the Victoria Cross posthumously for courageous action against
the enemy. The Victoria Cross is the highest decoration for valour in the
British Commonwealth.
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|
| Hardcover
- 176 pages (October 1996) |
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| With
Naval Wings: The Autobiography of a Fleet Air Arm Pilot in WWI. By John
Wellham; Spellmount Limited; ISBN: 0811718867. Our Price: £ RRP: |
|
Autobiography
of one of the Fleet Air Arm airmen involved in the attack on the Italian
fleet at Taranto in 1940.
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 208 pages (January 1996) |
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| Cunningham.
By John Winton and Admiral Sir Jock Slator. John Murray; ISBN: 0719557658.
Our Price: £21.25 |
 |
Andrew
Browne Cunningham, or "ABC", is deemed the Royal
Navy's greatest
sea captain since Nelson. As a midshipman, he served with the Navy Brigade
in the Boer War, and he won a DSO and two bars as a destroyer captain in
WWI. When he was C-in-C Mediterranean from 1939 to 1942, his ships crushed
the Italian Navy at Cape Matapan, evacuated the army from Greece and then
from Crete, and continued to supply besieged Malta and Tobruk. ABC was
Eisenhower's naval commander for the landings in North Africa and Sicily,
and witnesssed the surrender of the Italian fleet. He became First Sea
Lord in October 1943 and saw the war at sea to its conclusion. Drawing
on a number of sources, this work includes a look at intelligence files
not available to earlier writers.
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 447 pages (17 September, 1998) |
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Category A-Z index |
Book Category:
UK & COMMONWEALTH
POSTWAR AND MODERN BIOGRAPHIES
| Weapons
Free : The Story of a Gulf War Royal Navy Helicopter Pilot by Richard Boswell.
Specialty Press Publishers & Wholesalers; ISBN: 094755467X. Our Price:
$34.95 |
|
This
is the story of a Gulf War Royal Navy Helicopter Pilot
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details
|
| Hardcover
(July 1998) |
| See
Category A-Z index |
| Fly
Navy, edited by Charles Manning. Pen & Sword Books Ltd. ISBN: 0850527325.
Our Price: £15.96. RRP: |
|
To
mark the Millennium, 95 members of the Fleet Air Arm Officer's Association
have recalled their experiences of over 55 years of post-war naval flying.
Fly Navy is a unique and entertaining anthology of flying stories, which
will delight all with even a passing interest in service life and aviation.
A 'warts and all'
persepective of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm post-Second World War, covering
flying operations world-wide and active service in Korea, Malaya, Aden,
Borneo, Suez, the Falklands and the Gulf. 95 first-person accounts accompanied
by rich array of photographs, many never previously published. Foreword
by HRH Prince Andrew, himself a Sea King pilot in the Falklands.
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details
|
| Hardcover
- 239 pages (1 June, 2000) |
| See
Category A-Z index |
| One
Hundred Days. By Admiral Sandy Woodward, Patrick Robinson, Rt Hon Margaret
Thatcher. Flamingo; ISBN: 0006378412. Our Price: £4.79 |
 |
Admiral
Sandy Woodward spent 100 days as Task Force commander of the Falklands
Battle Group, with the airraft carrier HMs Invincible. This book contains
his memoirs, his personal reflections during the hours up to the surrender
at Port Stanley, of the repulse of the Argentinian navy and defeat of their
air forces, of the sinking of the "Belgrano" and of the daring landing
at Carlos Water, 8000 miles from home. This book is a portrayal of the
world of modern naval warfare, where equipment is of astonishing sophistication
but the margins for human courage and error are as wide as in the days
of Nelson, and it is unique, too, in its revelations of the mind of the
commander involved in planning the Falklands War.
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details
|
| Paperback
- 384 pages new edition (24 September, 1992) |
| See
Category A-Z index |
Book Category:
US BIOGRAPHIES AND AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
OTHER BIOGRAPHIES (GERMAN, JAPANESE,
ITALIAN)
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NAVAL AVIATION STORES INDEX
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