Last of the Few

18 Battle of Britain Fighter Pilots Tell Their Extraordinary Stories

Dilip Sarkar (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

288 Seiten

2010
Amberley Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-84868-435-5 (ISBN)

Keine Verlagsinformationen verfügbar

Artikel merken

Spitfire and Hurricane fighter pilots recount their experiences of combat during the Battle of Britain. 2,927 aircrew of RAF Fighter Command fought and won the Battle of Britain in 1940, 544 lost their lives in action. They flew to battle in Spitfires and Hurricanes, Defiants and Blenheims, although it is the two former fighter types - single-seaters both - that still inspire and capture our imagination. The legendary legless fighter 'ace' Douglas Bader once said that the Battle of Britain was 'not won by a few aces, but by the average squadron pilot who collectively did their bit.' One of those men, Peter Fox, described himself and his fellows as mere 'also rans' - but clearly, without them, Fighter Command could not have prevailed. In this book, Dilip Sarkar relates their stories, researched through personal interviews, correspondence and contemporary archive material. Many of the pilots featured became 'aces' in the Battle of Britain, others achieved such status afterwards whilst others went into action only to be instantly blasted out of the sky without even having seen the enemy. Their collective experience, however, is typical of those who flew Spitfires and Hurricanes in 1940.

Dilip Sarkar has been fascinated by the Battle of Britain since childhood, he remains both moved and inspired by the story of Churchill's fabled Few, those young airmen who stood between freedom and a Britain dominated by Nazi Germany. Since the 1970s he has met and interviewed more Battle of Britain pilots than any other historian. He has researched the subject thoroughly and has published over thirty books, titles which include the only biographical works formally endorsed by the families of both Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader and Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson. In 2003, Dilip was made an MBE for services to aviation history, and elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society in 2006. He lives in Worcester. For more information please see www.dilipsarkarmbe.co.uk.

Introduction Chapter One Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC Chapter Two Flight Lieutenant Peter Brothers DFC Chapter Three Pilot Officer Keith Lawrence DFC Chapter Four Pilot Officer 'Bunny' Currant Chapter Five Flight Sergeant George Unwin DFM Chapter Six Sergeant Geoffrey Stevens Chapter Seven Pilot Officer William Walker Chapter Eight Pilot Officer Harry Welford Chapter Nine Sergeant Reg Nutter Chapter Ten Sergeant David Cox Chapter Eleven Sergeants Peter Fox and Denis Nichols Chapter Twelve Pilot Officer Richard Jones Chapter Thirteen Sergeant 'Mike' Bush Chapter Fourteen Sergeant Tony Pickering Chapter Fifteen Sergeant Jack Stokoe Chapter Sixteen Sergeant Ken Wilkinson Chapter Seventeen Pilot Officer Wallace Cunningham DFC List of Illustrations Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	15.2.2010
Zusatzinfo	60 Illustrations
Verlagsort	Chalford
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Gewicht	641 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► 1918 bis 1945
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte
	Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung
ISBN-10	1-84868-435-5 / 1848684355
ISBN-13	978-1-84868-435-5 / 9781848684355
Zustand	Neuware