First published 10 years ago and still relevant, this study examines the progressive sidelining of the Royal Air Force since its decisive role in the Allied victory of World War II in which the RAF had developed quickly with the help of US and Canadian lend-lease money to form the front line of defence against a numerically superior force. Scaling down began in 1945 as the country contemplated a huge economic challenge following the cost of defeating the Axis powers, in contrast to the US which had not suffered bombing raids on housing and infrastructure. At the same time, in the post-war years, Britain started to negotiate the loss of empire which had constituted a major cost to the nation in administering and defending distant territories. Britain's retention of the nuclear deterrent depended on the special relationship with America as the world started to divide between the two superpowers. The RAF has shouldered a greater burden of defence cuts than the other two forces, particularly following the infamous 1957 white paper from Duncan Sandys which proposed the cutting and discontinuation of forces stationed in Germany. This exacerbated the on-off saga of the TSR2 project, opposed by Mountbatten who was chief of defence staff, and its cost-effective alternative, the F-111 with its variable geometry swing-wing designed by Barnes-Wallace. The "trip-wire" scenario of the fifties gave way to "flexible response" but the whole system and its political assumptions were overturned by the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The author follows the RAF from its establishment in 1918 with 22,000 aircraft to the Strategic Defence Review for the coalition government of 2010 with George Osborne as chancellor. Arguments for the disbanding of the RAF came from all political shades of opinion. Some elements would go to the Fleet Air Arm, but big planes such as transports, tankers and airborne warning and control would pose a challenge for the other services to operate, particularly the latter which was deployed in Afghanistan at the time of the book's publication. Here are fascinating tales of aerial adventure, sonic boom and iconic aircraft and the security the RAF brings us. 256pp, many photos.
Additional product information
