FLYING INTO THE STORM

RAF Bombers at War 1939-1942. The Royal Air Force of 1939 went to war with five staple models of bomber: the Vickers Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Bristol Blenheim, Handley Page Hampden, and the Fairey Battle. This was against the threat of the Luftwaffe which had proven itself in Spain and had been used as a threat to secure Germany's diplomatic aims and was considered unstoppable. Plans were being laid by the RAF and Government bodies for larger, heavier, four-engined bombers such as the Short Stirling which could deliver heavier bomb loads over a further distance. From the lessons of the First World War, the RAF developed a fleet of modern monoplane aircraft with crews pitted against the German flying machine from day one, flying into storms of flak shells and swarms of Messerschmitt fighters in their flimsy, and often poorly armed, bombers. From countries as far apart as Norway, Burma, Java and France, the crews and their aircraft were at the front of every military operation without adequate fighter escorts and with poor equipment against stiff opposition. The book tells the story of the few who bravely went on 'one-way ticket' missions that saw operational life expectancy as only a matter of hours, doing so without hesitation or complaint. Chapters include Over the North Sea and Norway, France and Oil, Haddocks and Genoa, Desert Offensive, The Fall of Greece, Malaya and Burma. 238pp, 30 quality archive photos.