Category: The Royal Air Force

CULL, Brian, with GALEA, Frederick. Fighters Over Malta: Gladiators and Hurricanes 1940-1942. 491p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Fonthill, 2018. ISBN: 9781781556634.

A highly detailed account of the gallant band of RAF and Commonwealth pilots who flew Gladiators and Hurricanes in defence of Malta between June 1940 and April 1942, when help in the form of Spitfires finally arrived. Partly based on newly discovered personal diaries and papers

STREVER-MORKEL, Gail. On Laughter-Silvered Wings: The Story of Lt. Col. E.T. (Ted) Strever D.F.C. xii, 227p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2013. ISBN: 1781591040.

A biographical account of the life and times of a South African WW2 pilot (the author's father). He flew coastal strike missions in the Mediterranean and North Africa, then in the Far East against the Japanese.

GREAT BRITAIN. Ministry of Information. The Air Battle of Malta: The Official Account of the R.A.F. in Malta, June 1940 to November 1942. 95p., illus. London, H.M.S.O., 1944.

Gives good if one-sided accounts of the defence of the island and the attacks on the convoys.

BOWMAN, Martin.  Battlefield Bombers: Deep Sea Attack. 208p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2014. ISBN: 9781783831975.

Covers the deep sea bombing raids carried out by the RAF. Good coverage of a neglected area.

BARKER, Ralph. The Ship-Busters: The Story of the RAF Torpedo-Bombers. 272p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Chatto, 1957.

An early account of the anti-shipping war. Reprinted by Grub Street in 2009 (ISBN: 9781906502294).   

FORSGREN, Jan. Sinking the Beast: The RAF 1944 Lancaster Raids Against Tirpitz. 160p. Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2014. ISBN: 1781553181.

Churchill dubbed her 'The Beast'. In late 1944 three RAF raids finally sank the battleship. A well researched account

BERRYMAN, Nick. In the Nick of Time. 214p., illus. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2000. ISBN: 190395312X.

An enjoyable autobiography focused on his RAF career in air sea rescue. He joined up in 1942, aged 18. He trained in the USA. In early 1943 he joined 276 Air Sea Rescue squadron in Dorset and became a Walrus pilot. In 1944 he moved to Egypt in the same role with 294 squadron. He returned to the UK at the end of the year and took up a role as a flying instructor in Scotland.

YOUNG, Douglas. The Dangerous Sea and the Sky. 248p. London: Avon Books, 1994. ISBN: 1897960360.

The engaging biography of a young insurance clerk who volunteered for the RAF in 1940. After over two years of training in the UK and Canada first as a wireless operator then as a navigator he joined 489 New Zealand Squadron at Leuchars in November 1943 in the new Beaufighter Mark X. They operated in the North Sea on anti-shipping strikes. The squadron then moved to Norfolk and operated off the Dutch Coast during and after the Normandy invasion. After a brief spell based near the Moray Firth, promotion brought him a role as a navigation instructor based at East Fortune until demobbed in February 1946.

BEARDOW, Keith. Sailors in the RAF: the story of the Marine branch of the Royal Air Force. 240p., bibliog., illus., index. Sparkford, Patrick Stephens, 1993. ISBN: 1852604077.  

The story of the Marine Branch of the Royal Air Force which, over nearly 70 years, provided waterborne support and rescue services for the RAF.

SHORES, Christopher & MASSIMELLO, Giovanni with GUEST, Russell. A History of the Mediterranean Air War 1940-1945. 2 vols., bibliog., illus., index. London: Grub Street, 2012-13. ISBN: 9781908117076 (V.1); 190916612X (V.2); ISBN: 1910690007 (V.3).

A monumental reference working describing activity in the theatre day-by-day. Vol. 1 covers June 1940 –January 1942; Vol. 2 covers February 1942 – March 1943. Vol. 3 covers Tunisia and the end in Africa November 1942-May 1943. Includes material on maritime support and reconnaissance.

ROGERS, Anthony. Air Battle of Malta: Aircraft Losses and Crash Sites 1940-1942. 220p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Greenhill, 2017. ISBN: 1784381888.

Of more than 1,000 aircraft destroyed during the battle, many fell into the Mediterranean or were written off in landing, and at least 200 crashed among the Maltese Islands. This book documents all known aircraft crashes that occurred in and around Malta and Gozo during 1940-42, describing in detail the circumstances of each loss and what became of the pilot or crew, including some who even today are officially listed as missing. An excellent piece of research.

FOSTER, R. W. Tally Ho! From the Battle of Britain to the Defence of Darwin by Wing Commander R W Foster DFC AE with Norman Franks. viii, 216p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Grub Street, 2008. ISBN:9781906502263.

An entertaining collection of stories and reminiscences brought together by the well-known historian Norman Franks. A member of the RAFVR, Foster was called up in September 1939. By September 1940 he was in the thick of the fighting over southern England. After a spell as an instructor his squadron went to Darwin and took part in its defence throughout 1943, flying the first Spitfire to down a Japanese aircraft. He returned to the UK in 1944 and served in a RAF public relations unit and administrative posts until his demob in 1947.

CULL, Brian, with GALEA, Frederick. 249 at Malta: RAF’s Top-Scoring Fighter Squadron. 224p., bibliog., illus., index. Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2017. ISBN: 978-1781555545.

249 Squadron arrived in Malta late in 1941 and claimed some 245 air victories by the time the squadron moved on. A comprehensive work of reference.

SHIPPERBOTTOM, Percy. Percy's Piece of the War: Exploits of an RAF High Speed Launch Wireless Operator in the UK and Far East During the Second World War. 75p. Bognor Regis: Woodfield, 2010. ISBN: 1846831075.

He became a wireless operator with the RAF Marine Branch and served in 1940/41 aboard HSL 120, based in Ramsgate and engaged in air-sea rescue work in the Channel and North Sea, picking up Allied (and sometimes German) airmen whose aircraft had ditched. Later in the war he was posted to the Far East, where he served in the same capacity at No.226 Air Sea Rescue Unit (226 ASRU), based at Chittagong.

McDONALD, Paul. Ladies of Lascaris: Christina Ratcliffe and the Forgotten Heroes of Malta’s War. xii, 322p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword, 2018. ISBN: 9781526745453.

An English dancer, she moved to Malta in 1937. She joined the RAF in 1941 and worked in the Plotting Room at Lascaris. A fascinating story with much evocative material on the arrival of convoys and the attacks on Illustrious in harbour.

COOPER, Anthony. Darwin Spitfires. 516p., bibliog., illus., index. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military, 2013. ISBN: 9781783461882.

The Japanese air attack on Darwin is well recorded. Much less known is the large number of subsequent attacks, especially in 1943. This is the story of how the RAF ‘s No. 1 Fighter Wing fought off these raids.

IVESON, Tony & MILTON, Brian. The Lancaster and the Tirpitz 256p., bibliog., illus., index. London: Andre Deutsch, 2014. ISBN: 9780233004303

Written by a former Squadron Leader of the 617 'Dam Busters' Squadron, who took part in the Lancaster-bomber raid that finally sank the Tirpitz in November 1944, this was published to commemorate the raid's 70th anniversary. Full of first-hand memories that make this a very vivid account of the action.

KONSTAM, Angus. Sink the Tirpitz 1942–44: The RAF and Fleet Air Arm Duel with Germany's Mighty Battleship (Air Campaign, 7). 96p., bibliog., illus., index. Oxford: Osprey, 2018. ISBN: 9781472831590.

A succinct account of the various raids.

SHORES, Christopher, & CULL, Brian, with IZAWA, Yasuho. Bloody Shambles. 3 vols., bibliog., illus., index. London: Grub Street, 1993-2005.

A detailed, virtually sortie-by-sortie account of the air war in the Far East. Volume 1 (ISBN: 094881750X) covers the period from the drift to war to the fall of Singapore and volume 2 (ISBN: 0948817674) the defence of Sumatra to the fall of Burma. Volume 3, Air War for Burma covers the Allied fight back 1942-45 (ISBN: 1904010954). An excellent reference work.   

SHORES, Christopher. Air War for Burma: The Third and Concluding Volume of the Bloody Shambles Series. The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942-1945. 448p., illus. London: Grub Street, 2005. ISBN: 1904010954.

Some marginal naval interest in yet another excellent detailed volume arranged chronologically.

BARNHAM, Denis. One Man’s Window: An Illustrated Account of Ten Weeks of War, Malta April 13th to June 21st, 1942.  201p., illus. London: Kimber, 1956.

He arrived in Malta as a fresh and inexperienced pilot and spent some two hundred operational hours at the height of the siege. A journal of his time on the island.

BARNHAM, Denis. Malta Spitfire Pilot: Ten Weeks of Terror, April-June 1942. 208p., illus. London: Grub Street, 2013. ISBN:9781909166035.

He arrived in Malta as a fresh and inexperienced pilot and this journal records his first 200 operational hours in these bitterly fought months. First published in 1956 as One Man’s Window, q.v. Reprinted by Frontline in 2020, ISBN: 9781526766748.

McDONALD, Paul. Malta’s Greater Siege & Adrian Warburton DSO, DFC, DFC (USA). xviii, 324p., illus. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation, 2015. ISBN: 9781473860087.

A biography of the legendary RAF pilot “Warby” and his role in the defence of Malta which is interwoven with the story of Adrian his relationship  with Christine Ratcliffe.

KELLY, Terence. Living with Japanese. 228p., illus. Folkestone, Kellan Press, 1997. ISBN: 0953019306.

The personal memoir of a RAF pilot captured in Java, which tells the story of his imprisonment as a POW, his transport to Japan and his work in the Hitachi shipyard in Innoshima. Republished in 2006 by Pen & Sword Military as By Hellship to Hiroshima. ISBN: 1844154033.

KELLY, Terence. By Hellship to Hiroshima x, 244p., illus., index. Barnsley, Pen & Sword, 2006. ISBN: 1844154033.

The personal memoir of a RAF pilot captured in Java, which tells the story of his imprisonment as a POW, his transport to Japan and his work in the Hitachi shipyard in Innoshima. Published originally in 1997 as Living with Japanese, q.v.

Volume 2 deals with the tenders and other small craft used by the RAF in WWII.

A history of the Blenheim in RAF service 1935–1942 incorporating a case study on operations and losses over the Netherlands. A very comprehensive study including full details of anti-shipping strikes.

Contains a chapter on anti-U-boat operations and other material on anti-shipping work.

An RAF Intelligence Officer in Iceland, Murmansk, and the Mediterranean.

Lord Cameron rose from Sergeant Pilot to Chief of the Defence Staff. His autobiography describes Arctic convoys and a WS convoy during his extensive war service.

Their major success was the sinking of the Tirpitz.

Cross had a distinguished career in the RAF which is recounted here. In particular he was one of the Hurricane pilots who fought in Norway, landed on Glorious and was sunk in her.

The story of the squadron by one of its founding members. Founded within days of the better known 617, it was equipped with Mosquitos for a low-level attack on Tirpitz using Barnes Wallis' bouncing bomb. After the X-Craft attack on Tirpitz, they were switched to the Far East. One subunit remained and was fitted with 6 pounder antitank guns. They were used with some success against U-boats.

Some 15 units were formed in 1942. They were trained as commandos and went ashore with assault forces to make captured or newly constructed airfields immediately operational. They served in all the major European landings and in India and Burma.

This history and description contains some information on Coastal Command and on early campaigns such as in Norway.

Transcripts of BBC talks. Many of them describe naval related actions from antishipping strikes the length of Europe to the Bismarck hunt and U-boat captures.

A geographically organised account of all of the bases and units which have served and trained there. Gives full details of each base and its use. Much of it related to flying boats. A second edition entitled The RAF in Galloway 1910-2000 was published in 2000 (ISBN: 1872350186).

A beautifully written memoir covering 1939–1942. He joined up in 1939 and after two tours of duty in the UK, one on light bombers attacking French ports and the other in Hudsons as a sort of odd job man. In 1941 he transferred to the Far East and writes excoriatingly of the loss of Empire and the failure to use the RAF properly.

More properly the story of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit, part of the RAF which operated in the Atlantic and Arctic from RN Catapult ships and Merchant Navy CAM ships. Reprinted as Hurricats: The Fighters That Could Not Return by Tempus in 2000 (ISBN: 0752420054).

An official operational history of the RAF. Naval events form only a peripheral part of the record.

The autobiography of a New Zealander dominated by his war service in the UK. From 1944 Shears flew with 516 Combined Operations Squadron which provided air support for Combined Operations training exercises in amphibious landings. As the landing craft approached the training beaches to discharge their troops, elements from the squadron would lay smoke and/or strafe the area to simulate the conditions the troops would encounter on enemy held shores. The Squadron also helped to calibrate the radar of the newly commissioned Fighter Direction Tenders. Much of the training and the squadron were located in the west of Scotland.

An alphabetically arranged biographical dictionary with enormous detail on combat claims and kills, including FAA pilots. A monumental work.

This volume updates the information in the first volume and adds new names. Information has been added on pilots who had success against V-1 flying bombs in 1944-45. Detail is also given on the fighter Operational Training Units and specialist units like the Central Gunnery School, Fighter Leader's School and Fighter Experimental Units.

Essentially a biographical dictionary following a much earlier and less complete version in 1966. Includes biographical and claim information for FAA pilots. An excellent reference book.

Spurdle was a New Zealander who flew 565 operational sorties in Europe and the Pacific and became an ace in the process. He developed a virulent dislike of top brass and the USAAF. After his first 170 operations he spent ten months in MSFU in 1941–42. A very blunt, very readable memoir. Reprinted by Crecy in 1995.

The existence of Tirpitz profoundly influenced British naval strategy and this is a good record of the regular and often costly attempts to remove her as a threat.

An excellent critical commentary on the conduct of the air war, with ample accounts of the Battle of the Atlantic and other naval related topics.

DOUGLAS-HAMILTON, James. The Air Battle for Malta: The Diaries of a Spitfire Pilot. 208p., bibliog., illus., index. Edinburgh: Mainstream, 1981. ISBN: 0906391202.

Although an air force book it includes interesting material on the air cover for approaching convoys. A second edition was published by Airlife in 1990.

CULL, Brian. Gladiator Ace: Bill “Cherry” Vale, the RAF’s Forgotten Ace. 256p., bibliog., illus., index. Yeovil: Haynes, 2010.ISBN: 9781844256570.

Vale fought in North Africa, Greece and Crete and had thirty claimed kills. This sympathetic biography has peripheral material on naval and FAA involvement in these campaigns.

LUCAS, Laddie.  Wings of War: Airmen of All Nations Tell Their Stories, 1939-1945. 409p., illus., index. London: Hutchinson, 1983. ISBN: 0091542804.

A wide mix of readable anecdotes with a good smattering of FAA and Coastal Command material. An abridged version was published in 2003 by Ted Smart entitled Voices in the Air 1939-1945 (ISBN: 0091901332).