Category: Books / Calendars / Publications

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Gardening with Bombs: New Book Reveals RAF’s Secret WWII Campaign

New from Tempest and author Jane Gulliford Lowes is The Invisible Campaign: Bomber Command Gardening Operations 1940-1945 which details the crucial yet little-known aerial minelaying operations by RAF Bomber Command which successfully disrupted Axis shipping between 1940–1945.

The Invisible Campaign, based on Air Ministry and Admiralty archival material, together with squadron records, veteran accounts and logbooks as well as contemporary publications and press releases, provides the most detailed account of Bomber Command’s minelaying operations and their effects ever written.

Historian Jane Gulliford Lowes looks at the aims of the campaign and how it was implemented, together with the measure of its success and how it compared against the mining operations implemented by the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. The role of Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris in overseeing minelaying operations is assessed and the experiences of the men who delivered the campaign, particularly the hazards they faced, are explored.

Featuring a foreword by renowned historian James Holland, The Invisible Campaign – Bomber Command Gardening Operations 1940-1945 sheds new light on a little-discussed but important and ultimately highly successful aspect of Bomber Command and is a must-read for anyone interested the RAF’s in wartime bombing operations.

The 300 page, hardcover title is currently available for pre-order with release slated for December 30.

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From Ohio to Supersonic: Inside the Secret World of the SR-71 and Skunk Works

Helion and Comapny will soon release the posthumous memoir of Colonel Richard E.”Butch” Sheffield, a U.S. Air Force officer, SR-71 Blackbird Reconnaissance Systems Officer (RSO) and Director of Special Projects for the Skunk Works (where Sheffield handled beyond Top Secret projects).

Chosen in 1964 for the ultra-secretive SR-71 Blackbird programmer, Butch was among the first crew members trained by Lockheed’s Skunk Works. He went on to fly some of the most daring reconnaissance missions of the Cold War – including the first SR-71 over North Korea and a supersonic overflight of the North Pole with no chance of recovery. In 1967, he became the first Air Force officer to eject from an SR-71 and survive. Six weeks later, he returned to flying at Mach 3.

Butch’s extraordinary career didn’t end in the cockpit. At the Pentagon, he was a key figure behind the early development of GPS and led operations involving the SR-71 and U-2. As an investigator for Congress, he was granted over 300 code word clearances to probe the nation’s most sensitive intelligence programs. Later, as the Skunk Works’ lone representative in Washington D.C., he became the quiet conduit between Lockheed’s black projects and the halls of power.

The 400 page book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 15.

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New Book Documents the Fascinating Story of Spitfire R6644 and its Pilots

Air World and Dilip Sarkar (MBE FRHistS FRAeS) will soon introduce their new 328 page book A Spitfire’s Story: The Invisible Thread: Spitfire R6644 and the Pilots Who Flew It

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IA R6644 was built at Woolston and test-flown by Jeffrey Quill on 30 May 1940 before joining 5 Operational Training Unit at Aston Down, where it trained pilots including likely Richard Hillary and at least two aces among “The Few.” In February 1941, it transferred to 65 Squadron, flown by ace Paddy Finucane, then to 308 (Polish) Squadron in April. On 11 May 1941, Polish pilot Franciszek Surma abandoned R6644 near Malvern due to an engine fire during a radar intercept of a friendly Blenheim, parachuting safely before his later death over Dunkirk.

This book not only explores the men who flew R6674 throughout its wartime service, but also brings the story up to date by detailing the excavation of the Spitfire’s crash site in 1987.

The book is currently available for pre-order with release set for December 31.

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Workhorse Wellingtons: New Polish Wings Volume Showcases Poland’s WWII Bomber Squadrons

Coming soon from MMPBooks and author Grzegorz Korcz is Polish Wings No. 41 Vickers Wellington I & II pt. 1 documenting the aircraft that became “the backbone of all four Polish bomber squadrons as well as the OTU training establishments.”

This volume in the Polish Wings series presents the history of the Vickers Wellington bombers in the Ic and II versions in Polish Air Force service in exile between 1940 and 1942. The first part covers Nos. 300 and 301 Squadrons and 18 OTU, while the second describes the combat operations of Nos. 304 and 305 Squadrons.

The book includes: a detailed history of the Polish Wellington crews in action, numerous archival photographs, many previously unpublished, colour profiles by Andrzej M. Olejniczak, comprehensive listings of operational sorties.

The 68 page title is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 8.

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Midnight Flyboys: The Untold WWII Missions of American Flyers and Allied Spies

The new book Midnight Flyboys: The American Bomber Crews and Allied Secret Agents Who Aided the French Resistance in World War II shares the untold history of a top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day in which American flyers and Allied spies carried out some of the most daring cloak-and-dagger operations of World War II.

In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to increase its support to the French resistance forces that were fighting the Nazis. To start, the OSS recruited some of the best American bomber pilots and crews to a secret airfield twenty miles west of London and briefed them on the intended mission. Given a choice to stay or leave, every airman volunteered for what became known as Operation Carpetbagger.

Their dangerous plan called for a new kind of flying: taking their B-24 Liberator bombers in the middle of the night across the English Channel and down to extremely low altitudes in Nazi-occupied France to find drop zones in dark fields. On the ground, resistance members waited to receive steel containers filled with everything from rifles and hand grenades to medicine and bicycle tires. Some nights, the flyers also dropped Allied secret agents by parachute to assist the French partisans.

Though their story remained classified for more than fifty years, the Carpetbaggers ultimately received a Presidential Unit Citation from the US military, which declared: “it is safe to say that no group of this size has made a greater contribution to the war effort.” Along with other members of the wartime OSS, they were also awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Based on exclusive research and interviews, the definitive story of these heroic flyers—and of the brave secret agents and resistance leaders they aided—can now be told. Written in Bruce Henderson’s “spellbinding” (USA TODAY) prose, Midnight Flyboys is an astonishing tale of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice. The 336 page book is available in hardcover, Kindle, audiobook and audio CD formats.

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New Book Details How Assembly Ships Ensured Successful Bombing Raids in WW2

MMPBooks is slated to release Jacek Jackiewicz’s Assembly Ships of the Mighty Eight, which “is a detailed exploration of the specialized aircraft used during World War II to help organize and assemble bomber formations.”

This book delves into the vital role these assembly ships played in ensuring successful bombing missions by the US Eighth Air Force. Featuring meticulously researched text and a rich collection of period photographs, the book also includes color profiles by Jacek Jackiewicz, offering a comprehensive visual representation of these unique aircraft.

The 184 page paperback title is currently available for pre-order with release scheduled for January 8, 2026.

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New Book Offers Comprehensive History of Royal Navy Carrier Aviation

Among the newest releases from Casemate / Hikoki is James Jackson’s Wings Over the Fleet: British Naval Aircraft since 1945, which is described as “a comprehensive history of Royal Navy carrier aviation from the 1940s to today, covering aircraft, helicopters, technology, and operations from Sea Hawks to F-35Bs.”

Wings Over the Fleet describes the evolution and development of the Royal Navy’s frontline aircraft from the late 1940s to the present day. All the major types are covered, from all-weather fighters, interceptors, strike aircraft, anti-submarine helicopters and airborne early warning aircraft. The planning and requirements behind the aircraft such as the Sea Hawk, Sea Vixen, Buccaneer, Gannet, Wasp, Sea King and Sea Harrier are examined, as are many design studies and proposals that remained on the drawing board. Guided missiles during the post-war period and the evolution of the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers and the new technologies required to operate jet aircraft from ships are also analysed.

The hardcover book measures 8.74 x 1.3 x 11.97 inches and has 400 pages.

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Upcoming Book Details 617 Squadron’s Tragic Raid

In their upcoming book The Lost Dambuster Lancaster: The Story of 617 Squadron’s Attack on Hitler’s V2 Rocket Site authors Trevor Kerry and Gaëtan Sagot tell the story of 617 Squadron’s 1944 Tallboy raid on the V2 site at Wizernes and the tragic loss of Lancaster DV403.

On 24 June 1944, eighteen aircraft from 617 Squadron took off to attack the V2 rocket site at Wizernes, now known as La Coupole. During the raid, Lancaster DV403 was hit by flak, killing several crew members and forcing the others to bail out as the damaged plane crashed in nearby fields. Amid the wreckage, Resistance member André Schamp courageously aided a wounded airman and searched for survivors.

The story of DV403 has been recently honoured in France on the 80th anniversary, with an exhibition, lectures and a wayside interpretation board compiled by the authors, who have encouraged strong involvement of crewmen’s families in the evolving narrative. This is the story of their fate that night, as well as of 617 Squadron’s attack on the V2 site as a whole.

The 248 page title is currently available for pre-order with an expected release date of January 10.

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Aeronaut Releases Second Volume on German WW1 Aircraft in Polish Service

Aeronaut Books recently released Mateusz Kabatek’s second volume on German aircraft in Polish service during WW1.

German Aircraft in Polish Service Volume 2 continues the series with a detailed look at the Albatros C.XII, C.XV, and J.I reconnaissance and infantry aircraft, as well as the Friedrichshafen G.III and Gotha G.IV bombers used by the Polish air service after WWI. Based on previously unpublished archival sources, this volume reconstructs the operational history of these aircraft in the turbulent early years of Polish independence… it reveals how German designs were adapted to local needs and used in conflicts against Ukraine and Soviet Russia.

The new title is illustrated with over 110 rare photos and 15 color profiles across its 97 pages. It follows Volume 1 which focuses on the Halberstadt CL.II, CL.IV, & C.V; LVG C.VI and Hannover CL.V.

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Aeronaut Releases 25th Volume in “Lavish” Account of Blue Max Airmen

Aeronaut Books recently released volume 25 of the Blue Max Airmen series by Lance Bronnenkant, which tells “the real story” of the German airmen awarded the Pour le Mérite during the Great War. The series is described as…

…the most detailed and graphically lavish account of these heroes ever produced, covering the men in context with the war’s chronology of events. For each recipient a comprehensive, well-illustrated biography of the man is given, together with photos of the aircraft he flew, followed by details of his service, including other awards won. Color profiles of the aircraft are also provided for interest to enthusiasts and as references for modelers.

The newly released 25th volume covers fighter aces Thom, Bäumer, Neckel, and Degelow and includes 150 photographs and 19 color profiles of aircraft flown by these men in its 145 pages.

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