Category: History / Research

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Bomber Crew Morale in WW2: New Book Reveals How RAF Airmen Faced Impossible Odds

Soon to be released by Air World and author Peter Croft is Bomber Crew Morale in WW2: How Bomber Command’s Airmen Faced Terrible Odds in the Second World War.

During World War II, 125,000 aircrew served in RAF Bomber Command, and 55,573—about 44%—were killed. Despite these grim odds, crews continued flying nightly missions, showing extraordinary courage and determination. RAF leadership tried to sustain morale through discipline, good equipment, and effective leadership, but much depended on the airmen themselves. Their patriotism, stoicism, and strong camaraderie helped them endure constant danger, from enemy fire to mechanical failures and accidents. Even without combat, simply flying remained a perilous task.

This new release “honors the bravery of Bomber Command’s men—those who survived and those whose lives were cut short—and reflects on their extraordinary courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.”

The 280 page, hardcover book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 30.

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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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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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New Book Traces Spitfire History With Rare Archive Images

Soon to be released by Air World is Spitfire: The Iconic Fighter in Unique Photographs, described as “a photographic history of the Supermarine Spitfire, tracing its design, global service, and lasting wartime legacy.”

Countless photographs have been taken of the Spitfire, including innumerable high-quality press photographs. During the Second World War, however, private photography on service installations was prohibited – but, nevertheless, some personnel, aircrew and groundcrew alike, took furtive snapshots. Forming the basis of this book, these amateur images providing us with an authentic and candid window on the past. Drawing on a unique collection of rare archive images, the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar MBE, RHistS, FRAeS, explores the history of the Spitfire from its inception and first flight in 1936, through its introduction to service and then its service to the Allied nations throughout the Second World War.

The 224 page book is currently available for pre-order with release slated for January 6, 2026.

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New Book Series to Provide “Ultimate Look” at B-24 Liberator

Fonthill Media will soon release The Consolidated B-24 Liberator: Reuben Fleet, the Factories, and the Product – the first of a “massive two volume B-24 Liberator set” by Dr. William Wolf, which is described as “a meticulously researched, truly ultimate look at the B-17’s stablemate from the drawing board to its emergence as America’s preeminent blue-collar bomber.”

In addition to his personal 25,000-book library and microfilm collection, the author made extensive use of the massive document and photo collections at the NMUSAF, the Pima Aerospace Museum; and Consolidated and Ford Company design and production information. Described is the role of aviation icon, Reuben Fleet, for his and Consolidated’s contribution to the development of Liberator in context of American military and commercial aviation industry. The design evolution of the Liberator and the Davis Wing are highlighted. Since the B-24 was ultimately manufactured by five different factories, primarily Consolidated and Ford, using different manufacturing technics, these are described, contrasted, and pictured in detail. The Ford Knock Down Kits, their manufacture and transport are detailed for the first time. The final section of the book describes the various B-24 models and variants along with detailing today’s surviving B-24s. This book and Volume 2 intends to be the definitive look at the Liberator detailing every facet for the air enthusiast, historian, and modeler.

The 624 page first volume is currently available for pre-order with release set for December 23.

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New Book Chronicles F4U Corsair’s Rise as Legendary Fighter

Casemate is about to release author Tim Hillier-Graves’s new book The Vought F4U Corsair in The War Against Japan: A Photographic Record of the 15th Naval Fighter Wing at War 1944-5 .

By mid-1944, the Allies, especially the United States, began preparing for a potential invasion of Japan. Churchill expected the Royal Navy to support the U.S. Navy in achieving aerial dominance. The Admiralty focused on strengthening its carrier forces, forming the 15th Naval Fighter Wing. However, a key question arose: which aircraft would the Wing use?

The Supermarine Seafire lacked the necessary range and endurance for Pacific operations, while Hellcats were in short supply and prioritized for U.S. use. This left the Vought F4U Corsair as the best option. Although initially dismissed due to its poor safety record on carriers, the Corsairs were eagerly acquired by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, so relieving the US Navy of this controversial aircraft until its problems could be sorted out.

The 15th Naval Fighter Wing, initially comprising Nos. 1830, 1831, and 1833 squadrons, became the first carrier based unit to successfully deploy the Corsair at sea. Despite early losses, British and Commonwealth pilots demonstrated its effectiveness, eventually convincing even the skeptical U.S. Navy of its capabilities. The Corsair proved to be one of the war’s most effective fighters.

Led by Battle of Britain ace Dickie Cork until his death in 1944, the Wing achieved notable successes against Japanese forces aboard HMS Illustrious.

This 152 page book draws on accounts from 20 veterans and extensive archives to highlight the Corsair’s transformation into a legendary naval fighter and the pilots’ indomitable spirit. It is currently available for pre-order with release set for November 25.

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