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Yorkshire Airfields in the Second World War
A full account of the part played by Yorkshire's airfields during the Second World War. The history of each airfield is described with the squadrons and aircraft based at them and the main operations flown. The effects of the war on the daily lives of civilians, and the constant dangers from raids and night bombing are also detailed. Fully illustrated.
320 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1998
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February 1, 2024
Being a Royal Engineers veteran, I was educated at great length about the VCs, GCs and DCMs earned by members of the Corps. As a result, I developed a pretty one-sided view of military history. The wider media and schools also make an annual show of remembrance, which seems to me to be almost entirely focused on the killing fields of the First World War. Little fuss is made about Bomber Command. In these supposedly more civilised times, we’re a little embarrassed to talk about it. In these days of limited engagement and proportionate responses, we’d rather distance ourselves from the reality of total war as it was actually fought, and gloss over the fact that nearly half of the 125,000 young men who signed into these crews met their fate from the bellies of Lancasters, Mosquitoes and Wellingtons.
This book, which has been collated after sifting through through hours of hand-written Squadron Journals and neatly typed after-action reviews, captures a culture of sacrifice and resolve so alien to even my ex-military sensibilities that I can barely comprehend the scale of the courage that these men showed. Day after day, flight after flight, squadrons lost one crew here, four crews there, three crews the day after. It’s staggering just how little expectation they must have had about surviving the duration.
And that makes it all the more fascinating that amongst the heart-breaking waste, there are so many amazing stories; almost too many hairs-breadth escapes, hilarious failures, noble defeats and spectacular rescues to count.
I’ve finished this book mightily impressed with the author, but also with the British, Polish, French, Canadian, American etc crews whose stories deserve to be more widely celebrated. As I write this, there’s idle talk in the media about whether or not the UK and Europe would be capable of mobilising an army of conscripts to fight in a future war. I’d challenge any living descendant from this noble generation to measure our mettle against theirs. We’re simply not forged in the same fire any more.
This book, which has been collated after sifting through through hours of hand-written Squadron Journals and neatly typed after-action reviews, captures a culture of sacrifice and resolve so alien to even my ex-military sensibilities that I can barely comprehend the scale of the courage that these men showed. Day after day, flight after flight, squadrons lost one crew here, four crews there, three crews the day after. It’s staggering just how little expectation they must have had about surviving the duration.
And that makes it all the more fascinating that amongst the heart-breaking waste, there are so many amazing stories; almost too many hairs-breadth escapes, hilarious failures, noble defeats and spectacular rescues to count.
I’ve finished this book mightily impressed with the author, but also with the British, Polish, French, Canadian, American etc crews whose stories deserve to be more widely celebrated. As I write this, there’s idle talk in the media about whether or not the UK and Europe would be capable of mobilising an army of conscripts to fight in a future war. I’d challenge any living descendant from this noble generation to measure our mettle against theirs. We’re simply not forged in the same fire any more.
Displaying 1 of 1 review