Tedder

Tedder
Author: Vincent Orange
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 467
Release: 2012-10-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136295356
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Arthur Tedder became one of the most eminent figures of the Second World War: first as head of Anglo-American air forces in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and North Africa; then as Deputy Supreme Commander to General Eisenhower for the Allied campaign that began in Normandy and ended in Berlin. During those anxious, exhilarating years, he was, as The Times of London wrote, 'the most unstuffy of great commanders, who could be found sitting cross-legged, jacketless, pipe smoldering, answering questions on a desert airstrip.' After the war, promoted to five-star rank and elevated to the peerage as Lord Tedder, he was made Chief of the Air Staff, holding this appointment for longer than anyone since his time: four critical years (from 1946 to 1949) that saw the tragic start of the Cold War and the inspiring achievement of the Berlin Airlift. In 1950, he became Britain's NATO representative in Washington: a year that saw the start of a hot war in Korea that threatened to spread around the globe. This book provides the first comprehensive account of a great commander's public career and uses hundreds of family letters to portray a private life, both joyful and tragic.

Command Of The Air

Command Of The Air
Author: General Giulio Douhet
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Total Pages: 620
Release: 2014-08-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782898522
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In the pantheon of air power spokesmen, Giulio Douhet holds center stage. His writings, more often cited than perhaps actually read, appear as excerpts and aphorisms in the writings of numerous other air power spokesmen, advocates-and critics. Though a highly controversial figure, the very controversy that surrounds him offers to us a testimonial of the value and depth of his work, and the need for airmen today to become familiar with his thought. The progressive development of air power to the point where, today, it is more correct to refer to aerospace power has not outdated the notions of Douhet in the slightest In fact, in many ways, the kinds of technological capabilities that we enjoy as a global air power provider attest to the breadth of his vision. Douhet, together with Hugh “Boom” Trenchard of Great Britain and William “Billy” Mitchell of the United States, is justly recognized as one of the three great spokesmen of the early air power era. This reprint is offered in the spirit of continuing the dialogue that Douhet himself so perceptively began with the first edition of this book, published in 1921. Readers may well find much that they disagree with in this book, but also much that is of enduring value. The vital necessity of Douhet’s central vision-that command of the air is all important in modern warfare-has been proven throughout the history of wars in this century, from the fighting over the Somme to the air war over Kuwait and Iraq.

JG26

JG26
Author: Donald Caldwell
Publisher: Frontline Books
Total Pages: 637
Release: 2013-11-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 147383161X
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“This unique, impressive study presents a history in microcosm of the entire Luftwaffe Fighter Corps . . . [a] spellbinding work.” —Library Journal Jagdgeschwader 26, the German elite fighter unit, was more feared by the Allies than any other Luftwaffe group. Based on extensive archival research in Europe, personal combat diaries and interviews with more than 50 surviving pilots, Caldwell has assembled a superb day-to-day chronicle of JG 26 operations, from its first air victory in 1939 to its final combat patrol in 1945. A microcosm of World War II exists in the rise and fall of this famous fighter wing. For the first two years of the war it was an even match between the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs; but the scales tipped in favor of the Allies in 1943 with the arrival of the Eighth US Air Force and its peerless P-51 Mustang. The book has been endorsed by the top fighter commanders of three air forces: the RAF (Johnnie Johnson), the USAAF (Hub Zemke), and the Luftwaffe (Adolf Galland) and is considered essential reading for anyone interested in the aerial war of 1941–45.

Sustaining Air Power

Sustaining Air Power
Author: Trevor Stone
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Total Pages: 531
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre:
ISBN:
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Draws on 25 years of original and exhaustive researchRichly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographsContent and style will appeal to a wide readership The Royal Air Force is the world’s oldest independent air arm, yet little has been written about its logistics. This ground-breaking book, which draws on 25 years of original archival research, opens the hangar door on this highly important discipline that has been at the forefront of supporting British air power since 1918. Written by a former senior RAF logistics officer and supplemented by material from veterans and currently serving military personnel, Sustaining Air Power: Royal Air Force Logistics since 1918 explores the fascinating development of RAF logistics. This journey, just short of a century, explores the inter-war years, Second World War, Cold War and the major campaigns the service has been involved in since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. The main narrative ends in 2014 with the RAF’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Dedicated chapters consider the more specialist aspects of logistics such as tactical and expeditionary logistics, fuels and explosives, transport, training, information technology and how the RAF has managed its extensive supply chain. Richly illustrated, its content and style will appeal to a wide readership.

Group Captain John 'Joe' Collier DSO, DFC and Bar

Group Captain John 'Joe' Collier DSO, DFC and Bar
Author: Simon Gooch
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2015-01-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1473850991
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John Collier's war began on day one, flying Hampdens in 83 Squadron with his friend Guy Gibson, in a hunt for the battleship Admiral Scheer. By the summer of 1940 he was bombing the Dortmund-Ems Canal at low-level, then Bordeaux and the Scharnhorst at Brest, which led to his DFC and Bar. Given command of 420 (RCAF) Squadron at 25, Collier was hand-picked to direct 97 Squadron, whose Lancasters made a spectacular debut with the 1942 Augsburg Raid. In Gibson's opinion Joe Collier's 97 was the best unit in Bomber Command. After 63 missions Collier was awarded the DSO and was selected to join the Directorate of Bomber Operations (B Ops 1) at the heart of the air war: co-ordinating with the USAAF, issuing directives to Bomber Command, and arguing for precision attacks on vital enemy industries and weaponry. In B Ops 1 John Collier was closely involved in planning the Dambuster Raid with Barnes Wallis, drafted the attack on Peenemunde's V-weapons research station, and managed to delay the buzz-bomb and rocket assault on London. As target selector for the specialist 617 Squadron, he and Leonard Cheshire VC made imaginative use of Wallis's Tallboy earthquake bomb. 617 were also linked to Collier's role with SOE's Blackmail Committee that gave French industrialists a stark choice: sabotage your own plant or be bombed flat. By the time he moved to India in 1945 as Deputy Director of Combined Ops, John Collier had been involved in most of the major initiatives of the bomber war. His unpublished memoir of B Ops 1 and his logbooks and letters home give direct authority to this the first biography of this remarkable flyer, one of the most significant young RAF officers of the war.