Steve Bond
1) Heroes All: Airmen of Different Nationalities Tell Their Stories of Service in the Second World War
Author
Description
This WWII history shares the personal stories of frontline airmen from all sides of the conflict gathered through original interviews.
Aviation historian Steve Bond has spent years interviewing veterans of World War II. He recorded the stories of former airmen and crewmembers who shared the same pieces of sky at the same time. The project brought together British and German, German and Russian, British and Italian, American and German-sometimes...
Author
Description
This Royal Air Force history examines a revolutionary Cold War era aircraft with firsthand accounts from veterans who flew them all over the world.
The Gloster Javelin, an all-weather interceptor aircraft, was the UK's first line of air defense in the 1950s and 1960s, both at home and in Royal Air Force Germany. With an unorthodox aerodynamic design, the Javelin had major production issues early on-including a tendency for engines to self-destruct...
Author
Series
Description
Essentially a development of the Avro Lancaster via the later Lincoln, the Avro Shackleton was the RAF's first line of defense in the maritime role from 1951 for twenty years, thereafter continuing to serve as an airborne early warning aircraft for another twenty, until 1991. The 'Old Grey Lady', the 'Growler', '20,000 rivets in loose formation', but mostly known simply as the 'Shack', it is viewed with great affection by those who flew and maintained...
Author
Description
Helicopters have been going to sea with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm for over 70 years. Initially used for search and rescue (SAR) duties from aircraft carriers, the rapid development of both the helicopters and service experience resulted in them taking on the vital anti-submarine (and later anti-ship) attack roles. The 1956 Suez campaign saw the first operational use of Whirlwind helicopters for the insertion of troops by air into a battle zone,...
Author
Description
Through the first-hand experiences of pilots and ground crew, the author of Javelin Boys chronicles the history of the RAF's first jet-engined aircraft. As Britain's first jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor has had a remarkably varied and lengthy life. But while many books have focused on its development and service history, the time has come to hear the personal experiences of its air and ground crews. By interviewing over thirty veterans, author and...
Author
Description
A history of the Royal Navy's FAA since 1945, featuring a survey of the aircraft flown, the conflicts fought, and the daily life of those in service.
The RAF's continuing role in the projection of air power in the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas interests since the end of the Second World War is well known. However, the same cannot always be said about the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA), in part due to the ten-year gap between the...
Author
Series
Description
After World War II, the Royal Air Force went through a considerable downsizing but retained an essential maritime reconnaissance role for the protection of British interests overseas. These areas were primarily the Mediterranean, Middle East, Far East to Hong Kong and all associated trade routes linking them to Britain and each other. With the arrival in service of the Shackleton from 1951, re-equipment with the new type initially concentrated on...
Author
Description
Since the end of World War 2 the primary role of the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm has been airborne power projection; the ability rapidly to respond to any trouble spot across the globe and to protect the interests of the United Kingdom and its partner nations. The principal tools in that response were the strike aircraft which took the offensive to the aggressor. Although from 2010 to 2020 fixed-wing carrier aviation was not part of the Fleet Air Arm,...
Author
Series
Description
To date, there has been a paucity of books on this remarkable aircraft. Among its claims to fame are the following: the only RAF bomber to serve in its original role from the first day of the war to last, and in every theater; the first type to bomb Germany; the first type to bomb Berlin; the first type to drop the 4,000lb 'Cookie' bomb; and so on.
His coverage of operations will include, inter alia, the early bombing campaigns, the switch to main...
Author
Description
Steve Bond is back with the final volume in this popular series. Unlike his previous three tomes, with their focus on aircraft and rotorcraft, this book is uniquely dedicated to the personnel of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) themselves. Each chapter will concentrate on the memories of contributors who served in a range of roles, including those below the flight deck. Accounts will focus on the everyday life upon an aircraft carrier as well as the extraordinary...
Author
Series
Description
This WWII Royal Air Force history reveals the activities of special ops squadrons and the electronic warfare and countermeasures they deployed.
Established within the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, No. 100 Group was dedicated to the complex business of electronic warfare. Though its role was vital, it remains one of the least understood aspects of RAF operations during the Second World War. In this meticulously researched volume, aviation historian...
12) Crusin High
Author
Description
A street-gang member kills the gang's leader and blames it on a rival gang.