In May 1943, 617 Squadron RAF executed one of the most daring operations in military history. Flying barely 50 feet above the sea, Wing Commander Guy Gibson and his bombers mounted a raid against hydro-electric dams in Germany. Nearly 70 years later in April 2011, a new generation of elite flyers followed their heroes into the theatre of war.

John Nichol, Gulf War veteran and ex-POW in Iraq, reveals the true cost of flying the iconic and deadly Lancaster - through the few authentic voices of the RAF veterans who are left to us.

Operation Chastise, the destruction of the Mohne and Eder dams in north-west Germany by the RAF's 617 Squadron on the night of 16/17 May 1943, was an epic that has passed into Britain's national legend. Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who led the raid. In the 21st Century, however, he urges that we should see the dambusters in much more complex shades. The...

This text reveals the Hurricane in all its glory - from fascinating first-hand accounts from the men who flew her to the truly breathtaking images from John Dibbs of the Hurricanes still in flight today.

Young paratrooper Theo Trickey has had a remarkable war. Boy soldier, commando, intelligence officer - fighting from northern France to the African desert - he barely survived the bloodbath at the Battle of Arnhem. Nursed back to health by Medical Officer Capt. Daniel Garland, Trickey has done more than should be asked of any man in war. But the British field intelligence have one more misson for Trickey: to negotiate with his extraordinary old acquaintance,...

At 9.51pm on the 13th of February 1945 an airstrike on Dresden started that left at least 25,000 people dead and 13 square miles of the centre destroyed. In this study of that night Frederick Taylor has researched in German, American and British archives and talked to those involved on all sides.

This work presents accounts of pilots and aircrew who experienced life saving events, enabling exclusive membership ries to very special clubs. 'Goldfish' was lives saved by the use of personal life preservers and dinghies, 'Caterpillar' was those saved by parachutes, and 'Guinea Pig' was lives saved by pioneering surgery.

RAF Tempsford, a remote Second World War airfield between Cambridge and Bedford, was designed by an illusionist to give over-flying enemy pilots the impression it was a disused airfield. This book tells the story of Tempsford Academy, Churchill's and Roosevelts secret airfield.

Whilst the Lancaster was acknowledged as being a fearsome bomber the plane was also vulnerable. Philip Gray describes what it was like to be the captain of a Lancaster at the height of World War 2 and how he and his crew managed to survive the War.

The memoir of the remarkable Jackie Moggridge: female pilot, Spitfire expert, and pioneer.