This is a pulsating account of the young RAF fighter boys who flew Spitfires, Hurricanes and Defiants in England against the Luftwaffe and from Malta 1940-45 against the Regia Aeronautica. Their story is told using combat reports and first person accounts from RAF, German and Commonwealth pilots who fought in the skies in France in 1940, in England during the Battle of Britain, and in the great air offensives over Occupied Europe from 1942 onwards. Chapters include the stories of Wing Commander D. R. S. Bader, Wing Commander Adolph Gysbert 'Sailor' Malan, Oberleutnant Ulrich Steinhilper, Flight Lieutenant H. M. Stephen, Squadron Leader Robert Stanford Tuck, 'Johnny' Johnson, Squadron Leader M. N. Crossley, Squadron Leader A. McKellar, 'Cowboy' Blatchford and Squadron Leader D. H. Smith, an Australian veteran of the Battle of Malta and many others whose names have now become legendary. AUTHOR: Martin Bowman is one of Britain's best-known Second World War aviation historians and authors. His previous books have included works such as Legend of the Lancaster, Confounding the Reich, Duxford and the Big Wings, Clash of Eagles, Mosquito: Menacing the Reich, Lost Wings of WWI and numerous titles in the exhaustive Air War series providing extensive coverage of operations carried out on D-Day and during the Market-Garden offensive at Arnhem. SELLING POINTS: ? Stirring first-hand accounts offer an authentic impression of the day-to-day reality of life in the skies with the young RAF fighter pilots who participated in the Second World War. ? Thrillingly relays the stories of some of the most iconic and legendary fighter pilots to be caught up in wartime proceedings, including Douglas Bader, Robert Stanford Tuck and Howard Peter 'Cowboy' Blatchford. ? Supplemented by evocative photographs, many of which have never been reproduced before. 2 x 16pp b/w plates
