Aviation Archives - The History Press

From Bouncing Bombs to Concorde

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 04:01:28 +0000

George Edwards’ name is synonymous with the Vickers Viscount, the world’s first turboprop airliner; the controversial TSR2 project and the legendary Anglo-French Concorde. During the Second World War, it was Edwards who made the Dam Busters’ bouncing bombs bounce.

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Concorde

Cynthia Hamilton — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 04:01:32 +0000

This new photographic book is packed with stunning colour photographs of Concorde aircraft throughout the history of the aircraft in service. Compiled by Robbie Shaw, ex air traffic controller and lifetime aviation photographer and enthusiast, it covers both British and Air France Concorde aircraft and highlights the impressive collaboration between the two nations that resulted in such an important and beloved aircraft. With over 140 images covering such themes as British Airways and Air France Concordes, the Pepsi Cola ad campaign, and the emotional retirement day at Heathrow, this book showcases quality photographs of an iconic supersonic airliner, for which only 14 of the type entered airline service, and whose like will never be seen again.

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On Silver Wings

Cynthia Hamilton — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 04:01:44 +0000

In July 1940, Desmond Ibbotson joined the RAF aiming to fly Spitfires. Flying with three of the RAF’s elite squadrons, Desmond accumulated over 650 hours flying seven types of Spitfires, was credited with 11 confirmed victories and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. How then was he killed on a routine test flight in 1944? When he had a marked grave, why was a Spitfire excavated from an Italian field 62 years later with his remains still inside? Presenting over 20 years’ of meticulous research and writing, this detailed study respectfully relays the events of Desmond’s short but eventful career as well as what happened next, investigating both his tragic death on a routine test flight, and how he came to have two graves.

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Beyond the Spitfire

Simon Appleby — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 19:08:33 +0000

Popular history has a tendency to simplify, and accounts of the life and career of aeronautical engineer R.J. Mitchell are no exception. Remembered most fondly for his epochal Spitfire design, his other designs – many of them failures and disappointments – have largely been ignored. As a designer for Supermarine, Mitchell produced a huge body of concepts, projects and ideas that never left the drawing board. In Beyond the Spitfire Ralph Pegram brings Mitchell’s previously unseen work to light in an attempt to evaluate the entire portfolio of one of Britain’s most talented aeronautical designers. Illustrated with a combination of layout drawings and impressive CGI renderings of Mitchell’s designs, this book is an insightful and indispensable addition to our understanding of the work of a man often called a genius.

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Rocket and Jet Aircraft of the Third Reich

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 04:01:51 +0000

Throughout much of the Second World War the Nazis’ military technology was far more advanced than anything the Allies could produce. Part of the German arsenal were rocket and jet aircraft, the first of which, the Heinkel He 178, first took to the air on 27 August 1939. It was followed by other icons of aviation such as the Messerschmitt Me 262 that had an engine with a thrust of 1,350lbs, and the famous V-1 (Doodlebug), over 9,500 of which were fired at Britain resulting in 22,892 casualties. In Rocket and Jet Aircraft of the Third Reich, aviation historian Terry C. Treadwell tells the story of the planes and weaponry that represented the cutting edge of aviation technology. He details their design, development and application and the struggles of those who built them. The German scientists and engineers were always under pressure from the German High Command during the conflict, and as it drew to a close they were caught between the Allies who wished to control them, and the SS who would stop at nothing to prevent them falling into Allied hands. Complimented by over 200 illustrations, Rocket and Jet Aircraft of the Third Reich provides unrivalled insight into the aircraft that made Germany an almost indomitable enemy.

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Aviation Landmarks – Norfolk and Suffolk

Simon Appleby — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:02:02 +0000

Norfolk and Suffolk are bursting with aviation heritage, having played key roles in military aviation through the two world wars and beyond. This new edition of Aviation Landmarks– Norfolk and Suffolk presents an updated and revised account of aviation heritage and history through the two world wars right up to the present day. Nearly 70 airfields are covered, along with many lesser-known landmarks including decoy airfields, former radar stations, country houses, buildings, local heritage collections, pubs, village signs and much else. With illustrations, OS grid references and an index this reference guide to the two counties, both in the air and on the ground, will delight interested locals and aviation enthusiasts alike.

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Suddenly an Englishman

Simon Appleby — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:36:41 +0000

Lousi Hagen, as a young German Jew in 1934, aged only 17, was sent to a Nazi concentration camp, betrayed for an off-hand joke by a Nazi-sympathising family maid. His time there was mercifully cut short when he was released to his school friend’s father, a senior Nazi Judge, and he escaped to the UK, immediately joining up to fight the Nazis upon the outbreak of war. During his adventurous army career, he became a Glider Pilot and famously fought at Arnhem, swimming the Rhine to escape the German army, subsequently awarded the Military Medal for bravery. He wrote the bestselling Arnhem Lift only three weeks after his return, initially published anonymously, and ultimately successful all over the world. After Arnhem, Hagen was transferred to India, becoming a war correspondent and travelling around southeast Asia. Post-war, he continued to write, and set up a film production company. This gripping, lively, often racy, and never-flinching autobiography reveals Hagen’s life in candid detail, the perfect companion to his bestselling book Arnhem Lift.

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Gulag to Spitfire

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 04:01:17 +0000

Military history, war, immigration and an incredible tale of survival collide in this thrilling and personal account of the Second World War. Few beyond those who have escaped the realities of war today can understand some of what was involved in being sent to Stalin’s Siberia, and to escape, only to be thrown into the maelstrom of flak over Northern Europe in early 1945.

This was the reality that faced Kazimierz Tomas Hubert, known to all as Tomek. The son of the military governor for Lwów (modern-day Lviv), after Russia invaded Poland in September 1939 Tomek was banished as a political prisoner to the notorious Vorkuta Gulag in the Artic Circle.

He survived summary executions, starvation and even the threat of cannibalism to escape and walk 6,000 km to freedom. Reaching the relative safety of Tehran, he then crossed war-torn Europe to be recruited by No. 317 (Polish) squadron, flying Spitfires against the Luftwaffe in Belgium, Holland and North Germany. The end of the war saw his home city given to Soviet Ukraine as part of the Yalta Agreement. Like all Polish servicemen, he was ignored by the post-war government and his British wife, Angela Oakshott, lost her citizenship despite working for Bletchley Park because of his Polish nationality.

In this moving tale of endurance against all odds, Andrew Hubert traces his father’s footsteps from the gulags of Siberia to flying spitfires in the air battles against the Luftwaffe. It is a remarkable account of the Second World War and its impact.

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Elstree Aerodrome

Simon Appleby — Tue, 03 Jun 2025 18:51:05 +0000

This work examines the aircraft, events and personalities that have shaped Elstree Aerodrome, from its humble beginnings in the 1930s as a landing strip associated with a country club, through extensive use for repair and overhaul of military aircraft in the Second World War, and on to becoming to one of the foremost general aviation airfields in the country. Elstree is one of only a dozen or so civil aerodromes in the UK which have been in continuous operation for at least the last 90 years. In peacetime Elstree became a hub for charter companies and flying clubs, and many celebrities have flown from here, enjoying its close proximity to Elstree Studios and London. Newly updated, to include significant historical events not covered in the original edition as well as those since its 2003 publication, and with many new photographs, this expanded edition tells the full story of 90 years at Elstree Aerodrome.

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The Women Who Went Round the World

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 04:03:04 +0000

Sally Smith presents the extraordinary stories of the real women pioneers in global circumnavigation; travelling right around the world by various means and for various purposes. This captivating selection of stories includes the incredible tale of Jeanne Baret, a French woman who, in 1740, dressed as a man, travelled by boat to become the first woman ever to voyage right around the world; a journey on a convict supply ship to Port Jackson, that picked up Mutiny on the Bounty survivors on the way back; the dramatic 1889 race around the world by Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland; Annette Meakin’s dark experiences crossing Russia by train in 1900; Harriet Fischer’s drive around the globe in 1909; and the fascinating story of Russia’s Valentina Tereshkova, born into a peasant family, working in a local textile factory, who ended up becoming the first ever woman to circle the world in space. Each of these women achieved a serious record in circumnavigation and deserves to be given her rightful place in history.

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