In February 2016 the RAF's Search and Rescue Force (SARF) celebrated its 75th anniversary. In June that year the world-renowned and universally admired service was officially disbanded, despite attempts from many, including HRH Prince William, to save it as part of the RAF. This book is an official, fully illustrated, in-depth account of the SARF's rich and glorious history, from its origins in World War II through to its recent withdrawal. The book contains a foreword by HRH Prince William himself, plus action-packed and awe-inspiring photographs from the RAF's archive of photographs and exclusive interviews with former crewmembers, telling their own dramatic stories of derring-do. Officially endorsed by the RAF, An Illustrated History of the RAF Search and Rescue Force is the first, and probably the only, major book of its kind written on this subject. It is an essential purchase for anyone with an interest in military history, British history, the Royal Family and those who love stories of extreme and daring rescue missions.

A fully illustrated history of the Royal Air Force while on operations, publishing to mark the centenary of its foundation in World War I. The world's first independent air force, the Royal Air Force celebrates its centenary in 2018. In the 100 years since the end of World War I, the service has been involved in almost continuous operations around the globe, giving the RAF the longest and most wide-ranging history of any air force in the world. But over the years this history has also become entangled with myths. The Royal Air Force: A Centenary of Operations sets the record straight, dispelling these as it uncovers – in both words and photographs – the true exploits and accomplishments of RAF personnel over the last 100 years. From its formation as an independent service in the dying days of World War I, its desperate fight against the Axis air forces in World War II, to its commitments during both the Cold War and modern times, this is the complete story of how the RAF has defended Britain for a century.

RAF: The Official Story is the most up-to-date official history of the Royal Air Force - the oldest airforce in the world. From its genesis in the horrors of the First World War when pilots were open to the elements in craft made of little more than wood and fabric, to the iconic air battles of the Second World War, through to the lifesaving missions carried out in today's trouble zones. This book looks at the men, women and aircraft that are at the heart of this great service. With unique access to the RAF's historic archives, bestselling historian James Holland uses photographs and documents to bring the story of the people, planes and missions to life as never before.

This is an astonishing, absolutely absorbing account of the accomplishments of those picked men from the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force, who work with U.S. Rangers and others of the United Nations in what is known officially as Combined Operations—or, more popularly, the Commandos. So far as possible, without giving aid to the enemy, it is the complete story of the Commandos since the very beginning of their activities, commencing with the experimental attacks on Norwegian islands, and proceeding with more ambitious attempts on the Continent. In quick succession follow highly dramatic accounts of the assault on southern Italy, the evacuation of Crete, the defeat of the French in Syria, the daring penetration of the enemy’s line in Libya—culminating in the suspenseful stalking of Rommel’s headquarters—the assault on St. Nazaire, the capture of Madagascar, the Dieppe raid, the invasion of North Africa. The book is utterly without heroics, and yet is all heroism. The reader marvels at the terrible efficiency, the terrible simplicity, the terrible courage and the awesome nonchalance of the British Royal Navy and Army and R.A.F. men who participate in these raids. The author has the true narrator’s gift—a style which is direct, authentic, episodic in a high degree, and stirring from beginning to end. The inspiring scenes he describes keep recurring to the reader long after the book has been laid aside.

This is the story of American volunteer pilots who risked their lives in defense of Britain during the earliest days of World War II-more than a year before Pearl Harbor, whenathe United States first became embroiled in the global conflict. Based on interviews, diaries, personal documents, and research in British, American, and German archives, the author has created a colorful portrait of this small group who were our nation's first combatants in World War II. As the author's research shows, their motives were various- some were idealistic; others were simply restless and looking for adventure. And though the British air force needed pilots, cultural conflicts between the raw American recruits and their reserved British commanders soon became evident. Prejudices on both sides and lack of communication had to be overcome.aa Eventually, the American pilots were assembled into three squadrons known as the Eagle squadrons. They saw action and suffered casualties in both England and France, notably in the attack on Dieppe.a By September 1942, after America had entered the war, these now experienced pilots were transferred to the US air force, bringing their expertise and their British Spitfireswith them. As much social as military history, Yanks in the RAF sheds new light on a little-known chapter of World War II and the earliest days of the sometimes fractious British-American alliance.

Much has been written about the Royal Air Force during the Second World War–memoirs, biographies, histories of Fighter and Bomber commands, technical studies of the aircraft, accounts of individual operations and exploits – but few books have attempted to take the reader on a journey through basic training and active service as air or ground crew and eventual demobilization at the end of the war. That is the aim of James Goulty’s Eyewitness RAF. Using a vivid selection of testimony from men and women, he offers a direct insight into every aspect of wartime life in the service. Throughout the book the emphasis is on the individual’s experience of the RAF – the preparations for flying, flying itself, the daily routines of an air base, time on leave, and the issues of discipline, morale and motivation. A particularly graphic section describes, in the words of the men themselves, what it felt like to go on operations and the impact of casualties – airmen who were killed, injured or taken prisoner. A fascinating varied inside view of the RAF emerges which is perhaps less heroic and glamorous than the image created by some postwar accounts, but it gives readers today a much more realistic appreciation of the whole gamut of life in the RAF seventy years ago.

RAF 100 celebrates and commemorates 100 years of the Royal Air Force with access to rare RAF archives.