'The Mallon crew' is the extraordinary result of four years of research. My decision in 2012 to write a blog about my father's war-time experiences as the Flight Engineer of a Lancaster bomber, took me on an incredible voyage of discovery, and unearthed some remarkable stories of courage, sacrifice and betrayal. As a child growing up in the 1950s, I never tired of asking my dad about what he did in the war. I wanted to know all about his role, what flak was like, and even how aircraft were able to fly. By the time I left primary school, my interest had started to wane and, when he died in 1974 at the age of just 55, I thought I had lost any chance of discovering more about his life. I couldn't have been more mistaken. Nearly forty years later, with just a handful of photographs, his flying log book and the name of his New Zealand pilot, Bill Mallon, my modest research project into 'Bob Jay's war' uncovered more tragedies than I could have imagined possible, and connected me with the families of all but one of my dad's crew. It even gave me the opportunity to talk to a man of 94 who had flown with my dad, and to find a photograph of my dad's aircraft flying to his last target. This book is not about a squadron, nor is it about individual acts of heroism, it is about the Mallon crew, a small group of unremarkable men thrown together briefly during the last few months of the war, and the amazing way in which their stories have unfolded seventy years later. I defy anyone not to be moved by their experiences, nor to marvel at the power of the internet to bring people together.

The Wonder Crew presents the fascinating story of how the salty coach of the Annapolis crew team, Coach Richard Glendon, seized the sport of rowing first from the Ivy League schools and then the imposing British with a new style both uniquely American and very much his own. Glendon took a group of young midshipmen with humble origins and dominated a sport once the domain of the privileged. After stunning the Ivy Leagues in race after race, the US Naval Academy team won a shot at the Olympics. Their task was nearly impossible: for hundreds of years, the British Navy ruled the world and their supremacy of the seas naturally made them dominant in the sport of rowing. With the hopes of a nation, Navy went into the heart of Europe and in thrilling fashion defeated the heavily favored Brits to win the gold medal in 1920. With Glendon's new American style, the US won Gold for forty straight years, the longest winning streak in any single sport in Olympic history. Rich in history, with brave characters, American ingenuity, and dramatic training and competition, Susan Saint Sing's The Wonder Crew is the first comprehensive account of the 1920 Olympic Navy crew team and their inspirational coach who forged the dramatic story of their quest for Olympic gold.

Set in Northern Ireland in the spring of 1983 at a time when ‘The Troubles’ are in full swing. Tony Speers, a newly promoted sergeant, arrives at Mountroyal RUC Station, located in the heart of East Belfast. When Tony meets up with his new section he quickly realises he has inherited a very dysfunctional group of individuals. They include a reluctant genius, an alcoholic and other endearing personalities who combine to make ‘A’ Section a close and effective unit. A spate of sinister sexual attacks have recently occurred in the area raising local tensions, leaving females afraid to go out at night. The uniformed police and local CID have thus far drawn a blank in apprehending the offender. The sub divisional commander of Mountroyal Station is under increasing pressure from local politicians, the chief constable, the press and local paramilitaries to make an arrest. Join Tony and the gang as they try to crack this case as well as attend to other miscellaneous calls within the Mountroyal Sub Division.

Tang Taizong (Li Shimin), 2nd emperor of the Tang dynasty, commissioned six statues of his favorite warhorses to be carved in stone and serve as part of his political legacy at his mausoleum, Zhao Ling. This book traces the history and significance of these statues, from their creation in 7th-century China, through their removal from the mausoleum in the early 20th c., when two made their way to the United States antiquities market through the dealer C.T. Loo, and ultimately to the Penn Museum. Their time on the art market and subsequent stewardship by the Penn Museum are also explored. Contemporaneous sources and archival records reconstruct the roles of different people, Chinese and Westerners, in the sale of and competition for these stone horses. While underlining their exceptional significance and reconstructing the historical path they traversed, this work serves to bridge the gaps in the shared knowledge of the historical facts pertaining to these horse reliefs and build a common foundation for intercultural dialogue and cooperation surrounding cultural heritage preservation and changing museum practice.

Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.

This expanded and updated edition of Chris Ward's Profile of 75(NZ) Squadron is the definitive and comprehensive wartime account of this well-known and highly-regarded Bomber Command outfit. Produced with the full support and assistance of squadron veterans, the Royal New Zealand Air Force Association and the New Zealand Bomber Command Association, it is a testament to the duty and sacrifice of all those who served with this famous unit throughout the Second World War. Chris Ward's detailed narrative, based on the squadron's Second World War Operations Record Book, is complemented by several hundred photographs, many published for the first time.In 1938, the New Zealand government had ordered thirty Vickers Wellington Mk1 bombers. RNZAF aircrew were despatched to train on the new aircraft at RAF Marham, and then take them to their new home in the Southern Hemisphere. When war broke out, the New Zealand Government placed the aircraft and their crews at the disposal of the RAF to help fight the new enemy. Already known as 'The New Zealand Squadron', the unit was given the number 75 on 4 April 1940, the previous unit so numbered having been disbanded. This meant that the original nucleus of personnel remained together as an operational unit of the RAF.On 4 April 1940, The New Zealand Squadron was renamed 75(NZ) Squadron. Although often referred to as an RNZAF unit, it was wholly equipped and controlled by the RAF until the end of the conflict. It was a key component of No. 3 Group, Bomber Command, and was based initially at RAF Feltwell, then RAF Mildenhall, RAF Newmarket and RAF Mepal, in Cambridgeshire. The unit saw action over France, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Sweden and Germany, distinguishing itself in the process.The squadron operated with a strength of three Flights after receiving Short Stirling bombers. In line with the rest of No. 3 Group, the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lancaster in 1944, the type seeing the unit through to August 1945. 75(NZ) Sqn operated against the Germans from 1940 to VE Day, flying more sorties than any other allied heavy bomber squadron, suffering the second highest number of casualties. A Victoria Cross was awarded to Sgt J A Ward for climbing out onto the wing of his Wellington on an operation over Europe, in an attempt to put out an engine fire. Although badly damaged by enemy fighters' cannon shells, the aircraft managed to return to its base.