All manner of men took to the perilous skies in 1940, determined to defend the British Isles from Goering’s fearsome aircraft armada. Different nationalities; British, Polish, Czech, French, and even Irish pilots, like Michael O’Connor, banded together and lunged headfirst at the mass of Luftwaffe bombers and fighters — Axis pilots who were equally determined […]
Major Kurt Krantz was a Luftwaffe ace, one of Germany’s top fighter pilots. The leader of the famous “Black Eagles” squadron had no equal — except for one man. That man was Harry “Handlebar” Hanley of the RAF, the only pilot to ever hold his own against Krantz. Then one day Harry found himself alone […]
Bristol Blenheim pilot Nick Macklin was a fine flyer, so good that when tensions ramped up and the Nazis turned their sights on the invasion of Britain, he got the transfer of his dreams to fly Hurricanes. But the relentless fighting left his squadron sleepless, strung out and falling apart at the seams. Only the […]
Have you ever dreamed that you’re falling, falling, whirling round and round, never going to stop? Terrifying isn’t it? That’s how Nick Kirby felt every time he went in a plane. You see, Nick suffered from vertigo — an uncontrollable fear of heights. Oh, there’s another thing about Nick. He joined the RAF as a […]
On the ground or in the air, they were a pair of fighting fools. On civvy street, Mike Tulley and Terry Stark were bitter rivals for the middleweight boxing title. Then, in wartime, as Spitfire pilots they were never done trying to outfly and outfight each other — whether or not they died in the […]
On a lone sortie over France, RAF pilot Frank Selby ran into trouble in the shape of two marauding Messerschmitts. Soon he had to bail out — and fast! He landed safely, stood up, dusted himself off — and looked around to see a fully grown lion bounding towards him. This was the moment Frank […]
“One of our own kites is shooting at us!” That’s what the tail gunner of Dave Robert’s Lancaster said just before he bailed out of the stricken bomber as it plunged earthwards. Dave couldn’t believe what he’d heard until he and his navigator stumbled upon the truth. But by then they were going to have […]
“We’ve got two kinds of fighter pilots in this mob — the hunters and the hunted. The hunters fly fast, shoot first and come out on top. The hunted? Well… young Jimmy Daiken there is one of the hunted, because every time he goes up he expects the chop — and he won’t be disappointed…” […]
The Coastal Command crews flying Mosquitos had to remain ice-cold when they attacked targets in enemy territory, for the ever-present German fighters could bounce them at any time. But Phil Manning’s squadron had another force to be reckoned with. A sinister, ghostly monk had been seen on their home airfield and everyone was convinced that […]
In the savage air battles over Burma, no Japanese pilot was more feared than Commander Nako Kagama. So strong was his belief that he was the tiger of the sun that he had a snarling, leaping tiger painted on his aircraft — his own personal symbol of success. Yet it was to be such a […]
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