Unavailable
Unavailable
Unavailable
Ebook220 pages2 hours
The Squadron That Died Twice - The story of No. 82 Squadron RAF, which in 1940 lost 23 out of 24 aircraft in two bombing raids
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Apart from the quiet chatter of a few mechanics, who were checking that one aircraft was too badly damaged ever to fly again, there was a shocked silence over the aerodrome as everyone there tried to understand the impossible.Twelve twin-engined bombers of 82 Squadron RAF had set out on a fi ne May morning in 1940, from Watton, Norfolk, in a brave but hopeless attempt to slow down the German armour ripping through Belgium. Sergeant Thomas 'Jock' Morrison was the pilot of the only one to come home.Heavy losses in Bomber Command in the Second World War were common, normal, came with the territory, but this? Eleven out of twelve were shot down, by flak and fighters, and lay in burning fragments along the Belgium/ France border.It is said that history repeats itself. And so it was, almost exactly three months later, on a cloudy day in August 1940, that twelve more twin-engined Bristol Blenheim bombers, each with a crew of three men, set off from Watton, Norfolk, in a brave but hopeless attempt to destroy a Luftwaffe base in enemy-occupied Denmark. One aircraft had to turn for home before it reached the target. The other eleven pressed on as the clouds disappeared and, on a fi ne sunny morning, were all shot down, by flak and fighters, and lay in burning fragments on the shores of the Lymfjord.At the time, when the whole world was trying to understand the impossible, how Germany could conquer Denmark, Norway, The Netherlands, Belgium and France in a few weeks, and Poland before that - and surely Great Britain next? - 82 Squadron's disasters were barely noticed.Based on the accounts of survivors and on squadron and other records, Gordon Thorburn's moving retelling of the story, of the events of it and the men in it, at last puts right that terrible omission.
Unavailable
Author
Gordon Thorburn
Gordon Thorburn is the author of almost thirty books, including best-sellers Men and Sheds and Cassius: The True Story of a Courageous Police Dog. This comprehensive new title follows the success of Luck of a Lancaster, published to great acclaim in 2013 by Pen and Sword Aviation.
Read more from Gordon Thorburn
The Classic Herb Garden Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jocks in the Jungle: The History of the Black Watch in India Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLuck of a Lancaster: 107 Operations, 244 Crew, 103 Killed in Action Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMe and My MG Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHolidays in Victorian England Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Classic Allotment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBomber Command 1939–1940: The War before the War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A Century of Air Warfare With Nine (IX) Squadron, RAF: Still Going Strong Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMore Luck of a Lancaster: 109 Operations, 315 Crew, 101 Killed in Action Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pocket Guide to Sheds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemembering the High Street: A Nostalgic Look at Famous Names Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Squadron That Died Twice - The story of No. 82 Squadron RAF, which in 1940 lost 23 out of 24 aircraft in two bombing raids
Related ebooks
Fighter Operations in Europe and North Africa, 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLast of the Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots Who Won It Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ten Squadrons of Hurricanes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Photographic History of Airborne Warfare, 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBomber Command 1939–1940: The War before the War Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cold War Interceptor: The RAF's F.155T/O.R. 329 Fighter Projects Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bombers Fly East: WWII RAF Operations in the Middle and Far East Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mosquito: The Original Multi-Role Combat Aircraft Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Focke-Wulf Fw 200: The Luftwaffe's Long Range Maritime Bomber Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath Was Their Co-Pilot: Aces of the Skies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lancaster Bomber Pocket Manual: 1941-1945 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Official History of the Royal Air Force 1935-1945 — Vol. III —Fight is Won[Illustrated Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mosquito Pocket Manual: All marks in service 1941–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRAF Bomber Command at War, 1939–1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBritish Military Test and Evaluation Aircraft: The Golden Years 1945–1975 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wings Over the Channel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAirwar over the Atlantic Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Hawker Hurricane Mk I–V Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lancaster Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAircraft Carrier Victorious: Detailed in the Original Builders' Plans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Best of British Aircraft Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bomber Command: The Thousand Bomber Raids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kiel Raid 1939: Eyewitness World War II series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInfamous Aircraft: Dangerous Designs and their Vices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hurricane Pocket Manual: All marks in service 1939–45 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5P-51 Mustang Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHitler's Forgotten Secret Weapon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5100 Years of The Royal Air Force: The Men, The Aircraft, The Battles Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hawker Hunter: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Military Biographies For You
The Pledge to America: One Man's Journey from Political Prisoner to U.S. Navy SEAL Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mein Kampf: The Original, Accurate, and Complete English Translation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Guerrilla Warfare Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Scars and Stripes: An Unapologetically American Story of Fighting the Taliban, UFC Warriors, and Myself Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Personal Memoirs Of U.s. Grant Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Staring Down the Wolf: 7 Leadership Commitments That Forge Elite Teams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Through the Glass Ceiling to the Stars: The Story of the First American Woman to Command a Space Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America's Empire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Caesar: Life of a Colossus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delta Force: A Memoir by the Founder of the U.S. Military's Most Secretive Special-Operations Unit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Hell and Back: The Classic Memoir of World War II by America's Most Decorated Soldier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Napoleon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare: The Mavericks Who Plotted Hitler's Defeat Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Light of Days: The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alexander the Great Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jarhead: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Greatest Beer Run Ever: A Memoir of Friendship, Loyalty, and War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Rumor of War: The Classic Vietnam Memoir (40th Anniversary Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grateful American: A Journey from Self to Service Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebel Yell: The Violence, Passion, and Redemption of Stonewall Jackson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Right Kind of Crazy: My Life as a Navy SEAL, Covert Operative, and Boy Scout from Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Squadron That Died Twice - The story of No. 82 Squadron RAF, which in 1940 lost 23 out of 24 aircraft in two bombing raids
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews