Best books on flying in WWII

[Spitfire]

Maybe this have been done before, but why not share a list of our top favourit books on WWII aviation.

Let me start out with mine - in no particular order:

Paul Richey: Fighter Pilot
John T. Godfrey: The look of Eagles
Patrick Bishop: Fighter Boys
Patrick Bishop: Bomber Boys
Kaplan: One last Look, The Few and Little Friends
(Lots of great pictures in all 3)
Peter Townsend: Duel of Eagles
Alfred Price: The Hardest day
(One day in Battle of Britain: August 18th)
Alan C Deere: Nine lives
Derek Wood & Derek Dempster: The Narrow Margin

And if we include novels:
Derek Robinson: Piece of Cake.

Hope this thread can give inspiration to new readers - and old experts as well.

 

[Smithy]

I'll play. My interest lies with the fighter squadrons and personnel of the RAF and RNZAF and my list only includes memoirs and autobiographies or pilot biographies from these two air forces to keep it shortish. These are just my favourites from what I have read...



The Big Show by Pierre Clostermann - if you read just one WWII flying memoir it should be this, William Faulkner called it the best thing to come out of WWII, and I agree.

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum - Wonderfully written memoir from a Battle of Britain pilot. Without doubt this will be regarded as a classic in years to come.

The Blue Arena by Spud Spurdle - gritty account by a Kiwi pilot who flew against both the Germans and the Japanese.

Fighter Pilot by Paul Richey - one of the classics, very truthful memoir of the Phoney War and Battle of France by one of the AASF's Hurricane pilots

Cobber Kain by Michael Burns - there's a few errors in this but the only bio that (so far) exists on the first RAF ace of the war and his truly meteoric story.

Fighter Pilot the diaries of Geoffrey Barclay - incredibly valuable historical document. The actual day to day diary of a Battle of Britain pilot.

Tempest Pilot by Jim Sheddan - very readable and amusing read by a Kiwi Spitfire and Tempest pilot. Includes many hilarious descriptions of off duty high jinks. Laugh out loud stuff at times.

Kiwi Spitfire Ace by Jack Rae - great book by the 485(NZ) Sqn ace and his subsequent time as a POW. Very good.

Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer by Philip Caine - wonderful bio filled with letters and diary accounts of LeRoy Gover, an American who flew in 133 "Eagle" Sqn, RAF and later the 8th Air Force.

Fighter Pilot by William Dunn - autobiography by the first American ace of the war and another member of the Eagle Squadrons. Should be read for the chapter "The Ace" alone.

Nine Lives by Al Deere - Great memoir by one of the toughest men of Fighter Command. Kiwi, Al Deere tells his story of the air war especially the Battle of Britain and the battle over occupied Europe.

Spitfire Strikes by Johnnie Houlton - good and insightful account by another 485(NZ) Spitfire pilot. Very good.

Life's too Short to Cry by Tim Vigors - great and no nonsense account by one of the great characters of the war. Very personal look fighting in the Battle of Britain and fighting the Japanese.

The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary - one of the greatest aviation memoirs of the war and one of the best written. By the incredibly talented Richard Hillary, tells the story of university life and then the Battle of Britain, his shooting down with terrible burns and his treatment as one of the "Guinea Pigs". Fantastic.

Clouds of Fear by Roger Hall - another Battle of Britain memoir but incredibly personal. Hall suffered from mental illness on and off and is very honest in his re-tellings. Also contains some of the best and honest descriptions of aerial combat I have seen. At times a harrowing, disturbing, and humbling book.

Arise to Conquer by Ian Gleed - a classic from the Battle of Britain. Very truthful and highly descriptive.


I might have to do a separate thread with fiction and other non-fiction titles that I like...

 

["Doc" Devereux]

Excellent suggestions all. I'd like to add one more to the mix, and a story about it.

Wings on My Sleeve by Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown, RN.
Brown hold the record for most aircraft types flown by one man (427, if memory serves) and the book covers his career through the war as a test pilot at Farnborough and then on afterwards. He flew the Me262 and He163 among all sorts of other aircraft, and was the last man to interview Hermann Goering.

I was chatting to his editor* at a party earlier in the year, who told me that the part about Goering didn't actually appear in the original manuscript. In fact the only reason it does is because Ian found out about it from a documentary on the Discovery Channel.

Brown's reason? "Oh, I didn't think anyone would be interested..."

Ian was more than happy to correct this misapprehension.

* A terribly nice and astonishingly knowledgeable man named Ian Drury. In his time with Orion Ian was responsible for a great many good things, including the translation of Pierre Closterman's full book into English where before there had only been an abridged version. Editors, by the very nature of their work, never get the applause and respect they deserve and I'm very happy indeed to correct that injustice in Ian's case. Trust me guys, editors are what make many books readable.

 

[Mike K.]

I'll put in my vote for The Debden Warbirds.
Also, not for the reading as much as the collection of full color period photos, I recommend Fighter Command, Bomber Command, and Warbirds. I've seen these three books listed under different titles but all are authored by Jeffery Ethell.

 

[BellyTank]

Rocket Fighter, Mano Ziegler:

Told from the pilot's seat, of what still ranks as the most dangerous and hard-to-manage production aircraft ever manufactured, this is the true story of the world's first operational rocket fighter aircraft--the Messerschmitt 163, developed by the Germans during World War II.

A fascinating read.

B
T

 

[KilroyCD]

I'll put in my vote for The Debden Warbirds.
Also, not for the reading as much as the collection of full color period photos, I recommend Fighter Command, Bomber Command, and Warbirds. I've seen these three books listed under different titles but all are authored by Jeffery Ethell.

All the books you mentioned were authored by friends of mine. The Debden Warbirds is authored by Frank Speer, one of the 4th FG Pilots with 334 Squadron. He currently lives in Emmaus, PA, and I've had the pleasure of knowing him for about 13 years.
Jeff Ethell was a good friend whose loss I still mourn. He was unfortunately killed in a P-38 crash in Tillamook, Oregon on June 6, 1997. I had the pleasure of assisting him gather some materiel for "Fighter Command" (namely Bill Skinner's North Africa / Italy photos), plus helping him with Spitfire related questions he had at various times during the preparation of Fighter Command. Some of my favourite photo shoots were with Jeff flying the subject aircraft. One of my photos appears on the cover of his book on Spitfires, which was published after his death. Jeff wasn't flying that Spit at the time however. I guess I'm starting to ramble off topic, aren't I?
Anyway, I agree with your selection of books! :eusa_clap

 

[The Wingnut]

Thunderbolt! - Robert S. Johnson
Gabby - Francis S. Gabreski
The History of Air Fighting - Air Vice Marshal. J. E. Johnson
Luftwaffe Fighter Aces: The Jagdflieger and Their Combat Tactics and Techniques - Mike Spick
Laughter and Tears - Damon Rarey

Just a few. I've got a bookshelf at home that's about to explode.

 

[Diamondback]

Bob Hotz's With General Chennault, while a bear to find now--my copy was one of the books Grandpa taught me how to read with--was a good view of the Flying Tigers, if kinda shallow on detail. Definitely more mass-market than "hardcore historian" but still worth the read if you find one and the price is reasonable.

 

[Marv]

Here's a couple of belters that seem to have been missed off....

Wing Leader - Johnnie Johnson
Fly for you Life - Bob Stanford Tuck

Both excellent books that seem to capture the moment with true feeling.

 

[Luddite]

I'd like to recommend 'War in a Stringbag' by Charles Lamb, an account of WWII Naval aviation.

I just checked on Amazon and it's been reprinted and is available for £5.99. Well worth that price!

 

[Jonny's Angel]

I really like Diana Barnato's Spreading my Wings. It's all about a female ATA pilot. Very good.

 

[CBI]

Some great books listed above. Please add my favorite and one of the best aviation book ever in ................ my opinion:

Masters of the Air by Donald Miller. 600 pages about the history of the 8th AF - all of the details, great stories. Could NOT put it down.

The Few by Alex Kershaw. Great pre-Eagle squadron stuff.

The Wild Blue by Stephen Ambrose. 15th AF bomber pilots.

 

[Spitfire]

Another one just popped up:
"1000 destroyed" by Grover C. Hall jr.
A very entertaining book on the 4th Fighter Group - and its many highprofiled pilots, like Godfrey, Gentile, Blakeslee, Cowboy Megua, Goodson, Kid Hofer and Beeson.
Probably sold out now - but if you se it, grab it! A truey great read.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

When I was young I loved "The First and the Last" by Adolf Galland, "Reach for the Sky" by Paul Brickhill and "The Thousand Plane Raid" by Ralph Barker.

I haven't read them in years, though. I need to find copies again.

Edit to add "Wing Leader" by J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson.

 

[hepkitten]

What great timing for this thread -- my dad's a military plane buff, and here are all his Christmas presents. I love the Lounge!

 

[Hondo]

Thats allot of reading, sure all were great,
one not mentioned is "Around the Clock"
kind of like a day in the life of a B-17 crew,
what it was actually like,
I enjoyed it, check out some time

 

[Mike1973]

Just finished reading 'The Wrong Stuff' by Truman Smith. 'The adventures and misadventures of an 8th Air Force aviator' Well written and a great read.

 

[Zemke Fan]

Two I'm reading right now...

My War - Andy Rooney.
The Blue Arena - Bob (Spud) Spurdle.

Seems that Rooney was ALWAYS cantankerous. Very interesting book, providing a different look at the 8th AAF and the France-Germany campaign.

Spurdle writes SO well. I absolutely love this line: "It was the day after my twenty-third birthday and wearing a monumental hangover..."

 

[Smithy]

Spurdle writes SO well. I absolutely love this line: "It was the day after my twenty-third birthday and wearing a monumental hangover..."

So you picked up a copy Zemke? Pleased to see you did, it's a great book.

Hope you didn't get it from Amazon

 

[Zemke Fan]

Smithy...

I did, at your suggestion. Also bought Caine's *Spitfires, Thunderbolts and Warm Beer,* but haven't started it yet. Got both *used* through Amazon at reasonable prices.