A new book in my library.
- Thread starter Wayne Little
- Start date
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Wildcat
Major
Interesting!
ThunderChief76
Airman 1st Class
Nice ones guys!
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,680
- May 13, 2018
Arrived today. Members here are responsible. I'm still not buying any more books, however I had two Amazon gift cards from Christmas and at checkout discovered a $29 credit to my daughter which I was unable to eliminate from my order. Oh, well.
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Nice! I love that series
special ed
2nd Lieutenant
- 5,680
- May 13, 2018
Excellent profiles, but I would have liked a few more photos while in active service.
buffnut453
Captain
This new addition arrived a few days ago:
It cost me a pretty penny because of this little addition - Bader's signature:
It now sits on my bookshelf next to this rather unassuming volume which has a personal story attached:
It's a first-edition copy of Bader's biography "Reach for the Sky" by Paul Brickhill:
I first read "Reach for the Sky" at the ripe old age of 13 during a stay in hospital. My book had been a gift from a relative and was old but certainly not a first edition. Fast forward a dozen years and I was serving in the RAF with a secondary duty of being the Mess Secretary at a station where there were two officers' messes. A decision was made to close "my" mess as a cost-saving measure, and so I had a fairly busy time helping the President of the Mess Committee (of the Squadron Leader variety) and the Mess Manager (a former Army Warrant Officer) take care of the multiple tasks required to close the place down - furniture disposals, closing accounts, etc etc.
The mess had a small library that was seldom, if ever, used. At one of our meetings, the Mess Manager asked what he should do with the books. He'd spoken to the other officers' mess, the sergeants' mess and the station library, and none were interested in any of the books. The PMC decided to just throw them away. Being the cheeky chappie that I am, I asked if I could take any of the books that interested me before they were thrown in the bin. The PMC acquiesced to my request...and I duly pocketed the small, rather tatty, first edition copy of "Reach for the Sky."
Inside the book was a pasted library plate which, for me, was a fond reminder of that now-demolished mess, and the many happy times I spent there. It was also interesting to see the small stamp at the bottom of the page associating the book with RAF Nuneham Park, which had been a centre for photographic interpretation during WW2 and continued in that role until the mid-1950s. It seemed probable that my book was added to the library there before it moved to Brampton when the unit relocated once Nuneham Park was handed back to its owners:
Fast forward just a couple of years, and I was an exchange officer in Texas. My position meant we had pretty regular guests to our home, and on one occasion my wife pulled the book off the shelf to show it to a visitor. The hot, dry air of Texas had clearly caused deterioration of the glue that held the library sheet to the page. The small sheet of paper fell out...and revealed this:
Not only was my "free" copy of "Reach for the Sky" a first-edition...it was a signed first-edition with Douglas Bader's signature plainly visible.
It's not often that things like this happen to me...but this was one acquisition that I'll never forget.
It cost me a pretty penny because of this little addition - Bader's signature:
It now sits on my bookshelf next to this rather unassuming volume which has a personal story attached:
It's a first-edition copy of Bader's biography "Reach for the Sky" by Paul Brickhill:
I first read "Reach for the Sky" at the ripe old age of 13 during a stay in hospital. My book had been a gift from a relative and was old but certainly not a first edition. Fast forward a dozen years and I was serving in the RAF with a secondary duty of being the Mess Secretary at a station where there were two officers' messes. A decision was made to close "my" mess as a cost-saving measure, and so I had a fairly busy time helping the President of the Mess Committee (of the Squadron Leader variety) and the Mess Manager (a former Army Warrant Officer) take care of the multiple tasks required to close the place down - furniture disposals, closing accounts, etc etc.
The mess had a small library that was seldom, if ever, used. At one of our meetings, the Mess Manager asked what he should do with the books. He'd spoken to the other officers' mess, the sergeants' mess and the station library, and none were interested in any of the books. The PMC decided to just throw them away. Being the cheeky chappie that I am, I asked if I could take any of the books that interested me before they were thrown in the bin. The PMC acquiesced to my request...and I duly pocketed the small, rather tatty, first edition copy of "Reach for the Sky."
Inside the book was a pasted library plate which, for me, was a fond reminder of that now-demolished mess, and the many happy times I spent there. It was also interesting to see the small stamp at the bottom of the page associating the book with RAF Nuneham Park, which had been a centre for photographic interpretation during WW2 and continued in that role until the mid-1950s. It seemed probable that my book was added to the library there before it moved to Brampton when the unit relocated once Nuneham Park was handed back to its owners:
Fast forward just a couple of years, and I was an exchange officer in Texas. My position meant we had pretty regular guests to our home, and on one occasion my wife pulled the book off the shelf to show it to a visitor. The hot, dry air of Texas had clearly caused deterioration of the glue that held the library sheet to the page. The small sheet of paper fell out...and revealed this:
Not only was my "free" copy of "Reach for the Sky" a first-edition...it was a signed first-edition with Douglas Bader's signature plainly visible.
It's not often that things like this happen to me...but this was one acquisition that I'll never forget.
Wildcat
Major
Very cool. I only found out a few years ago that Brickhill himself was an Australian Spitfire pilot and POW 
buffnut453
Captain
Very cool. I only found out a few years ago that Brickhill himself was an Australian Spitfire pilot and POW
Yep...shot down over Tunisia and spent time in Stalag Luft III, and was a "stooge" supporting the Great Escape tunnels. Unfortunately (or, perhaps, fortunately!) he was barred from joining the escape bid because of his claustrophobia.
buffnut453
Captain
Yeah....apparently, he developed it after volunteering to help dig "Tom".
I have to confess I haven't read The Great Escape
, but the story is timeless, of course and is still referenced to this day in modern contexts...Escuadrilla Azul
Tech Sergeant
- 1,827
- Feb 27, 2020
Last week arrival
And yesterday arrivals (yes bended but fine and got a full refund, so fair enough)
All thanks to last year hard work and yearly bonus (a couple more of books on the way in).
Last year was an asian spree and this year is a spanish fiesta.
And yesterday arrivals (yes bended but fine and got a full refund, so fair enough)
All thanks to last year hard work and yearly bonus (a couple more of books on the way in).
Last year was an asian spree and this year is a spanish fiesta.
Donivanp
Major
Arrived today
It came! More than I hoped for, less than perfect.
Next target: Focke-Wulf Fw 191 "Kampfflugzeug" und das Bomber B-Programm
Donivanp
Major
Nice
