I have a large collection of WWII aviation fiction, including some that are somewhat rare. Most are paperbacks
A Day is 26 Hours--Geoff Parnell- 1942 novel of RAF Bomber Command
A Tent in Corsica- Martin Quigley-Novel about USAAF B-26 operations from Corsica
Blaze of Glory-Michael Carreck-Novel about a RAF Wellington pilot circa 1942
Face of a Hero-Louis Falstein-novel of 15th AF B-24 Jewish gunner
The Last Battle- Peter Henn-Novel of a Me-109 pilot in Italy
I Fought You From the Skies-Willi Heilmann-Novel based on a FW-190 pilot experiences in Normandy with III/JG-54
View From the Air- Hugh Fosburgh-Novel about B-24 experiences in the SWPA, 13th AF
Skip Bomber-Lloyd Olson-Novel of B-17 crew in the SWPA
Bomber Crew-Joseph Landon- 15th B-24 novel
We Were Three-Gui Lefreve- Novel about Belgian fighter pilots with the RAF
The Gun Garden- Paul Stanton-AFV Wellingtons flying from Malta.
Bomber Crew 369-William Anderson- 15th B-24 novel.
Roll Back the Sky-Ward Taylor- B-29 operations from Tinian
To continue my list from before:
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Sweeney Squadron (1961) by Donald J. Plantz. Novel about a USAAF P-51 fighter squadron from their operational training in Florida through to their deployment to the Pacific theatre in 1945. Their CO, Major Everett Gregory, strives to forge the unit into a team when they are threatened with disbandment after initial poor performance during training including the loss of a cadet in an accidental crash.
No info available on the author.
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Glide Path (1963) by Arthur C. Clarke. RAF radar instructor Flying Officer Alan Bishop is transferred to the secret RAF base at Land's End to join a motley team of pilots, technicians and boffins working on a radar talk-down system for aircraft.
The author is of course the famous science-fiction author who wrote the screenplay for the film '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Clarke served in the RAF 1941-46 as a radar specialist.
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The Last Tallyho (1964) by Richard Newhafer. Novel about the F6F Hellcat pilots on board the USN fleet carrier
'USS Concord' during the Pacific War in 1944. The carrier's Air Group participates in the epic Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944.
The author flew with the US Navy in both WW2 and Korea. Newhafer flew Hellcats from US carriers in 1944-45 and he was credited with 3 Japanese aircraft destroyed. He was also credited with participating in the destruction of the Japanese battleship Ise during a US carrier raid on Kure in 1945. Post-war, Newhafer worked as the publicity officer for the USN aerobatics team The Blue Angels. Later, he worked in LA as a television scriptwriter & director.
# They Hosed Them Out (1965) by John Beede. Novel about an Australian named John who is one of a consignment of RAAF cadets who are 'volunteered' to serve as rear-gunners in Vickers Wellingtons in RAF Bomber Command in 1942.
The author flew as a gunner with Bomber Command 1942-44, flying in four different types of bombers. 'John Beede' was a pseudonym, his real name was John Bede Cusack. The book was released in the UK in 1970 with the title 'Rear Gunner'. A revised edition was released in Australia in 2012 under the original title with the uncensored text, historical background and a short biography of the author written by his daughter.
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Order of Battle (1968) by Alfred Coppel. Novel about US pilots of the 93rd fighter-bomber Group flying P-38J Lightnings on low-level ground attack missions against targets in German-occupied France in 1944. Encounters with the Luftwaffe are rare because the Germans have withdrawn the bulk of their fighters to defend their home territory against the daylight heavy bombers of the 8th Air-Force. However with D-Day approaching, the P-38s are ordered to fly missions deeper into enemy territory, making interception from German fighters more likely. The story centres on four characters: P-38 pilots Deveraux, Ward & Porta and Englishwoman Anne, the latter a widow whose husband was killed in 1940. Each of the chapters is written from the perspective of one of the four.
The author flew P-38s during WW2 in the European theatre. He wrote a number of other novels in a variety of genres including Dark December (1960), a post-nuclear holocaust novel and The Burning Mountain (1983), a speculative portrayal of a seaborne Allied invasion of Japan in 1946.
# Bomb Run (1971) by Spencer Dunmore
. Spanning one night in 1944, veteran pilot Wally Mann and the crew of Avro Lancaster G-George are flying their 33rd operation over Germany. Stalking them is a German BF-110 night-fighter pilot whose parents have been recently killed in an Allied air raid. The novel has an un-usual structure, the Lancaster crew's story is written in a third-person narrative while the German's perspective is written as first person in italics.
The author, a British-Canadian, served in the RAF as a radar operator in the post-war era and he participated in the Berlin Airlift in 1948.
# The Silver Lady (1972) by James Facos. In March 1944, the crew of the 8th Air-Force are flying long-range bombing missions against Germany, flying in a B-17G christened 'The Silver Lady'. The pilot, Lt Starrett, is trying his best to forge his crew, a mixture of old sweats and new replacements, into a team but some of the men are resistive to his efforts at bonding. The two waist-gunners are Sgt Mitch Hagen, a veteran who is quiet and withdrawn after earlier traumatic experiences of combat and Sgt Tom Wyatt, a new arrival who defied the wishes of his pacifist Quaker family in order to enlist. Despite their differences, the two men eventually develop a friendship.
The author flew over 30 missions as ball-turret gunner on a B-17 in 1944 and was wounded in action and awarded a DFC. He later became a college lecturer and also wrote poetry and several stage plays. This was his only published novel.
# Beware the Wounded Tiger (1973) by Geoff Taylor. In No 13 Squadron, RAF Bomber Command, is an Avro Lancaster bomber crewed by Americans. Their British colleagues resent them for their lax discipline & insubordination. The crew have nick-named themselves 'The Purple Hearts'. Their next operation will be the raid on Nuremburg on the night of March 30/31, 1944, a night that will be the most costly of the war for Bomber Command.
The author, a British-Australian, flew Lancasters on night raids during WW2. Taylor was shot down in 1943 and spent the rest of the war in Stalag IVb prisoner-of-war camp in Germany. Post-war he moved to Australia and lived in Melbourne, working as a court reporter and advertising copywriter. Taylor wrote a factual memoir of his wartime experiences A Piece of Cake in 1956.
# The Fighters (1973) by Colin Willock. A novel spanning the entirety of the Second World War as seen through the eyes of British fighter pilot Peter Bristow and his Luftwaffe counterpart Dieter Reh.
The author, who was unsuccessful in his attempt to enlist in the RAF during WW2 due to poor eyesight, was a producer of TV wildlife documentaries.
# The Sudden Sky (1973) by B. Michelaard. Another 'epic' novel which spans the Spanish Civil War, WW2 & Korea. In 1930s Germany, two aristocratic cousins Urban and Rolf are young, care-free playboys. Urban has an affair with a Jewish woman, forcing him to flee Germany to escape the Nazis. He works as an advisor for the US government and then goes to England to fly with the RAF. Meanwhile his friend & cousin Rolf becomes an ace pilot in the Luftwaffe.
'B. Michelaard' was a pseudonym of Arthur K. Goldsby who was best-known for his crime fiction. The author served in the US air-force during the Cold War.
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The Last Dogfight (1974) by Martin Caidin. In early 1945, a US fighter unit, flying out-dated P-40s, are holding a forgotten sector in the south Pacific. One of their pilots is Mitch Ross, a former orphan who survived a tough childhood to become a superb flyer and skilled ace. Facing them are a veteran Japanese Naval fighter unit operating from a concealed island base, their ranks including Lt Shigura Tanimoto, a veteran ace with nearly 20 Allied aircraft to his credit. Ross' unit receives a replacement aircraft, the P-38 and their Japanese counterparts are now faced with a far deadlier opponent.
The author wrote a large number of aviation-related books. He was also a skilled aviator and a restorer of vintage warbirds.
# Winged Escort (1975) by Douglas Reeman. Novel about a British pilot Tim Rowan of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Assigned to the escort carrier HMS
Growler, he flies Fairey Swordfish biplanes on anti-submarine patrols while escorting vital supply convoys sailing across the Arctic to Russia. Later in the war, his ship is sent to the Indian Ocean and Rowan flies Supermarine Seafires on air strikes against the Japanese in Malaya & the Dutch East Indies.
The author wrote a large number of maritime-themed war & historical novels. Reeman served in the Royal Navy during WW2 & Korea as a midshipman on destroyers & MTBs. He was wounded in action on D-Day.
# Tiger Ten (1976) by William D. Blankenship. A pilot named Riley Stone of the AVG (American Volunteer Group) aka 'The Flying Tigers' is hired by the British to trek into the Burmese jungle behind enemy lines and steal a Japanese Zero fighter.
The author served in the US Army in the 1950s and he wrote a small number of novels while working at IBM. Film rights for this novel were purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1977 but the project was never made.
# Summer of No Surrender (1976) by Richard Townshend-Bickers. Novel about No 172 Squadron of RAF Fighter Command, flying Hawker Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain in August 1940. Among their pilots is Pilot-Officer Peter Knight who has a number of encounters with Luftwaffe BF-109 pilot & ace ace Erich Hafner of No 1 Staffel of JG-97. The author served in the RAF during WW2 and he wrote a large number of books about wartime aviation, both fiction & non-fiction.
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Whip (1976) by Martin Caidin. Novel about a unit of US B-25s based in northern Australia and commanded by Captain 'Whip' Russell. The unit is tasked with flying low-level bombing missions against Japanese shipping and ground-targets in New Guinea & the Solomons.
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The Wooden Wolf (1976) by John Kelly. An American pilot, Lt John Croft who is on assignment to the RAF, is sent on a low-level night mission in his Mosquito fighter-bomber, tasked with assassinating Adolf Hitler.
The author served as a pilot in the US Navy.
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Bomber Stream Broken (1978) by James Campbell. Novel about a single Bomber Command 'maximum effort' raid in 1943, told from the perspective of a number of characters, the author clearly inspired by Len Deighton's 1970 novel 'Bomber'.
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Means of Escape (1978) by Spencer Dunmore. A British RAF flight-engineer Ron Pollard bales out from his burning Lancaster over Germany in 1944. While trying to avoid capture on foot, he encounters an English-speaking German officer named von Eisner who is also in hiding, having been implicated in the July Bomb Plot against Hitler. The two hatch a plan to escape by stealing a BF-110 from a Luftwaffe airfield.
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The White War (1978) by Patrick Raymond. An RAF Bomber Command station is joined by a Polish squadron, causing some cultural and political friction, partially due to the latter's flamboyant commander who seems keener to fight the Russians than he does the Germans.
The author served in the RAF from 1943 until the 1970s, commanding a Bomber Command station during the Cold War.
# The Sky Remembers (1978) by Dan Brennan. At the height of the Battle of Britain, a combat-fatigued Wing Commander named Jimmy Butler is recalled to duty to take charge of an in-experienced fighter wing.
The author, an American, claimed to have served as a gunner in both RAF Bomber Command and in the US 8th Air-Force, flying a combined total of 80 missions. He wrote a number of novels including several about the night bombing offensive.
# Rider on the Wind (1979) by David Westheimer. An American B-24 navigator named Michael Harris is stationed in British-controlled Palestine during WW2. He befriends a Jewish woman named Hannah who turns out to be a member of a resistance group fighting to establish the State of Israel.
The author served in the 98th Bomb Group of the 15th Air-Force as a navigator on a B-24. His aircraft was shot down over Italy in 1943 and Westheimer spent the rest of the war in Stalag-3 POW camp. He wrote a number of novels, the most famous of which was Von Ryan's Express (1964) which was adapted into a popular film the following year.
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The White Sea-Bird (1979) by David Beaty. A British pilot named Guy Strickland flying a Liberator bomber with RAF Coastal Command becomes obsessed with hunting a U-Boat raider operating from a concealed base in Norway.
The author flew Liberators with RAF Coastal Command during WW2, completing four tours and earning a DFC. On one patrol, his aircraft was badly damaged while attacking a U-Boat on the surface but he managed to return to base. Post-war, Beaty worked as a commercial airline pilot for BOAC and his ideas on aero-safety were very influential during the 1950s/60s. His 1959 novel Cone of Silence (about an airline crash) was made into a film in 1960.
# Wingmen (1979) by Ensan Case. A young US Navy pilot, Ensign Fred Trusteau, is assigned to duty on aircraft carrier 'USS
Constitution' during WW2, flying F6F Hellcat fighters. His squadron CO is experienced pilot Lt-Commander Jack Hardigan. Their unit takes part in the 'island-hopping' campaign across the Pacific in 1944-45 and the two men embark on a secret relationship.
The author served in the US Navy in the 1960s. This novel has been credited with being one of the first American war novels to feature gays as central characters.
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Betrayed Skies (1980) by Rudolf Braunberg. In the autumn of 1944, a Luftwaffe pilot named Michael Braak is stationed with his unit in Poland, flying Focke-Wulf FW-190A fighters. The advancing Russians are drawing closer while the massed formations of US daylight bombers penetrate deeper into the shrinking territories of the Reich.
The author flew as a fighter pilot in the Luftwaffe during WW2 and a number of his novels were published in Germany.
# Ace (1981) by Spencer Dunmore. A new pilot named Ernst Brehme arrives at his Luftwaffe fighter unit in France in August 1940 and he flies a BF-109E during the Battle of Britain. As his score of enemy machines grows, he flies on the Eastern Front and later in Germany against the US daylight bombing campaign. Despite his fame & prestige, Brehme inwardly becomes more war-weary and disillusioned as his old comrades vanish one by one.
More to come.............
Cheers, Pete.