The story of one of the most remarkable – and feared – British aircraft of the Second World War: the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito fighter-bomber.
Nicknamed the 'wooden wonder' for its balsawood frame, the two-man Mosquito excelled in several different roles, from reconnaissance to the bombing of sensitive priority targets. Following a Mosquito raid on the main Berlin broadcasting station on 30 January 1943, which succeeded in removing Hermann Goering from the airwaves, the Luftwaffe chief observed ruefully: 'It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy.' From the summer of that year, as RAF Bomber Command intensified its saturation-bombing campaign against German cities and industrial centres, Mosquitos were used by the RAF Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time bombing, to potent and devastating effect.
David Price's involving and fast-paced narrative traces the contrasting wartime fortunes of a number of Mosquito crews, alongside which the development and operational history of the aeroplane (especially with the Pathfinder Force) forms a descant to the principal human narrative. Like the author's earlier book The Crew, Mosquito Men is rich in evocative and technically authoritative accounts of individual missions flown by an aircraft that ranks alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Avro Lancaster as one of the RAF's greatest ever.
From David Price, author of The Road to Assunpink Creek, follow along on the journey of Delaware's Revolutionary War hero, John Haslet, and the legendary regiment he commanded during the 1776 campaign of George Washington's army.
This is the story of Colonel John Haslet, an Irish immigrant to the American colonies who made the ultimate sacrifice while fighting for his adopted country. During this pivotal moment in America's war for independence against Great Britain, a newborn nation struggled to survive against a militarily superior force deployed by a mighty empire.
This is also a chronicle of the inspirational leadership and service of the Delaware Regiment that Haslet formed and guided, told as part of a more wide-ranging narrative about the 1776 campaign of Washington's army. That battered but resilient force faced the prospect of total defeat in the winter of 1776-1777 as the quest for American independence hung in the balance.
The Crew recounts the intimate, personal testimonies to the author of Wing Commander Ken Cook who served as Bomb Aimer with the Comans crew. The Crew specifically follows Flying Officer Jim Comans and his crewmen from their enlistment as volunteers, through training and into operational service. The Comans crew flew forty-five hazardous bombing missions - mostly deep into Germany at night - through the winter of 1943 to the summer of 1944.
At ninety-five Ken Cook is the crew's last survivor. Enlisting in RAF Bomber Command at nineteen his extraordinary story brings a moving insight into the bombing campaign. His experiences, particularly during the Battle of Berlin, highlight the extreme danger each bomber crew faced. With Bomber Command's casualty rate of over 44%, the book describes how the airmen overcame immense physical and mental challenges to survive. There are now very few surviving RAF Bomber Command airmen from the Second World War. The Crew will be one of the final eyewitness testimonies to a momentous time in our history.
