Recommended books

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• Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940–1945 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2008 The young crews of Bomber Command, in their own words. View on Amazon →
• Bomber Command Max Hastings Pan · 2021 The acclaimed single-volume history of the whole campaign. View on Amazon →
• The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939–1945 Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt Midland Publishing · 2014 Every operation, night by night — the essential reference. View on Amazon →
• The Unending Vigil: A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Philip Longworth Pen & Sword · 2010 How the war cemeteries and memorials came to be — and are still tended. View on Amazon →

617 Squadron — the Dam Busters

• Dam Busters: The Race to Smash the Dams, 1943 James Holland Corgi · 2013 A gripping modern retelling of Operation Chastise. View on Amazon →
• Enemy Coast Ahead Guy Gibson Crécy · 1998 The Dams raid leader's own wartime memoir — a classic. View on Amazon →
• The Dam Busters Paul Brickhill Pan Military Classics · 2009 The definitive popular account of 617 Squadron and Chastise. View on Amazon →

Aero-engines

• British Piston Aero-Engines and Their Aircraft Alec Lumsden Airlife · 2003 The standard reference to every British wartime aero-engine. View on Amazon →
• Not Much of an Engineer: An Autobiography Stanley Hooker Crécy · 2011 The engineer who perfected the Merlin's supercharger. View on Amazon →
• The Merlin: The Engine That Won the Second World War Gordon A. A. Wilson Amberley · 2018 The story of Rolls-Royce's war-winning V12. View on Amazon →

Aircrew memoirs & biography

• Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940–1945 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2008 The young crews of Bomber Command, in their own words. View on Amazon →
• Enemy Coast Ahead Guy Gibson Crécy · 1998 The Dams raid leader's own wartime memoir — a classic. View on Amazon →
• Fighter Boys: Saving Britain 1940 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2004 The pilots of Fighter Command in the summer of 1940. View on Amazon →
• First Light Geoffrey Wellum Penguin · 2003 A teenage Spitfire pilot's unforgettable Battle of Britain memoir. View on Amazon →
• Not Much of an Engineer: An Autobiography Stanley Hooker Crécy · 2011 The engineer who perfected the Merlin's supercharger. View on Amazon →
• Pathfinder Donald Bennett Goodall · 1998 The memoir of the airman who founded and led the Pathfinder Force. View on Amazon →
• Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader Paul Brickhill Cassell · 2009 The legless fighter ace and leader — a wartime classic. View on Amazon →

Avro Lancaster

• Avro Lancaster: Owners' Workshop Manual Jarrod Cotter & Paul Blackah Haynes · 2008 How the Lancaster was built, flown and maintained. View on Amazon →
• Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2010 A full biography of the aircraft and the men who flew it. View on Amazon →

Bristol Beaufighter

• Bristol Beaufighter Jerry Scutts Crowood · 2004 The hard-hitting heavy fighter of night and coastal squadrons. View on Amazon →

de Havilland Mosquito

• Mosquito C. Martin Sharp & Michael J. F. Bowyer Crécy · 2015 The classic history of the 'Wooden Wonder'. View on Amazon →

Handley Page Halifax

• Handley Page Halifax: From Hell to Victory and Beyond K. A. Merrick Classic · 2009 The definitive history of the 'other' four-engined heavy. View on Amazon →

Hawker Hurricane

• Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2010 The unglamorous fighter that bore the brunt in 1940. View on Amazon →

Hawker Typhoon

• Typhoon and Tempest at War Arthur Reed & Roland Beamont Ian Allan · 1974 Hawker's ground-attack fighters in north-west Europe. View on Amazon →

North American Mustang

• Mustang: The Untold Story Robert F. Dorr Compendium · 2001 The long-range fighter that changed the air war. View on Amazon →

Prisoners of war

• Footprints on the Sands of Time: RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939–1945 Oliver Clutton-Brock Grub Street · 2003 The definitive study of Bomber Command's prisoners of war. View on Amazon →
• The Great Escape Paul Brickhill Cassell · 2004 The mass break-out from Stalag Luft III, by a man who was there. View on Amazon →

RAF airfields

• Action Stations Revisited: The Complete History of Britain's Military Airfields Michael J. F. Bowyer Crécy · 2010 The wartime RAF stations, region by region. View on Amazon →
• Lincolnshire Airfields in the Second World War Patrick Otter Countryside Books · 1996 Station-by-station history of 'Bomber County's' wartime airfields. View on Amazon →

RAF Bomber Command

• Bomber Boys: Fighting Back 1940–1945 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2008 The young crews of Bomber Command, in their own words. View on Amazon →
• Bomber Command Max Hastings Pan · 2021 The acclaimed single-volume history of the whole campaign. View on Amazon →
• Enemy Coast Ahead Guy Gibson Crécy · 1998 The Dams raid leader's own wartime memoir — a classic. View on Amazon →
• Footprints on the Sands of Time: RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939–1945 Oliver Clutton-Brock Grub Street · 2003 The definitive study of Bomber Command's prisoners of war. View on Amazon →
• Lancaster: The Second World War's Greatest Bomber Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2010 A full biography of the aircraft and the men who flew it. View on Amazon →
• Pathfinder Donald Bennett Goodall · 1998 The memoir of the airman who founded and led the Pathfinder Force. View on Amazon →
• Tail-End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War 1944–45 John Nichol & Tony Rennell Penguin · 2005 The final, costly year of the bombing offensive. View on Amazon →
• The Berlin Raids: RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943–44 Martin Middlebrook Cassell · 2000 The winter campaign against Berlin, raid by raid. View on Amazon →
• The Bomber Command War Diaries: An Operational Reference Book 1939–1945 Martin Middlebrook & Chris Everitt Midland Publishing · 2014 Every operation, night by night — the essential reference. View on Amazon →
• The Dam Busters Paul Brickhill Pan Military Classics · 2009 The definitive popular account of 617 Squadron and Chastise. View on Amazon →
• The Hardest Victory: RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War Denis Richards Coronet · 1995 A balanced full history of the command and its cost. View on Amazon →
• The Nuremberg Raid: 30–31 March 1944 Martin Middlebrook Cassell · 2000 The standard study of Bomber Command's costliest night. View on Amazon →

RAF Coastal Command

• Bristol Beaufighter Jerry Scutts Crowood · 2004 The hard-hitting heavy fighter of night and coastal squadrons. View on Amazon →
• RAF Coastal Command 1939–1945 Andrew Hendrie Pen & Sword · 2006 The long war over the sea — convoys, U-boats and rescue. View on Amazon →

RAF Fighter Command

• Fighter Boys: Saving Britain 1940 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2004 The pilots of Fighter Command in the summer of 1940. View on Amazon →
• Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader Paul Brickhill Cassell · 2009 The legless fighter ace and leader — a wartime classic. View on Amazon →
• The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain Stephen Bungay Aurum · 2010 The definitive modern account of the battle. View on Amazon →

Short Stirling

• The Short Stirling Story Jonathan Falconer Crécy · 2014 Bomber Command's first four-engined heavy, in full. View on Amazon →

Supermarine Spitfire

• First Light Geoffrey Wellum Penguin · 2003 A teenage Spitfire pilot's unforgettable Battle of Britain memoir. View on Amazon →
• Spitfire: Portrait of a Legend Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2007 The aircraft, its designers and its pilots. View on Amazon →

The air VCs

• For Valour: The Air VCs Chaz Bowyer Grub Street · 1992 The deeds behind every air Victoria Cross of both world wars. View on Amazon →

The Battle of Berlin

• Tail-End Charlies: The Last Battles of the Bomber War 1944–45 John Nichol & Tony Rennell Penguin · 2005 The final, costly year of the bombing offensive. View on Amazon →
• The Berlin Raids: RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943–44 Martin Middlebrook Cassell · 2000 The winter campaign against Berlin, raid by raid. View on Amazon →

The Battle of Britain

• Fighter Boys: Saving Britain 1940 Patrick Bishop Harper Perennial · 2004 The pilots of Fighter Command in the summer of 1940. View on Amazon →
• First Light Geoffrey Wellum Penguin · 2003 A teenage Spitfire pilot's unforgettable Battle of Britain memoir. View on Amazon →
• Hurricane: Victor of the Battle of Britain Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2010 The unglamorous fighter that bore the brunt in 1940. View on Amazon →
• Spitfire: Portrait of a Legend Leo McKinstry John Murray · 2007 The aircraft, its designers and its pilots. View on Amazon →
• The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain Stephen Bungay Aurum · 2010 The definitive modern account of the battle. View on Amazon →

The Great Escape

• The Great Escape Paul Brickhill Cassell · 2004 The mass break-out from Stalag Luft III, by a man who was there. View on Amazon →

The Nuremberg Raid

• The Nuremberg Raid: 30–31 March 1944 Martin Middlebrook Cassell · 2000 The standard study of Bomber Command's costliest night. View on Amazon →

The Pathfinder Force

• Pathfinder Donald Bennett Goodall · 1998 The memoir of the airman who founded and led the Pathfinder Force. View on Amazon →

The Rolls-Royce Merlin

• The Merlin: The Engine That Won the Second World War Gordon A. A. Wilson Amberley · 2018 The story of Rolls-Royce's war-winning V12. View on Amazon →

Vickers Wellington

• Wellington: The Geodetic Giant Martin Bowman Airlife · 1989 Barnes Wallis's resilient, war-long workhorse bomber. View on Amazon →

War graves & remembrance

• The Unending Vigil: A History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Philip Longworth Pen & Sword · 2010 How the war cemeteries and memorials came to be — and are still tended. View on Amazon →