Aircraft for the Many

More about the book

'Don't worry about the aircraft overhead. They will be ours.' That confident prediction came from General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander Allied Forces, on the eve of the D-Day landings in Normandy. He had every right to sound confident. If Operation Neptune was to succeed, air superiority was crucial, and a massive operation was under way. In the 24 hours of 6 June 1944 some 14,600 sorties were flown by Allied aircraft, involving around 40,000 aircrew, and the RAF were at the forefront of the action.The result of years of meticulous research by the author, the book provides a squadron by squadron, aircraft by aircraft breakdown of the RAF's operational involvement during the liberation of northern Europe. Every aspect is covered, from the mighty aerial armadas of bombers attacking coastal gun batteries to the lone Air-Sea Rescue Walrus amphibian plucking ditched airmen from the English Channel. Aircraft types are presented in their respective categories, their development and activities recorded in immense detail.