Aces, Erks and Backroom Boys

INTRODUCTION

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO DESIGNED, BUILT, serviced and flew the aircraft that were so crucial to Great Britain's role in the Second World War. It seeks to see this war from their point of view, through their eyes, and in their words. It presents what they remember about the war in Europe and North Africa, and asks what they think of it all now. My interest in them and their war derives from the distant memories I have of the Second World War, which took place during my earliest years, and from the powerful and romantic picture that was presented to teenagers in the 1950s of the R.A.F.'s achievements and heroism ten years before.

I was born at the end of 1941, in the small English country town of Daventry, in Northamptonshire. This was the third winter of the war, which wasn't going well for Britain. ( ... ) The men and women who built, serviced and flew warplanes for the R.A.F. in the Second World War were all fighting for a common cause, all working for a new and better world. Bomber crews, fighter pilots, ground staff, factory workers, designers and engineers all played their crucial role in the defeat of Hitler. What was it like, making History ? And were these their finest hours ? This remarkable book tells the story of the war through the words of some of those who fought it, on the ground and in the air. This is the authentic voice of History in the making, a vivid and powerful testimony from those who kept the R.A.F. flying and fighting.