DEVON AND CORNWALL AIRFIELDS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

At the heart of the Battle of the North Atlantic in the Second World War was the long and bitter German U-boat offensive. This was fought in often atrocious conditions to protect the vital supply lines between England and America. The South-West counties of Devon and Cornwall were central to this struggle.

Flying had begun here as early as 1910, when pioneer aviator Claude Grahame-White flew a six-mile circuit from a field near Penzance along the coast. During the First World War, airships had been stationed there.

However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, RAF Mount Batten near Plymouth was the only operational service station in the two counties. The next few years saw a rapid and dramatic change. Many civil and private aerodromes were requisitioned, and thirteen new wartime airfields were built. In all, the Royal Air Force and the United States Navy operated from seventeen airfields in the South-West with notable success.

Much of the effort was focused on three main operational roles: the Battle of Britain, the U-boat war in the North Atlantic, and the defence of Plymouth, with its important naval dockyard.

This book describes the history of each airfield and highlights the major operations carried out from them. The effects of the war on the daily lives of the people of the South-West and the constant dangers they faced are also detailed.

Graham Smith's action-packed book will appeal equally to aviation enthusiasts and to readers who recall the era when the skies overhead never ceased to throb with the drone of departing and returning aircraft.

Source : Publisher's summary printed on the cover