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Our Library

As Aviation Historians we have an extensive Air Force Library at our Office in Scotland.  As well as containing books we also have a variety of databases held digitally & we are continually adding to this collection. 

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Some of these books are now out of copyright, several of which cost well over £100 each, a costly sum if all you are looking for is one entry!

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As a client we can offer you a service to consult these publications as well as our record sets for an hourly rate.

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As Professional Genealogists we also have a huge range of Genealogy specific books that relate to topics such as place, trade etc., we also have a wide range of War Specific History books.  Note that these are not included in this library list.

Air Force Library Sources

 

Below you will find a list of the many books we can own in relation to Air Force Research.gi

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Source Reference Books (includes date range where relevant) - Many of these provide details of men including losses, pows, biographies etc.


A Contemtible little Flying Corps, I McInnes & JV Webb (Lists men who served)
Above the Trenches - British Empire Air Forces, Norman Franks, Christopher Shores & Russell Guest
Above the War Fronts, Norman Franks, Russell Guest & Gregory Alegi
Aces & Aircraft of World War I, Christopher Campbell (Info on men who served)
Aces Falling - War Above the Trenches 1918, Peter Hart
Aerodromes in North Yorkshire & Wartime Memories, David Brown

Air Aces of the 1914-1918 War, Bruce Robertson & Others
Air Extra Magazine - RAAF in Bomber Command
Air Extra Magazine - RCAF in Bomber Command

Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War, Thetford & Riding
Airfields & Aircraft - Somme, Mike O'Connor

Airfields & Aircraft - Ypres, Mike O'Connor
Airfields & Aircraft of the Channel Coast, Mike O'Connor
Airmen died in the Great War, 1914-1918 (Roll of Honour of the British & Commonwealth Air Services)
Bases of Bomber Command - Then & Now, Roger A Freeman
Battle of Britain Combat Archive, Simon W Parry (8 Volumes)
Bristol F2 Fighter Aces of World War 1, Jon Guttman
British Air Force Lists

British Military Aircraft Serials 1912-1966, Bruce Robertson
Dog Fight - Aerial Tactics of the Aces of the First World War, Norman Franks 

Faces of the Few - Dilip Sarkar
Failed to Return - Yorkshire Memorials To Bomber Squadrons, 1939-1945 (No 4 Group & No 6 Group RCAF)
Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War vol 2, Norman L Franks
Footprints on the Sands of Time, Oliver Clutton-Brock  (RAF B.C. POWs in Germany - contains list of men who were captured)
For Your Tomorrow, Derek Boorman (Lists of British 2nd World War Memorials)
Gallantry in Action, Norman Franks, 1918-1955  (Men awarded DFC & 2 Bars)
Heroes of Bomber Command Yorkshire, Michael Wadsworth (Contains some information relating to men who served in Yorkshire)
In Memorium Auberon Herbert, Captain Lord Lucas
In Memorium Ralph Gordon Hall F/Lt RFC
Its Suicide but its fun - the story of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron, Chris Goss
Log book, AG Simms
Luftwaffe Aces Biographies & Victory Claims, Matthews & Foreman (4 Volumes detailing mens backgrounds & claims)
Luftwaffe Night Fighter Combat Claims, John Foreman, Johannes Matthews & Simon Parry (List of claims submitted by Luftwaffe Pilots for Allied Aircraft shot down)
Melbourne Ten, Brian J Rapier (Book Relating to RAF Melbourne)

Men of the Battle of Britain, A Bographical Directory of the Few, Kenneth G Wynn
Mighty Eighth War Diary, Roger A Freeman
Nachtjagd Combat Archive, Theo Boiten, 1939-1945, (12 Volumes up to 1945 & inc Eastern Front & Mediterranean)
Over the Front Fighter Aces of United States & French Air Services, Norman LR Franks & Frank W Bailey, 1914-1918 
RAF Bomber Command Losses of the 2nd World War, David Gunby & Pelham Temple, 1939-1942 (Middle East & Mediterranean)
RAF Bomber Command Losses of the 2nd World War, WR Chorley , 1939-1945 (6 Volumes, detailing aircraft losses & crews)
RAF Bomber Command Losses of the 2nd World War, WR Chorley, 1939-1947  (Heavy Conversion Units)
RAF Bomber Command Losses of the 2nd World War, WR Chorley, 1939-1947 (Roll of Honour)
RAF Bomber Command Losses of the 2nd World War, WR Chorley, 1940-1947 (Operational Training Units)
RAF Bomber Command Operations Manual, Haynes
RAF Coastal Command Losses of the 2nd World War, Ross McNeil, 1939-1941 (1 Volume, detailing aircraft losses & crews)
RAF Evaders, Oliver Clutton-Brock (Contains list of men who evaded capture)
RAF Fighter Command Losses of the 2nd world war, Norman LR Franks (3 Volumes incorporating Air Defence GB & 2nd TAF)
RAF Pocklington & Raf Elvington War Diaries, Mike Usherwood (Details of each Operation & losses)
Resistance in Europe 1922-1945, Jean Cardoen & Ulrich Schneider
Royal Air Force, 1939-1945, Denis Richards & Hilary St George Saunders
Scottish Airfields in the Second World War - Vol 1 The Lothians, Martyn Chorlton
Scottish Airfields in the Second World War - Vol 2 Fife & Central, Martyn Chorlton
Scottish Airfields in the Second World War - Vol 3 the Grampians, Martyn Chorlton
Stations of Coastal Command, then & now, David Smith 
Supreme Courage - Heroic Stories from 150 years of the Victoria Cross, General Sir Peter de la Billiere
The American Spirit, Letters, Lieutenant RFC, Briggs Kilburn Adams
The Bomber Command War Diaries an Operational Reference book, Martin Middlebook & Chris Everitt, 1939-1945 (Info relating to each operation)
The Complete George Cross, Kevin Brazier
The Complete Victoria Cross, Kevin Brazier

The Daily Telegraph Book of Airmens Obituaries Book 1, Edward Bishop (List of Airmens Obituaries)
The Daily Telegraph - Airmens Obituaries Book 2, Jay Iliff  (List of Airmens Obituaries)
The Daily Telegraph - Airmens Obituaries Book 3, Graham Pitchfork (List of Airmens Obituaries)
The Dictionary of Coastal Command, Geoff Simpson 
The Halifax File, Air Britain & British Aviation Council (Details of Aircraft Manufactured, where & information of when lost/damaged)
The Hampden File, Harry Moyle (Details of Aircraft Manufactured, where & information of when lost/damaged)
The Lancaster File, Air Britain & British Aviation Council, 1939-1945 (Details of Aircraft Manufactured, where & information of when lost/damaged)
The Luftwaffe, Williamson Murray, 1933-1945
The Meritorious Service Medal to Aerial Forces, Ian McInness,
The RAF Air Force Retired List (List of men who retired in 1980)
The Source Book of the RAF, Ken Delve
The Stirling File, Air Britain & British Aviation Council (Details of Aircraft Manufactured, where & information of when lost/damaged)
The Whitley File, Air Britain & British Aviation Council (Details of Aircraft Manufactured, where & information of when lost/damaged)
War Diary of RAF Pocklington, Mike Usherwood (Wartime Record of Heavy Bomber Operations)
White Rose Base, Brian J Rapier 
Women in Air Force Blue - Women in the RAF from 1918 to Present Day, Squadron Leader Beryl E Escott, 1918+ 
Wrecks & Relics, Ken Ellis  (Wrecks in the UK & Ireland)

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Reference Books (includes date range where relevant) - these publications are less likely to provide lists of Airmen/women.


60 Squadron RAF a history of the squadron from its formation
A Bridge too Far , Cornelius Ryan
A Dictionary of RAF Slang, Eric Partridge 
A Lancaster Pilots impression on Germany, Richard (Dick) Starkey (106 Squadron)
A Short History of Balloons & Flying Machines, Lord Montagu Baden-Powell (Written 1907)
A Subalterns Share in the War, George Weston Devinish
A Thousand shall fall, Murray Peden
Above & Beyond Canadians war in the air, Spencer Dunmore 
Aces, Erks & Backroom Boys, Edward Smithies
Aero-Neurosis, Mark C Wilkins 
Air Crew the story of the men who flew bombers, Bruce Lewis
Air Force Blue, Patrick Bishop
Air Force Lives, Phil Tomaselli
Air Force Poetry, Various Poets
Air Force Records for Family Historians, William Spencer 

Air Transport Auxiliary at War, Stephen Wynn
Airborne - an anthology, Alan C Jenkins
Aircraft Versus Aircraf , Norman Frank  
Aircrew in Wartime, Norman Fidler
Badges & Uniforms of the RAF, Malcolm Hobart
Battle under the Moon - Mailly-le-camp 1944, Jack Currie
Big Week - The Biggest Air Battle of WW2, James Holland

Blitzkreig, Dr Stephen Hart & Dr Russell Hart 
Bomb on the Red Markers, Pat Cunningham 
Bomber, Len Deighton 
Bomber Boys, Kevin Wilson (3 Books - The Ruhr, the Dambusters & Bloddy Berlin)
Bomber Boys Experiences of Aircrew, Mel Rolfe
Bomber Boys Fighting Back 1940-1945, Patrick Bishop
Bomber Command Strategic Bombing Offensive, Max Hastings
Bomber Crew, James Taylor & Martin Davidson
Bomber Crew - Taking on the Reich, John Sweetman
Bomber Harris - His Life & Times, Henry Probert 
Bomber Offensive, Sir Arthur Harris
Bomber Pilot, Don MacIntosh
Bomber Pilot, Leonard Cheshire
Bomber Squadron at War, Andrew Brookes 
Bombers - The Aircrew Experience, Philip Kaplan 
Bombers Battle - Bomber Commands 3 year war, By a Wing Commander
Bombers Fly East, Martin W Bowman, 
Boys, Bombs & Brussel Sprouts, J Douglas Harvey
British Naval Aircraft since 1912, Owen Thetford

Captured Germans, British POW camps in the First World War, Norman Nicol
Cheshire VC , Russell Braddon, 
Crashes & Prangs, Arthur WJG Ord-Hume 
D-Day Bombers Veterans Story - BC & US 8th Normandy 1944, Stephen Darlow

Dutch Resistance Revealed, Jos Scharrer
Eden Camp, The Peoples War 1939-1945 
Enemy Coast Ahead (2 copies old & new), Guy Gibson 
Escape & Evasion - POW Breakouts in WW2, Ian Dear
Escape or Die, Paul Brickhill
Escaping Hitler, Monty Halls (WW2 Great Escapes, The Freedom Trails)
Fair Stood the Wind For France, HE Bates
Famous Bombers of the 2nd World War, William Green

Ferry Command Pilot, Captain Don McVicar
Fighter - The True Story of the Battle of Britain, Len Deighton
Fighter Boys Saving Britain 1940, Patrick Bishop
Fighter Station Supreme RAF Tangmere, HR Allen 
First Light , Geoffrey Wellum
Flyboys a True Story of Courage, James Bradley

Flying Clothing - The Story of its Development - Louise Greer & Anthony Harold 
Flying Colours - the Story of Douglas Bader, Laddie Lucas 

Flying Units of the RAF. The Ancestry, Formation & Disbandment of all flying units from 1912, Alan Lake
Foreign Planes in the Service of the Luftwaffe, Jean-Louis Roba 
Full Circle Story of Air Fighting, Johnnie Johnson 
German Flak Defences vs Allied Heavy Bombers, Donald Nijboer
Green Balls - The adventures of a night bomber, Paul Bewsher 
Halifax at War, Brian J Rapier
Halifax Crew - Wartime Bomber Crew 10 Squadron, Arthur C Smith 
Halifax second to none, Victor Bingham, 
Halifax Squadrons of World War 2, Jon Lake
Hell on Earth, Mel Rolfe

History of the U.S. Air Force, David A Anderton
Hitlers Revenge Weapons, Nigel Walpole 
Home is the Halifax - Friday 13th Yorkshire, Ian Robinson MBE
Hurricane Manual, Air Ministry Publication
Jimmy Stewart Bomber Pilot, Starr Smith 
Journeys End, Kevin Wilson 
Keeping Watch, Pip Back  (WAAF during WW2)
Lancaster Squadrons 1944-45, Jon Lake 
Lancaster Target, Jack Currie, 
Lancaster to Berlin, Walter Thompson
Lancester at War, Mike Garbett & Brian Goulding 
Lancester at War: 2, Mike Garbett & Brian Goulding 
Lancester at War: 3, Mike Garbett & Brian Goulding 
Looking onto Hell, Mel Rolfe 
Lost Voices of the RAF, Max Arthur
Luftwaffe Bomber Aces, Mike Spick, 
Mannock - the Life & Death of Major Edward Mannock, Norman Franks & Andy Saunders, 

Manual for Air Force Historians, Department of the Air Force (USA)
Marked for Death, The First World War in the Air, James Hamilton-Paterson 

Masters of the Air, Donald L Miller
Men of Air, Kevin Wilson, 
MI9 History of Secret Service for Escape/Evasion in WW2, Helen Fry

Missing Believed Killed, Stuart Hadaway
Mosquito at War, Chaz Bowyer 
Mosquito Victory, Jack Currie 
My War, Watime Memoirs, Flight Lieutenant Les Rutherford
Night Bombing with the Bedouins, Robert Henry Reece
Night Duel over Germany, Peter Jacobs
No Moon Tonight, Don Charlwood 
No Place to Land - a Pilot in Coastal Command, JF Jaworzyn 
One Mans War, Johnnie Clark DFC 
One of the Many, Russ McKay (420 Squadron covers ops in 1944)
Only Birds & Fools, J Norman Ashton
Only Owls & Bloody fools fly at night, Tom Sawyer
Our Flying Men, Hilda Beatrice  Herbert Hewlett
Pathfinder, ACT Bennett
Pathfinder Force a History of 8 Group, Gordon Musgrove
Pegasus Bridge - D-Day British Airborne Raod, Stephen E Ambrose
Peter Five, Freddie Clark, (RAF/SOE)
Plane Tales from the skies, Wilfred Theodore Black 

POW Allied Prisoners in Europe 1939-1945, Adrian Gilbert
Prisoner of War in Germany, Peter Doyle 

RAF and the SOE, Special Duty Operations in Europe during WW2, An Official History
RAF 100 Technical Innovations Manual, Haynes 
RAF Bomber Command & Its Aircraft 1936-1940, James Goulding & Philip Moyes
RAF Bomber Command in the second world war, Denis Richards 
RAF Bomber Command Striking Back, Alan Measures (102 Squadron Halifax Crew)
RAF Bomber Crewman, Jonathan Falconer
RAF Squadrons, Wing Commander CG Jefford
RAF WW2 Operational & Flying Accident Casualty Files in the National Archives, Mary Hudson
Raider the Halifax & its Flyers, Geoffrey Jones
Raiders of the Reich Air Battle Western Europe 1942-45, Martin W Bowman & Theo Boiten 
Reap the Whirlwind - Untold Story of 6 Group Canadas bomber Force , Spencer Dunmore
Rear Gunner Pathfinders, Ron Smith 
RFC HQ 1914-1918, Maurice Baring, 1914-1918 (War Diaries for WW1)
Rovers of the Sky - Night Hawk M.C. , WJ Harvey
Royal Air Force 1939-1945, Denis Richards & Hilary St George Saunders 

Royal Air Force Flying Training & Support Units, Ray Sturtivant, John Hamlin & James J Halley

Royal Air Force Unit Histories, Nos 1 to 100 Squadrons, Air Britain

Royal Air Force Unit Histories, Nos 201 to 1435 Squadrons, Air Britain
Royal Naval Air Service Pilot, Mark Barber 

Scotlands Wings, Robert Jeffrey
Scramble History of the Battle of Britain, Norman Gelb
Selected for Aircrew - Bomber Command in WW2, James Hampton
Sigh for a Merlin, Alex Henshaw
Slide Rule, Nevil Shute
So Few, The immortal record of the RAF  D Masters (Some Men mentioned)
Some developments in aircraft design & application during the war, William Douglas Weir

South Atlantic Safari, Captain Don McVicar
Spitfire, John Nichol
Squadron 303 - Polish Fighter Squadron, Arkady Fiedler
Stalag Luft I, Official History
Stalag Luft III , Official History
Tail End Charlies, John Nichol & Tony Rennell 
Tally Ho - Yankee in a Spitfire, A Donahue 
Ten fighter Boys, Jimmy Corbin 
The 1000 Plan, Ralph Barker
The Augsburg Raid, Jack Currie 
The Battle of Britain, Richard Overy
The Battle of Hamburg, Martin Middlebrook, 24th July 1943

The Berlin Blitz by those who were there - Martin W Bowman
The Berlin Raids - RAF Bomber Command Winter, Martin Middlebrook 
The Bomber Command Memorial, We Will Remember them, Robin Gibb, Jim Dooley, Gordon Rayner, Steve Darlow & Sean Feast 
The Bombing War Europe, Richard Overy
The Boy with Only one Shoe, James Goodson
The Cold War, John Lewis
The Crew - The Story of a Lancaster Bomber Crew, David Price
The Cyprus Emergency, Nick Van Der Bijl 
The Dam Busters (2 books- old & new), Paul Brickhill 
The Dambusters Raid, John Sweetman
The Destruction of Dresden, David Irving 
The Dog who could Fly, Damien Lewis 
The Easy Trip - Loss of 106 Squadron Lancaster LL975 June 1944, Bill Knaggs 
The Eighth Passenger - Documentary Account of a WW2 Bomber Crew, Miles Tripp
The First Heroes, Craig Nelson
The Great Escape, Paul Brickhill 
The Hawker Hurricane, Francis K Mason

The Hebrides at War, Mike Hughes

The History of No 20 Squadron (RFC & RAF), NJ Roberson
The History of the Fleet Air Arm from Kites to Carriers, Bill Finnis 
The History of the US Air Force, Bill Yenne 
The Killing Skies RAF Bomber Command at war, Simon Read 
The Lancaster Story, Peter Jacobs 

The Last Escape, John Nichol & Tony Rennell
The Men who Breached the Dams, Alan W Cooper
The Mighty Eighth, Gerald Astor 

The Naval Air Service 1908-1918, Navy Records Society 
The Nuremberg Raid, Martin Middlebrook
The Pennemunde Raid, Martin Middlebrook, Night of 17-18 August 1943
The RAF Pathfinders , Martyn Chorlton 
The RAF's Cross Channel Offensive - Circuses, Ramrods, Rhubarbs & Rodeos , John Starkey 
The Red Baron, Barry Pickthall,
The Royal Air Force, T Stanhope Sprigg, 1935 (Covers History, Organisation etc)
The Royal Flying Corps 1914-1918, Peter G Cooksley
The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission American Raids Aug 1943, Martin Middlebrook
The Sky is Falling, Arthur Weingarten
The Story of Britains Black Airmen, KN Chimbiri 
The War in the Air, Walter Raleigh/HA Jones, Vol 1 - 3
The War that Never Was - Iraq
, AG Dudgeon 
The Way of the Air , Edgar Charles Middleton
The World War 1 Aviators Pocket Manual
Thrilling Deeds of British Airmen, Eric Wood
To Hell & Back, Mel Rolfe 
To live among Heroes - 609 Squadron, George Armour Bell 
Tracing your Air Force Ancestors, Phil Tomaselli 
Tracing your Second World War Ancestors, Phil Tomaselli
Tumult in the Clouds, James Goodson
UK Airfields of the Ninth Then & Now, Roger Freeman 
Uncommon Valour, AG Goulding
Under an English Heaven, Robert Radcliffe 
War Flying, L Hutcheon
War in the Air - The Second World War in Colour, Ian Carter 
War Wings - Flighting Places of the American & British Air Force, D Cook
Warburtons War (Adrian Warburton DSO DFC), Tony Spooner, 
Wellington at War, Chaz Bowyer
Wild Blue - 741 Squadron on a wing & a prayer over Europe, Stephen E Ambrose
Wing Leader, Johnnie Johnson 
Wingless Victory - Escape from France 1940 , Basis Embry
Wings Day, Sydney Smith 
Wings for Victory - Story of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada , Spencer Dunmore
Wings over George, Jack Currie
WWII Battles of the Second World War, Nigel Cawthorne

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We offer a free consultation to discuss your research requirements, get in touch & start the process today! 

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