This article appears in the ‘Spotlight’ feature of the December issue of the magazine and  is devoted to the Hawker Tempest, a development of the Typhoon.  Entering RAF service in the later stages of the war, it gained success against the V-1 flying bomb threat and gave excellent service as a ground attack fighter with 2 TAF.  My article outlines the careers of three men who gave distinguished service flying the aircraft;

• New Zealander Harvey Sweetman DFC who had 11 ‘kills’ against the V-1.
• Wally ‘Smokey’ Schrader DFC & Bar highest scoring pilot in the latter weeks of the war.
• Frank Jensen DFC, AFC who commanded No. 8 Squadron in Aden in the late 1940s.

In this special issue by Key Publishing, which pays tribute to the men and machines of Bomber Command, I have contributed two long illustrated articles.

BOMBER AIRCREW.  A series of short biographies of men who represent all the crew positions in a heavy bomber;

Pilot – Peter Cribb DSO & Bar, DFC

Navigator – Pat O’Hara DFC & Bar, DFM

Flight Engineer – Fred Fray DFM

Bomb Aimer – Edward Hearn DFC & Bar

Wireless Operator – Lionel Coles DFM

Air Gunner – Wallace McIntosh DFC & Bar, DFM

FOR VALOUR.  Brief illustrated biographies of the nineteen men of Bomber Command awarded Britain’s supreme award for valour – the Victoria Cross.

This article looks at the significant contribution made by the carrier-borne Fairey Fireflies of the Fleet Air Arm during the Korean Conflict.  Within seven days of the invasion of the south by North Korean troops, the Fireflies flew their first war sortie, a rocket attack against hangars and installations on Haeju airfield.

The latest aircraft to be featured in the magazine’s ‘Spotlight’ series is the Douglas Boston.  In RAF service the night fighter version was known as the Havoc and the Men Behind the Boston article includes a night-fighter ‘Ace’ crew and a flight commander and his crew on a No.2 Group low-level bomber squadron, which attacked targets in France and the Low Countries.

The 2016 Edition of  RAF Salute is devoted to a history of air defence in the RAF and includes two articles I wrote:

Principles of Air Fighting –  Looks at the evolution of air fighting from the  Dicta of German WW 1 ‘ace’ Oscar Boelcke,  Key Elements for Success by Flight Commander C.R. Mackenzie RNAS, Mick Mannock’s Rules of Air Fighting to Group Captain ‘Sailor’ Malan’s  Ten Commandments for Air Fighting.

Fighter Command and its Leaders – The second article looks at the careers of the wartime commanders of Fighter Command, Dowding, Douglas, Leigh-Mallory and Hill.

In today’s edition of the RAF News is a short article I prepared for the 75th Anniversary of the flight of Britain’s first jet aircraft.  To see the full article click HERE