Marshal Of The Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal

Author : Richard Michael Milburn
Publisher : Air World
Page : 335 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2024-03-08
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781399044417

Get Book

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Charles Portal by Richard Michael Milburn Pdf

Charles Frederick Algernon Portal was born in Hungerford, England, in 1893. One of seven brothers, Portal developed a fierce competitive streak and a steely determination from an early age. Known by all who knew him as ‘Peter’, Portal enlisted in the Army at the outbreak of the First World War as a dispatch rider, being mentioned in General French’s very first dispatch. Portal’s abilities were quickly recognized, and he gained a commission in short order. It was in the air that Portal saw his future, and he subsequently transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, initially as an observer, before training as a pilot. In this latter role, Portal proved a courageous and instinctive leader, garnering the rare accolade of a DSO and Bar for his wartime service. His meteoric rise continued in the inter-war period, and when Hitler’s forces invaded Poland, Portal had already ascended to the Air Force Board. He then took the RAF’s top command post at Bomber Command during the battles of France and Britain, before replacing Cyril Newall as Chief of Air Staff, aged just 47, in October 1940. Charles Portal was, in General Eisenhower’s words, ‘Britain’s greatest wartime leader, including Churchill’. Portal was a strategist, a diplomat and an outstanding leader of the RAF in the Second World War. He built productive and enduring relationships with the most powerful Allied leaders – some of which, including Churchill, Bomber Harris, and Hap Arnold, are explored here. Portal helped direct the UK’s strategy from the darkest days of 1940 through to Allied victory in 1945. He never lost his calm, even under the most extreme pressure, and approached the war with a cool logic that defied the chaos of the day. Despite his enormous achievements, and being showered with post-war accolades, Portal is little known today. His historical anonymity is a reflection of his disinterest in his own legacy. He neither kept wartime diaries, nor penned an egotistical autobiography to cash in on his post-war fame. He retired as he had served, with dignity and humility, traits that made him particularly influential with American allies. As Wing Commander Rich Milburn reveals in this long-overdue second biography, Charles Portal was a hero in every sense; a heroic battlefield leader in one global conflict, and one of the men most directly responsible for Allied victory in a second.

Author : Denis Richards
Publisher : Heinemann
Page : 488 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1977
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : UOM:39015031997201

Get Book

Portal of Hungerford by Denis Richards Pdf

Author : Richard Mead
Publisher : Pen and Sword Aviation
Page : 396 pages
File Size : 44,7 Mb
Release : 2024-06-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781036104153

Get Book

Churchill's Eagles by Richard Mead Pdf

An in-depth overview of the role of the Royal Air Force's leaders during World War II. The RAF did not come of age until the Second World War. The role of its forerunners in the Great War, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, although important, was peripheral to that of the ground forces. The founding father of the RAF, Lord Trenchard, was determined that it should become a fully-fledged third service, equal in status to the Royal Navy and British Army, and this he succeeded in doing between the wars, firstly by setting up the RAF College at Cranwell, and Staff College at Andover, and secondly by providing a cost-effective policeman of the more rebellious parts of the British Empire. By 1939 the RAF had grown substantially, but, of the three best aircraft of the coming War, only the Supermarine Spitfire was in service, as neither the Avro Lancaster nor the De Havilland Mosquito would be available until early 1942. Aircraft, however, were not enough. It was the leaders of the RAF, the subjects of this book, who would take the battle to the enemy and who, after six long years, would prevail.

Author : Peter Jacobs
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 329 pages
File Size : 40,5 Mb
Release : 2011-01-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781848325524

Get Book

Stay the Distance by Peter Jacobs Pdf

Sir Michael Beetham enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the Royal Air Force. He joined the RAF as a pilot in 1941 and was awarded the DFC whilst serving with Bomber Command during 1943/44. Remaining in the post-war RAF, a number of flying and staff appointments followed, notably he drafted the first specification for the ill-fated TSR 2 and later joined the V-Force as commanding officer of 214 Sqn at Marham. Beetham then served at the heart of Bomber Command s affairs when the V-Force was at the forefront of the nation s defenses. The most critical moment came with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. In 1964 he was given command of Khormaksar in Aden, the RAF s biggest overseas station. His arrival coincided with the start of a terrorist campaign against British forces in Aden.More senior appointments followed, notably as Commander 2nd Tactical Air Force and Commander-in-Chief RAF Germany, but the big prize came in 1977 when Beetham was appointed Chief of the Air Staff. In 1982 came the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands; as acting Chief of the Defence Staff, he was involved in the decision to send the Task Force to battle. After victory in the Falklands, Sir Michael Beetham handed over as CAS and was appointed Marshal of the Royal Air Force."

Author : Dudley Saward
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 1984
Category : Marshals
ISBN : STANFORD:36105081622933

Get Book

Bomber Harris by Dudley Saward Pdf

Author : Richard Mead
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 393 pages
File Size : 47,6 Mb
Release : 2018-10-30
Category : History
ISBN : 9781526727183

Get Book

'SAM' Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Elworthy by Richard Mead Pdf

Sam Elworthys career was remarkable by any standards. Born in New Zealand in 1911 and educated in England, he was called to the Bar. After learning to learning to fly he joined the RAAF. During the Second World War he won the DFC, DSO and AFC and, after commanding 82 Squadron, worked closely with Bomber Harris and General Eisenhower. He became an air commodore aged 33.His meteoric rise continued post-war. Switching to Fighter Command he saw service in India, Pakistan, and the UK before becoming Commandant of the RAF Staff College. By 1960 he was tri-service C-in-C Middle East and his actions prevented the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq.As Chief of Air Staff and Chief of defense Staff in the 1960s he fought the Services corner at a difficult political and economic time. He secured the long term future of the RAF, whose very existence was threatened. A hugely respected figure, he became a life peer, Knight of the Garter and Constable of Windsor Castle. He died in 1993 in his native New Zealand.This long overdue biography attempts successfully to do justice to a man of great stature, integrity and achievement.

Author : William Pyke
Publisher : Pen and Sword Military
Page : 391 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2022-04-13
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781399095532

Get Book

Air Power Supremo by William Pyke Pdf

Sir John Slessor was one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished wartime commanders and incisive military thinkers, and William Pyke’s comprehensive new biography reveals how he earned this remarkable reputation. Slessor, a polio victim who always walked with a stick, became a First World War pilot in the Sudan and on the Western Front and a squadron and wing commander in India between the wars. When aerial warfare was still a new concept, he was one of the first to develop practical tactics and strategies in its application. In the Second World War, as the Commander-in-Chief of Coastal Command during the Battle of the Atlantic and the RAF in the Mediterranean during the Italian and Balkan campaigns, he made a remarkable contribution to the success of Allied air power. Then, after the war, as a senior commander he established himself as one of the foremost experts on strategic bombing and nuclear deterrence. That is why this insightful biography of a great British airman and his achievements is so timely and important as we enter a new era of strategic doubts and deterrence at the beginning of the twenty-first century. William Pyke follows each stage of Slessor’s brilliant career as a pilot and commander in vivid detail. In particular he concentrates on Slessor’s writings, from his treatise on the application of air power in support of land armies to his thinking on nuclear deterrence and Western strategy.

Author : Henry Probert
Publisher : Pen and Sword
Page : 631 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2016-08-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781848329676

Get Book

Bomber Harris: His Life and Times by Henry Probert Pdf

This is the definitive biography of one of the most controversial figures of the Second World War. Sir Arthur Harris remains the target of criticism and vilification by many, while others believe that the contribution he and his men made to the Allied victory is grossly undervalued. Harris has been condemned, in particular, for his Area Bombing tactics which saw civilians and their homes become legitimate targets along with industrial and military installations. This is explored by the author and placed fully within its context, and just as importantly, within the instructions he received from Churchill’s administration. Henry Probert’s critical but highly sympathetic account draws on wide-ranging research and, for the first time, all of Harris’ own papers, to give an outstanding insight into a man who combined leadership, professionalism and decisiveness with kindness, humour and generosity.

Author : Vincent Orange
Publisher : Casemate Publishers
Page : 531 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2006-12-15
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781908117595

Get Book

Slessor: Bomber Champion by Vincent Orange Pdf

The acclaimed author of Dowding of Fighter Command details the life of one of the great strategic minds of the Royal Air Force. Born in India into a family of soldiers and diplomats, John Slessor made the first aerial attack on a Zeppelin. He went on to serve in the Middle East over the Western Front in World War I, and postwar on the North-West Frontier in India. In the inter-war years, under the influence of Sir Hugh Trenchard, he became a devout proponent of strategic bombing and a strong advocate of the importance of air support for ground forces. Through his writing and teaching he gained a reputation as a deep thinker, and as Director of Plans in the Air Ministry from 1937, was closely concerned with rearmament. As World War II began, he became a major cog in the policy machine. Serving variously as Head of 5 Group Bomber Command (1941), with Portal throughout 1942 and at Casablanca in 1943, his high point came as Head of Coastal Command in 1943 with the defeat of the U-Boats, and then in August 1944 with the tragedy of the Warsaw uprising. Post-WWII, he continued to influence thinking as an ardent opponent of the Soviet Union. His Global Strategy Paper in 1952 was arguably the basis of all strategic thinking until the end of the Cold War. Vincent Orange was given full access to Slessor’s diaries, letters, papers, and all relevant official documentation. As he shows us in this biography, although Slessor had numerous shortcomings, he was able to overcome these difficulties and rise to the top of his service.

Author : Richard Mead
Publisher : Pen and Sword Aviation
Page : 378 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2020-12-30
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9781526765086

Get Book

Dambuster-in-Chief by Richard Mead Pdf

“A fascinating biography of one of the most important figures in Bomber Command during the Second World War.” —History of War Ralph Cochrane was born in 1895 into a distinguished naval family. After joining the Royal Navy, he volunteered in 1915 to serve with the RNAS in airships and was an early winner of the Air Force Cross. In 1918 he transferred to the fledgling RAF and learned to fly, serving in Iraq as a flight commander under “Bomber” Harris. His inter-war career saw him as a squadron commander in Aden before he became the first Chief of Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. During the Second World War he served mainly in Bomber Command and commanded 5 Group from early 1943. He formed 617 Squadron and was instrumental in planning the legendary Dambuster Raid, the most spectacular of the War, as well as the sinking of the battleship Tirpitz. An inspirational leader, he trained 5 Group in low level target marking skills. Post war, Cochrane held a string of senior appointments commanding Transport Command, Flying Training Command and finally as Vice Chief of Air Staff, retiring in 1952. He died in 1977. “A brilliantly researched biography of a fascinating fighter . . . adds a new name to rank alongside Great Britain’s most heroic warriors.” —Argunners “The Dambusters is one of my absolute favourite stories from WWII . . . and this bio of Cochrane tells the story of an extraordinary man. Brilliant.” —Books Monthly

Author : Bill Newton Dunn
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 236 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Marshals
ISBN : UOM:39015025268171

Get Book

Big Wing by Bill Newton Dunn Pdf

Author : Alfred C. Mierzejewski
Publisher : UNC Press Books
Page : 310 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 1988
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 0807817929

Get Book

The Collapse of the German War Economy, 1944-1945 by Alfred C. Mierzejewski Pdf

In this book, Alfred Mierzejewski describes how the German economy collapsed under Allied bombing in the last year of World War II. He presents a broad-based, original study of German wartime industry and transportation, and of Allied air force planning a

Author : Henry Probert
Publisher : Stationery Office Books (TSO)
Page : 222 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 1991
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : STANFORD:36105035346381

Get Book

High Commanders of the Royal Air Force by Henry Probert Pdf

Some of the most senior commanders of the Royal Air Force are already well-known and have received considerable attention from historians and biographers. Little, however, has been written about most of those who have held the highest appointment the Service has to offer. The 22 biographies in this book include all 19 past Chiefs of the 3 Air Staff and three other very senior commanders. Drawn from a wide cross-section of the nation's talent, their varied careers reflect the history of the Service itself, in war-time as well as in peace-time.

Author : John Terraine
Publisher : MacMillan Publishing Company
Page : 880 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 1985
Category : History
ISBN : STANFORD:36105070488999

Get Book

A Time for Courage by John Terraine Pdf

Author : Anonim
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
Page : 320 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2024-06-15
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 9781428992801

Get Book

Coningham : a biography of Air Marshal Sir Arthur... by Anonim Pdf