FLYERS: Enthralling WWII Aviator Tales

Here are 17 true stories to stir the soul; tales of allied pilots and aircrew fighting against overwhelming odds. These true-life tales of air war are, in the majority of cases, based upon the first-person account given by the aircrew involved. No detail is left out and the reader is confronted with the protagonists’ constant proximity to sudden and awful death; the brutality of experiencing the violent obliteration of their friends; the feelings of desperation when, having jumped successfully from a doomed airplane, they then have to avoid capture or, having been taken prisoner, escape from under the noses of their captors, risking a fatal gunshot or execution. Ditching in the sea after an air battle, or simply having run out of fuel, brought new horrors as survivors, sodden and freezing in their dinghy, watched helplessly as their comrades edged over the brink of madness and walked off the dinghy into the depths of the sea.

This first volume brings together the stories of Flyers, most of whom fought in the RAF but who hailed from many different countries. It includes a hair-raising tale of a Russian pilot who, having been shot down behind German lines, escaped from his crashed aircraft to find himself lying on the snow-covered ground of a forest with a shattered ankle and a huge ravenous bear approaching him. The infamous episode of the WAAF aircraft mechanic who took an unauthorised and unexpected flight whilst sitting on the tailplane of a Spitfire is included as is the unbelievable story of the Lancaster Tail Gunner who plummeted 3 miles from his burning aircraft into captivity WITHOUT A PARACHUTE!

Add to the above the many stories of thrilling and astounding air actions which won VCs, DFCs and DFMs for their participants, and you have a book that will be difficult to put down once started!

17 Chapters, 43,000 words approx.