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Description
The world's first independent air force, the Royal Air Force, celebrates its centenary in 2018. In the 100 years since the last year of World War I, the service has been involved in almost continuous operations around the globe, giving the RAF the longest and most wide-ranging history of any air force in the world. But over the years this history has also become entangled with myths and RAF: A Centenary of Operations will set the record straight, dispelling these as it records – in both words and photographs – the true exploits and accomplishments of RAF personnel over the last 100 years. In fact the story will begin before 1918 with the Smuts Report and will emphasise the part played by Jan Smuts as the real 'Father of the RAF' as an independent service. The vitally important part played by the less glamorous types such as the RE-8 in the closing stages of the war will be described, as will the exploits of the RAF personnel in further away places such as Italy, Greece, the Middle East and India. The book will also give details of the operational work by the squadrons involved in air control over the Middle East and in India between the wars and emphasise that it was the work of these units, rather than the Home Establishment, that ensured the survival of the service in its fledgling years. In covering World War II, equal importance will be given to all aspects, geographical locations and operations to ensure that some actions (for example those in the Middle East and Far East) are not overshadowed by the larger more 'popular' campaigns such as the Battle of Britain or the bomber offensive against Germany, as is often the case. The book will describe operations during the early Cold War period including the Berlin Airlift the many clandestine reconnaissance missions and the disaster relief operations – as well as the RAF participation in campaigns in Malaya, Suez, Kenya and also nuclear forces including the Thor IRBM. Later Cold War years will describe the continuing evolution of an effective tactical air force in the UK and Germany also farther afield including the Middle East and Far East; humanitarian aid operations will be covered as will the conflicts Northern Ireland, the Falklands and Iraq. Indeed, the almost continuous operations over Iraq and Afghanistan in the last three decades will bring the story of the RAF to a full circle, since in many ways these operations reflect those carried out by the service in the same parts of the world nearly 100 years previously.
Table of Contents
Formation & Early Years
WW1 operations – Western Front (including Independent Air Force and Home Defence), Italy, Greece (Salonika), Palestine, Mesopotamia
Russia 1918–20
Somaliland (Force Z) 1919–20
Air Control – Aden, Iraq, Palestine, TransJordan, Sudan, India
India (including 'Pink's War' 1925)
Shanghai Defence Force 1927
Kabul Rescue 1928
Chapter 2 – 1928-1938
Re-armament & Expansion
Air Control – Aden, Iraq, Palestine, TransJordan, Sudan, India
Long-Range Flights 1933, 1938
High-Altitude Flights 1936
Schneider Trophy 1929-31
Empire Air Days
Radar
Fighter Command
Bomber Command
Coastal Command (including Fleet Air Arm)
Chapter 3 – 1938-1948
Second World War
1940 – France, Norway, Eritrea, Battle of Britain
1941 – Egypt & Mediterranean (-1944), Far East (-1945)
Day bomber ops, Fighter sweeps, Coastal Ops (Bay of Biscay, Norway)
Bomber Offensive
Bomber ops over Balkans & Central Europe from Italy
Photo-Recce
Air-Sea Rescue
RAF Regiment
Java 1947
Chapter 4 – 1948-58
Beginnings of Cold War & End of Empire
Berlin Airlift 1948
Malaya 1948–58
Korea 1950–53 (including RAF pilots fly with USAF)
Kenya Mau Mau 1952–56
Suez 1956
Cyprus EOKA 1956–60
V- Bombers
Operation Grapple H-Bombs 1956–58
NATO/ 2 TAF Germany
RAuxAF
Chapter 5 – 1958-68
Cold War
Thor IRBM 1958–63
V-Force Blue Steel 1963–70
Air-to-Air refuelling
Earthquake relief Morocco 1960
Famine Relief Kenya & Somalia 1961–62
Hurricane relief Honduras 1961
Kuwait Crisis 1961
Berlin Crisis 1961
Indonesia Confrontation 1963–66
Cyprus 1964
Rhodesia UDI/Zambia 1965
Torrey Canyon 1967
Chapter 6 – 1968-78
Re-equipment
RAF Germany
Humanitarian relief – East Pakistan 1971, Nicaragua 1972, Nepal (Op Khana Cascade) 1973
Belize 1971 Harrier Force (-93)
Northern Ireland – Op Banner (Helicopter Force) 1972–2002
Interceptions of Soviet aircraft in UK airspace
Exercises – RED FLAG 1977
SAR helicopters?
Chapter 7 – 1978-88
Last Days of the Cold War
Falkland War Op Corporate 1982
Lebanon Op Pulsator 1983
Famine Relief Ethiopia (Op Bushel 1984–85)
Rhodesia/Zimbabwe 1979/80
Gibraltar
Falkland Air Defence
Chapter 8 – 1988-98
Back to Operations
End of Cold War 1988
Gulf War Op Granby 1991
Op Warden Northern Iraq 1991–2001
Op Jural/Bolton Southern Iraq 1991–2001
Op Desert Fox Iraq 1998
Bosnia 1993–98
Zaire (Canberra PR) 1996
RAF Regiment in Cambodia (UN)
Chapter 9 – 1998-2008
Continued Operations
Kosovo Op Engadine 1999
Iraq Op Jural/Warden/Bolton/Resinate
Sierra Leone Op Palliser 2000
Gulf War 2 – Op Telic 2003–11
Afghanistan – Op Herrick 2002–14
Air Defence of Falklands
Chapter 10 – 2008-2018
Iraq - Op Telic -2011
Afghanistan – Op Herrick -2014
Libya – Op Ellamy 2011
Iraq/Syria – Op Shader 2014–present
Baltic Air Policing
Product details
| Published | 01 Mar 2018 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 340 |
| ISBN | 9781472825407 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Dimensions | 280 x 237 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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