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Blood, Sweat and Valour |
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41 Squadron RAF, August 1942-May 1945; A Biographical History |
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Home | Synopsis | Introduction | Chapter Outline | Index | Author | Product Information |
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"With Blood, Sweat and Valour, Steve Brew has crafted one of the finest unit histories of modern times." |
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('Wartime', official magazine of the Australian War Memorial) |
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41(R) Squadron is one of the oldest Royal Air Force squadrons still in existence; it will celebrate its Centenary in 2016. The unit has seen service from World War I, through Policing Duties in Aden in the 1930s, throughout World War II, and more recently in the First Gulf War and Yugoslavia. However, its History has barely been told. Blood, Sweat and Valour, by author Steve Brew, is a comprehensive and detailed study of this illustrious squadron, concentrating on its wartime activity between August 1942 and May 1945. The work complements its sister volume Blood, Sweat and Courage, which examines the Squadron between September 1939 and July 1942. Both works lend a strong emphasis to the men who earned the enviable reputation the Squadron still enjoys today. Blood, Sweat and Valour examines the unit’s role within battles, operations, offensives and larger strategies, and details experiences made by the pilots and ground crew participating in them. It describes the Squadron's actions over the landings at Dieppe in August 1942, its re-equipping with the Spitfire XII, and deployment on Circus operations against strategic targets in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. |
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The Squadron's defensive actions against the V1 flying bomb are covered in detail, as is their part in the Oil Campaign and Operations Big Ben and Market Garden. Following a move to the Continent in December 1944, the Squadron advanced steadily eastwards towards Berlin, until hostilities finally ceased in early May 1945. The Squadron’s actions are often revealed for the first time, through records that have previously not been available. The author has drawn heavily on unpublished primary sources, including a large number of logbooks, interviews and personal accounts. 41 Squadron’s own archive was made exclusively available to him for the purpose of writing this work. Blood, Sweat and Valour evokes the feeling of the period, portraying not only a factual account but also one that captures the colour of life on a Second World War fighter squadron, with a balance between material of a documentary nature and narrative action, intertwining fact with personal recollections of events, serious events with humour, and sobering statistics with poignant after-thought. It is borne of deep and emotive sentiment, expressed by the pilots and their families, which is also embedded in the culture of today’s 41 Squadron, to remember every man and to give him his rightful place in history. |
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"...an attention to detail very rarely seen... This is truly a tribute to every serviceman who had the privilege of calling the Squadron home. [...] Blood, Sweat and Valour keeps their memory alive like no other RAF squadron history before." (Aircrew Book Review) |
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Home | Synopsis | Introduction | Chapter Outline | Index | Author | Product Information |
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© Steve Brew, 2012-2014 |
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