Pen Sword Aviation imprint: 311 books

This is the story of Allied fighter pilots and the part they played in all the principal operational theatres of World War II. It also tells of life on the wartime airfield and how ground crew kept the aircraft ready for action either in the bitter cold of a Scottish winter or the sweltering heat...

The Battle of Britain saved the country from invasion. If the RAF had been defeated all the efforts of the British Army and the Royal Navy would hardly have averted defeat in the face of complete German air superiority. With all Europe subjugated, Germany and Japan would later have met on the borders...

This book describes one twenty-four-hour period in the Allied Strategic Bomber Offensive in the greatest possible detail. The author sets the scene by outlining the course of the bombing war from 1939 to the night of the Nuremberg raid, the characters and aims of the British bombing leaders and the...

An in-depth account of the 1968 London air tragedy that claimed five lives—includes interviews with cabin crew, passengers, and air traffic controllers.   One and a half minutes after takeoff on the clear and sunny afternoon of April 8, 1968, the Number 2 engine of BOAC Boeing 707 G-ARWE broke...

Through the medium of period photography, Star-Spangled Spitfires chronicles the combat operations of the USAAF units equipped with the iconic Supermarine fighter whilst employed in both the European and Mediterranean theaters of war, from the summer of 1942 right up to the end of the conflict. Only...

In May 2011 after a Mediterranean exercise to prove the Apache’s ability to work ship-borne, HMS Ocean and her embarked Apache attack helicopters from 656 Squadron, Army Air Corps were about to head home. But the civil war in Libya and the NATO air campaign intervened. A few days later the Author...

An alphabetical account of the part in the Second World War played by the ‘Kipper Fleet’ as it was known in the RAF. Coastal Command often lacked resources compared with other home commands, giving it its other nickname of the ‘Cinderella Service’. Its main role was defensive – that of protecting...

In 1945 it was announced that Allied airmen who had taken part in the Battle of Britain in 1940 would be entitled to the “immediate” award of the 1939-1945 Star, with Battle of Britain Clasp. This was the only Clasp awarded with the 1939-1945 Star.

In the following years holders of the Clasp...

The story of one momentous year in World War II. The epic story of 1940 is not confined to the great air battle over England that summer, the Battle of Britain. While that battle was indeed a major turning point in the course of the Second World War, it was only fought because of the ultimate...

German Bombers over England is a unique and valuable pictorial guide to Germany's bomber force. The author has drawn on his own archive to present rare pictures of the German bombers and their crew, while detailed captions examine their role in preparations for Operation Sea Lion in 1940 through to the very last V1 and V2 rocket bomb missions in the closing stages of the war.

This is the 70th Anniversary year of 656 Squadron, which first formed on 31st December 1942. Over the intervening years the Squadron has served with great distinction in India, Burma, Java, Malaya, Borneo, Hong Kong, the UK, the Falkland Islands, Bosnia, Kosovo and, most recently, in Afghanistan....

This new collection of archive imagery from Philip Kaplan offers a gripping, graphic view of the routine repeated each day and night, from the summer of 1940 through to the following spring, by the German bomber crews bringing their deadly cargoes to Britain. Through mainly German archival photos,...

This new addition to the Images of War series is sure to prove welcome, illustrating as it does the preparatory stages of the iconic Battle of Britain. Whilst the country geared up for action, the air forces rallied, readying the high-performance Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire fighters...

This new volume from Martin Bowman examines the first three years of the Second World War, consolidating first-hand accounts from German fighter pilots caught up in some of the most dramatic night time conflicts of the early war years. Viewing Bomber Command's operations through the eyes of...