Sources & Links

The Battle of Britain and World War 2

ANGELS and BANDITS is my second historical novel, set around The Battle of Britain. The research I undertook for the book was a true joy, due to the vast historical chronicle, words and images, of those heady days when Britain stood alone in 1940.

UNDERSTANDING THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN:

Task one was to learn about the aerial conflict in detail, and how The Battle of Britain fit into the greater World Wars. I love to devour thick non-fiction renderings of historical events and found that, boy, was I ever in my element! There are a number of wonderfully written non-fiction summaries of The Battle of Britain, each with its own stamp on the subject through the author’s choice of organization and approach, and due to differing focuses on time period, combatants, armaments, politics, and the like.

Holland, J. (2012). The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History May—October 1940.

Dildy, D. (2018). Battle of Britain 1940: The Luftwaffe’s ‘Eagle Attack’.

Clayton T. and Craig, P. ( 1999). Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain.

Lukacs, J. (1999). Five Days in London: May 1940.

Arthur, M. 2010. Last of the Few.

Bungay, S. (2000). The Most Dangerous Enemy.

Churchill, W. (1951). The Second World War (Six Volumes, Volume Two, Their Finest Hour, covers The Battle of Britain).

Prior, R. (2015). When Britain Saved the West.

Korda, M. (2002). With Wings Like Eagles.

WORDS OF BATTLE OF BRITAIN PARTICIPANTS:

ANGELS and BANDITS, at its heart, is the story of the young pilots of many different socio-economic backgrounds and nationalities who not only had to dig deep within themselves while fighting in harrowing aerial combat, but also had to find ways to come together for the good of their squadrons and ultimately the defence of Britain. The most meaningful source is the words of the men themselves. I got my hands on auto-biographies of RAF Battle of Britain pilots, and even those of a couple of Luftwaffe pilots. Nearly all of the military action in ANGELS and BANDITS is inspired by an anecdote recounted by a pilot who was there, in the skies above Kent, London or the Channel.

Eriksson, P.G. (2017). Alarmstart: The German Fighter Pilot’s Experience in the Second World War.

Hall D.F.C., R. (1975). Clouds of Fear.

Clostermann, P. (1951). The Big Show.

Hillary, R. (1942). The Last Enemy.

Sommer, E. (2018). Luftwaffe Eagle.

Orange, V. (2001). Park.

Olive D.F.C., G. (2015). Spitfire Ace.

THE SPITFIRE:

My research for ANGELS and BANDITS provided me the distinct pleasure of learning about the Spitfire, Britain’s innovative fighter plane that played a key role in winning the Battle of Britain, thereby repelling Hitler’s planned invasion of England in September, 1940. Slim and graceful in appearance, yet fast and maneuverable, the Spitfire proved to be the Excalibur of Arthurian legend in the hands of the RAF flyers. The sight of it inspired confidence in the British people and fear in the enemy. I have also included a source of information on its fighter plane foe, the Messerschmitt 109.

Hampton, D. (2014). Lords of the Sky.

Jackson, R. (2015). Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-F Series.

Kaplan, P. (2017). The Spitfire: An Icon of the Skies.

LIFE IN NAZI GERMANY IN 1938:

Another thread from THE FOUR BELLS that I played out in ANGELS and BANDITS took then-civilian pilot Eddy Beane on a flight into the heart of Germany before the war, in 1938, where he came face to face with the Nazis. I read a number of books to get my arms around life in Nazi Germany during the period. Eddy’s visit to Germany is a fairly brief scene in ANGELS and BANDITS but I hope the raw emotion I felt when reading about atrocities perpetrated on innocent citizens by the Nazis flowed through my words.

MacDonogh, G. (2009) 1938 Hitler’s Gambit.

Larson, E. (2011) In the Garden of Beasts.

Friedlander, S. (2009). Nazi Germany and the Jews.

Evans, R.J. (2005). The Coming of the Third Reich.

Lubrich, O. (2004). Travels in the Reich 1933-1945.

VIDEOS AND WEBSITES:

It seemed that every time I wanted to take a deep dive into a topic, whether it be the Aeronca trainer plane Eddy flew, Georgian architecture, Cambridge tidbits, Spitfire performance characteristics, or RAF Fighter Command intricacies, incredible content was a few clicks away. If I listed every posting and every website I took a note on, I’d never get to book three! But here are some sources that I benefited from:

Videos:

Stephen David Entertainment, History Channel. (2014) The World Wars. (Three part mini-series on 2 discs).

PBS Home Video. (2000). Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain. (Lots of Archival footage and stills).

Spitfire Productions. (1969). The Battle of Britain (The classic movie starring Michael Caine that educates its viewer on high stakes geo-political intrigue and drama while brilliantly portraying the nitty-gritty of battle faced by front-line combatants.)

Directed by John Cutts. (1979) The War Years – The Battle of Britain. (Short, but great overview.)

IMDbPro. (2019) Greatest Events of WWII in Colour. (Episode 2 in a series about key WW2 events, available on Netflix.)

Internet Sites:

Air Battle Off Dover; Audio from the Past; SE Coast Aerial Activities; RAF Spitfires Fueled and Replacing Ammunition, Taking Off. (July 14 and Sept. 5, 1940) Just search these titles on YouTube for amazing contemporary coverage of Battle of Britain fighting.

Battle of Britain London Monument. Website. https://bbm.org.uk/ (Content on the monument in London, the Battle of Britain, detail on the airmen, and notes on other places of interest.)

The Fewest of the Few: How the Supermarine Spitfire won the Battle of Britain. Updated April 29, 2019. Flight Journal. https://www.flightjournal.com/fewest-supermarine-spitfire-won-battle-britain/#visitor_pref_pop (Extensive collection of cites on all things Spitfire.)

The Battle of Britain Historical Timeline. (n.d.) Battle of Britain 1940. https://battleofbritain1940.com/ (Day by Day high-level summary of The Battle of Britain with great images.)

Glossary of WW2 RAF Slang and Terminology. (n.d.) Nature on Line. http://natureonline.com/37/56-ap4-glossary.html (Do you really want to “go for a Burton?”)

Kent, R. (April 16, 2010) Camouflage and Markings of No. 74 Squadron RAF. The Spitfire Site. http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/camouflage-and-markings-of-no-74-squadron-raf.html/2 (Cool images and background on Spitfire markings.)

Catford, N. and Jenner, B. (July 31, 2001) Uxbridge Battle of Britain Ops Room. Subterranea Britannica. https://www.subbrit.org.uk/sites/uxbridge-battle-of-britain-ops-room/ (Air Vice Marshal Keith Park’s domain.)

Story: Park, Keith Rodney. (First published 2000) Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/5p9/park-keith-rodney (Report on Air Vice Marshal Keith Park.)

Knighton, A. (August 4, 2017) British Intelligence—Transforming Aerial Reconnaissance in WW2. War History Online. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/british-intelligence-transformed-aerial-reconnaissance-world-war-two-m.html?chrome=1 (Summary of British intelligence operations during WW2.)

Arbuckle, A. (July 24, 2015) How Families Lived in their WW2 Backyard Bomb Bunkers. Mashable. https://mashable.com/archive/wwii-backyard-bunkers (Great images of WW2 Anderson shelters.)

Beanse, A. (August 13, 2003) My Mum’s War: Life in the East-End. BBC: WW2 People’s War. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/20/a1143820.shtml (First person account of life in the East End during the Blitz of London.)

The London Blitz, 1940. (2001) EyeWitness to History. http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitz.htm (Another eye witness account of the Blitz.)

Former RAF Station, Hawkinge. (n.d.) Kent Battle of Britain Museum. http://www.kbobm.org/raf_hawkinge.html (Great images of Hawkinge and RAF pilots as well as history of operations at Hawkinge.)

World War 1

While I’m by no means a professional historian, I have put in my time researching the Great War, and I wish to share with you the sources that have been most important to me as I wrote THE FOUR BELLS.

*Brodie Curtis at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium*

UNDERSTANDING THE GREAT WAR:

The Great War has fascinating origins, in the sense that the reasons for it are quite complex, and yet it seemed that the devastation to come could have been prevented. This section of sources gives us the “backstory” on how the war came to be, and overviews of the conflict on a macro basis, as well as its aftermath.

How the Great War came to be:

Hastings, M. (2013). Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes To War.

MacMillan, M. (2013). The War That Ended Peace: The Road To 1914.

Tuchman, B. (1962). The Guns of August.

Excellent Single Volume Summaries of the Great War:

Keegan, J. (1998). The First World War.

Marshall, S.L.A. (1964). World War I.

Meyer, G.J. (2006). A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914-1918.

An Amazing Collection of Maps of the Battles:

Esposito, Brig. Gen. V.J. (1959). The West Point Atlas of War: World War I.

The Political Aftermath of the Great War:

Dallas, G. (1960). 1918: War and Peace.

MacMillan, M. (2001). Paris 1919.

THE WESTERN FRONT:

My study of the military action of the Great War concentrates on the Western Front, where Al and Eddie and their pals fought. So, this section lists sources which provide an overview of the battles in Belgium and France. I have added detail on aspects of the military action, as well as for the Christmas Truce of 1914.

Overviews of Military Action on the Western Front:

Groom, W. (2002). A Storm In Flanders: The Ypres Salient, 1914-1918 Tragedy And Triumph On The Western Front.

Neiberg, M. (2008). The Western Front 1914-1916.

A Guide to the Battlefields from Ypres to Vimy Ridge:

Holt, T. and V. (2004). Major & Mrs Holt’s Battlefield Guide To Western Front-North.

Sources that Detail Aspects of the Military Action:

Bull, Dr. S. (2002). World War I Trench Warfare.

Cave, N. (1998). Hill 60.

Chapman, P. (2001). In The Shadow Of Hell: Ypres Sector 1914-1918 Behind The Lines In Poperinghe.

Newbolt Sir H. (c 1915). The Story of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry.

North J. & Black J. (2013). Uniforms of WWI.

The Christmas Truce of 1914:

Brown M. & Seaton S. (1984). Christmas Truce: The Western Front December 1914.

Murphy J. (2009). Truce.

Weintraub, S. (2001). Silent Night.

WORDS AND IMAGES OF GREAT WAR PARTICIPANTS:

In studying the Great War, I was most moved by the words and images of participants themselves. This section lists sources that present stories and images that have been meaningful to me.

Diaries and Auto-Biographies:

Graves, R. (1929). Good-Bye to All That.

Junger, E. (1920). The Storm of Steel.

Vaughan, E.C. (1981). Some Desperate Glory: The World War I Diary of a British Officer, 1917.

Accounts of Fighting Units Based on Personal Papers like Diaries and Letters:

Kipling, R. (1923). The Irish Guards in the Great War: Vol. I.

Nelson, J.C. (2009). The Remains of Company D.

Compilations of Images, Personal Stories and Quotations:

Arthur, M. (2006). The Faces of World War I: The Great War in Words & Pictures.

Englund, P. (2011). The Beauty and the Sorrow: An Intimate History of the First World War.

In Flanders Fields Museum (Pamphlet) (1998). Eye-Witness Accounts of the Great War: Guide to Quotations.