We publish books on military history

We are passionate about what we publish and care greatly about what we do. This is our virtual shop window we hope you enjoy your visit.

'The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or ruin. Hence, it is a subject of inquiry which can, on no account, be neglected.'  Sun Tzu : The Art Of War

STOP PRESS: Coming Spring 2012

'I had just given the pilot a revised course to fly when our Lancaster went into a dive and, over the intercom, I heard "I'm bleeding to death..."'

Many books have been written about Bomber Commands war, from the highest levels of command to the experiences of the lowest WAAF, but only a few have been able to reveal the human side of the bomber crews experience. Based upon many personal interviews, correspondence and archival sources, Andrew Simpson's 'Ops - Victory at All Costs' is an important, compelling and absorbing documentary record of what the men of RAF Bomber Command went through from initial training and crew formation, to descriptions of life on squadron and on their extremely dangerous and draining operations, to the numbing effect of morale breakdown. This intensely researched book, the result of years of work, contains many personal accounts from air crew from those that survived and those that did not. The author also examines the technology of bombing and how this form of aerial warfare evolved in terms of aircraft design, navigation, bombing methods, tactics and gunnery as used in, and as deployed by, the Hampden, Whitley and Wellington medium bombers, and the Stirling, Halifax and Lancaster heavies which equipped Bomber Commands squadrons.

In some cases aircraft unintentionally flew directly over each other on a bomb run. On this occasion a Stirling released its load 50 feet above Deans Halifax. We were attacking a factory making ball bearings for German tanks, he recalled, and, due to the need to flatten the place, were instructed to bomb at 8,000 feet. Two of the Stirlings bombs hit them. One went straight through the fuselage and exited without exploding. The other came into the fuselage near the tail and stayed there. Fortunately they were only small 12 lb oil bombs and the short distance they had fallen was not enough to detonate them. The flight engineer went to the back of the aircraft and threw them out he recalled, another 50 feet and I doubt if I would be telling the tale.

From Ops Victory at All Costs by Andrew Simpson

Published by Tattered Flag Press Spring 2012 (ISBN 978-0-9555977-6-3 ) RRP: £25

More information coming soon!