Night Fighter Ace by Spooner 1st Edt World War Two Aviation VG

NIGHT FIGHTER ACE

by

SPOONER

PUBLISHED ; SUTTON

1st EDITION 1997

Awarded three DSOs, three DFCs, and  A with twenty night and ten day  victories to his credit, Bob Braham  was one of the most successful Allied fighter  aces, becoming the RAF’s most highly  decorated fighter pilot of the Second World  War. On the ground Bob was a carefree party-  lover, but once in the air he became a ruthless  killer. Shunning the attentions of the wartime  press, he never achieved the public acclaim of  his contemporaries like Douglas Bader, Johnnie  Johnson or ‘Cat’s—Eyes’ Cunningham.

  Bob’s first posting was to 29 Squadron in  1939 where he flew Bristol Blenheims and  then Beaufighters, latterly alongside the famous  Guy Gibson of later ‘dam—buster’ fame (who  had been posted in from Bomber Command to  strengthen the squadron). Bob contributed in  significant ways to the development of night  fighting tactics, and latterly to the successful  introduction of novel intruder operations over  Germany when in command of 141 Squadron,  also flying Beaufighters at night. As that  squadron’s CO, he was promoted again,  becoming the RAF’s youngest Wing  commander, at the age of just 23. 

Sadly, Bob’s wartime flying career was cut  short on 25 ]une 1944 when his de Havilland  Mosquito FBVI was shot down over Denmark  while on a daylight ranger sortie, and he had to  spend the rest of the war ‘in the bag’ as a POW.  The author, Tony Spooner, has been given  unrestricted access — both by Bob’s personal  armourer and by his widow — to complete and  detailed information covering every one of his  successful operational sorties. The result is a  fascinating story of the RAF’s night fighter air  war — the problems of fighting in the dark and  how they were gradually overcome, the aircraft,  the squadron personalities, the exhilaration of a  successful sortie and the black despair of losing  friends in action.  Illustrated with a selection of contemporary  photographs, Night Fighter Ace will appeal to all  who have an interest in the history of the RAF  during the Second World War, and in  particular its ace pilots. 

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS   

CONDITION V GOOD + ,WITH DUST JACKET 

BINDING TIGHT .CLEAN INTERIOR

FEP WITH SOME MARKS

DUST JACKET COVERED IN REMOVABLE MYLAR COVER