It is with great sadness that Grub Street learned of the passing last week of our esteemed author and historian Christopher Shores. Our relationship goes back 40 years. He was a gentle man, always ready to advise our team on a variety of issues and will be sorely missed. In a fitting end to a distinguished career as one of the world’s leading military-aviation historians, Grub Street will continue to publish Volumes Six and Seven of the A History of the Mediterranean Air War series which Chris had been working on until his death.
Blue skies Chris and rest in peace.
I always considered Chris as one of our finest aviation historians. His meticulous research led to many books that justifiably received world-wide acclaim and have become the authoritative accounts of the air war of World War Two. Most of these books are in my library and are the “go to” volumes for my own research. He was a gentleman, always prepared to help and advise others, and is a great loss to the aviation history community.
That’s very sad news. I found his work detailed and meticulously researched but combined with the rare skill of presentation in digestable and entertaining form.
As Graham mentioned, he was always supportive of others. I had personal experience of that. Way back in the early/mid-1980s, I wrote to him as a young nobody. It transpired that our offices in London were near in each other. He kindly invited me out to lunch and gave me some very useful advice on researching at the PRO etc. Many others said ‘no, he said ‘yes’; I have never forgotten that. Years later it was my privilege to work with him.
Thank you, Chris.
One of my all time heroes, loved his books I have nearly every one. Very proud to have met him at the Grub Street tent at Duxford, he signed volume 4 of Med Air War for me.
I enjoyed his books very much. When reading Volume 2 of Air War for Burma, I was pleased to find mention of someone I knew as a junior USAF officer in 1970. Page 31 notes 2nd Lt. K.C Hyndes’ action on 28 October 1942. As Lt. Col Hyndes, Deputy Commander of the First Mobile Communications Group at Clark AB, he would often join the lieutenants for lunch, mentoring and recounting past events. He noted that in his first attack on a group of Japanese bombers, he was so frightened that he closed his eyes, pressed the trigger, and dived through the formation. He only learned later that he had shot one down.