Des Curtis was one of the founder members of 618 Squadron. Formed within days of the illustrious 617, 618’s primary objective was to mount a daylight low-level attack by Mosquitos on the German battleship Tirpitz within hours of the attack on the Ruhr dams. The operation, codenamed Operation Servant, was given top security classification, to the point where the subject was excluded from the minutes of the meetings of the Chiefs of Staff of the air and naval forces. The author reveals the dilemmas and conflicting priorities existing to the highest levels, setting out in detail the technicalities of developing the ‘bouncing bomb’. He also writes first hand about the tactical problems of getting to and from the target; and the tensions and strains endured by the Mosquito crews themselves, as they took the war to the German U-Boats within the sight and safety of their bases.
A Most Secret Squadron
The First Full Story of 618 Squadron and Its Special Detachment Anti-U-Boat Mosquitos
Des Curtis
£20.00
Des Curtis was one of the founder members of 618 Squadron. Formed within days of the illustrious 617, 618’s primary objective was to mount a daylight low-level attack by Mosquitos on the German battleship Tirpitz within hours of the attack on the Ruhr dams. The operation, codenamed Operation Servant, was given top security classification, to the point where the subject was excluded from the minutes of the meetings of the Chiefs of Staff of the air and naval forces. The author reveals the dilemmas and conflicting priorities existing to the highest levels, setting out in detail the technicalities of developing the ‘bouncing bomb’. He also writes first hand about the tactical problems of getting to and from the target; and the tensions and strains endured by the Mosquito crews themselves, as they took the war to the German U-Boats within the sight and safety of their bases.
Categories: Aviation, Bomber Command, WW2.
Additional information
| Weight | 520 g |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 234 × 156 × 26 mm |
You might also like
-
A Doctor’s War
Aidan MacCarthy
As an RAF medical officer, Aidan had served in France, survived Dunkirk, and was plunged into adventures in the Japanese-American arena comparable with those of famous war heroes. Interned by the Japanese in Java, he helped his fellow prisoners with amazing ingenuity in awful conditions. En route back to Japan in 1944, his ship was torpedoed but he was rescued by a whaling boat and re-interned in Japan. His life was literally saved by the dropping of the Nagasaki atom bomb. He was then eyewitness to the horror and devastation it caused. This is an almost incredible account written with humour and dignity.
£8.99read more > -
A History of the Mediterranean Air War, 1940-1945, Volume Three
Christopher Shores Giovanni Massimello, Russell Guest, Frank Olynyk and Winfried Bock
The third volume in this series returns to November 1942 to explain the background to the first major Anglo-American venture – Operation Torch, the invasion of French North Africa. It deals with the fratricidal combats which followed the initial landings in Morocco and Algeria for several days. It then considers the efforts made – unsuccessfully in the event – to reach northern Tunisia before the Germans and Italians could get there to forestall the possibility of an attack from the west on the rear of the Afrika Korps forces, then beginning their retreat from El Alamein.
£75.00read more > -
Winged Chariot
Peter Lush
In what has been described as ‘the greatest raid of all’, Operation Chariot saw heavy destruction of the enemy-occupied port of St Nazaire by British forces. Winged Chariot examines the role that the RAF played during this epic raid on 28th March 1942.
£20.00read more >






Reviews
There are no reviews yet.