Dan/Guppy need book recommendations...

[Guppy35]

Originally posted by Angus
Well, Toliver's/Constable's "Aces talk" (my version is in German and is titled "Dass waren di Deutche Jagdflieger-Asse") is good as well
And Edward Simm's "Zweikampf am Himmel" as well.
Good general reference of WW2 is Martin Gilbert's WW2, as well as John Keegan's "The Second World War".

Oh, Dan, you have "Clouds of Fear". I've been looking for that book for years, - it was the first WW2 pilot's book I read. I haven't found it on the net, nor a trace in the bigger bookstores. In my head, I always had the author as Roger Hall. Could you give me some more info on that book ????

Clouds of Fear is by Roger "Sammy" Hall.  He flew with 91 Squadron which is where I heard of it.  He shows up in lots of photos from their Spit V days.

It's an amazing book in that he is basically detailing his battle with mental illness within the framework of flying combat.  He finally cracked up and ended up hospitalized.  He flew a lot of combat so it would be hard to label him LMF as the RAF was apt to do, but he just couldn't do it anymore and had a nervous breakdown.

He pulls no punches about it either.

All kinds of em listed on http://www.abebooks.com and not too expensive either.

http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Hall&y=0&kn=Clouds+of+Fear&x=0

[Angus]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
So, my famous debateable memory wasn't that bad after all.
I remember his descriptions of his nervous breakdown, as well as him sweating as a racehorse while inside the deepfrosted cockpit.
I think it was him that cased a 109 down at insane speed, and the 109 broke the wings off while trying to pull up. Does that ring a bell?
BTW, did you read Tony Jonsson's book? If you didn't, I'll volunteer to mail it to you
(About time you get some feedback from all your posts)

[Angus]

Oh, forgot.
Have a look at those British sites:


http://www.motorbooks.co.uk

and


http://www.foyles.co.uk

[mw]

Oh, mentioning Roger Hall’s book reminds me of the Editor’s Foreword:  
“In editing this remarkable narrative by Roger Hall I was set the formidable task of cutting down his original manuscript to just over a third of its length.  Nor was it an easy task, for there was so much good material that had to go by the board.  Some of the author’s descriptions of aerial combat – which are among the most vivid I have ever read – had either to be pruned of completely omitted, but I have retained the full text of those I consider to be quite outstanding.  In any event I feel a certain justification in taking this course, since the accounts I have omitted were largely of a technical or repetitive nature, of more interest to wartime pilots than to the general reading public.”

I was stunned when I read that  It occurred to me at the time to attempt to obtain the original manuscript and get it republished unedited.

P/O Roger Hall flew Spitfires with No. 152 Squadron during the Battle of Britain.  He wrote of a 4 September scramble that I found to be of particular interest and relevant to my research:
“We were traveling at full throttle and climbing at nearly three thousand feet a minute in the general direction of the enemy formation, which was just visible high up above and in front of us. I could see Yellow Section in front and above us also, going at full boost. Black streams of petrol vapour were coming away from their engines. ‘Better use your energy boost, Roger,’ Ferdie called out to me, as he started to increase speed himself. The makers stipulated that the emergency boost must not be used for more than five consecutive minutes, but now the occasion seemed to warrant the risk. I throttled back, pushed the red half-lever forward and then opened up the main throttle again. Immediately the aircraft seemed to leap forward with a jolt, hitting me in the back as it did so, and the engine started to vibrate – black smoke pouring out of each exhaust port. The engine vibration transmitted itself to the entire aircraft and I began to appreciate the maker’s instructions.”

How much more material such as this did that silly editor chop out?