Air Force Lives: A Guide for Family Historians (Family History (Pen & Sword))

What was it like to serve as an airman in the Second World War, as a pilot, a bomb aimer, or aerial gunner, or as a trainee pilot in 1913, a Zeppelin chaser during the First World War, or serve as a Wren fitter in the Fleet Air Arm or as a member of the ground crew who are so often overlooked in the history of Britain’s air arm? And how can you find out about an individual, an ancestor whose service career is a gap in your family’s history? Phil Tomaselli, in this readable and instructive book, shows you how this can be done. He describes in fascinating detail the careers of group air force personnel from all branches and levels of the service. Using evidence gleaned from a range of sources – archives, memoirs, official records, books, libraries, oral history and the internet – he reconstructs the records of a revealing and representative group of ordinary men and women: among them an RFC fitter who won the Military Medal on the Somme, an RAF pilot who flew in Russia in 1919, an air gunner from the Second Word War, a Pathfinder crew who flew 77 missions, a Battle of Britain pilot and a typical WRAF. In each case, he shows how the research was conducted and explains how the lives of such individuals can be explored Discover what life was like for members of the British Royal Air Force from WWI to the 1970s, plus how to find out about an ancestor's service career. What was it like to serve as an airman in the Second World War, as a pilot, a bomb aimer, or aerial gunner, or as a trainee pilot in 1913, a Zeppelin chaser during the First World War, or serve as a Wren fitter in the Fleet Air Arm or as a member of the ground crew who are so often overlooked in the history of Britain's air arm? And how can you find out about an individual, an ancestor whose service career is a gap in your family's history? Phil Tomaselli, in this readable and instructive book, shows you how this can be done. He describes in fascinating detail the careers of a group air force personnel from all branches and levels of the service. Using evidence gleaned from a range of sources – archives, memoirs, official records, books, libraries, oral history and the internet – he reconstructs the records of a revealing and representative group of ordinary men and women: among them an RFC fitter who won the Military Medal on the Somme, an RAF pilot who flew in Russia in 1919, an air gunner from the Second Word War, a Pathfinder crew who flew seventy-seven missions, a Battle of Britain pilot and a typical WAAF. In each case he shows how the research was conducted and explains how the lives of such individuals can be explored. Praise for Air Force Lives "The majority of the book consists of a series of nine extensive case studies. Collectively they provide a good range of different lives, and reveal a similar variety of sources used to learn about them. Read it for a rich and detailed picture of the different lives of air force ancestors." — Your Family Tree What was it like to serve as an airman in the Second World War, as a pilot, a bomb aimer, or aerial gunner, or as a trainee pilot in 1913, a Zeppelin chaser during the First World War, or serve as a Wren fitter in the Fleet Air Arm or as a member of the ground crew who are so often overlooked in the history of Britains air arm? And how can you find out about an individual, an ancestor whose service career is a gap in your familys history? Phil Tomaselli, in this readable and instructive book, shows you how this can be done. He describes in fascinating detail the careers of group air force personnel from all branches and levels of the service. Using evidence gleaned from a range of sources archives, memoirs, official records, books, libraries, oral history and the internet he reconstructs the records of a revealing and representative group of ordinary men and women: among them an RFC fitter who won the Military Medal on the Somme, an RAF pilot who flew in Russia in 1919, an air gunner from the Second Word War, a Pathfinder crew who flew 77 missions, a Battle of Britain pilot and a typical WRAF. In each case, he shows how the research was conducted and explains how the lives of such individuals can be explored. [Elib] Content: Front Cover Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements Abbreviations and Websites Introduction A Brief History of the Air Forces Featured in this Book Chapter 1: Early Flying Experiences in the Royal Naval Air Service -- Reginald Bone Chapter 2: A Military Medal with the Royal Flying Corps -- David Prosser Hepburn Chapter 3: Air War in the Arctic Circle -- Bertram Guy Blampied Chapter 4: Royal Flying Corps, Auxiliary Air Force and Second World War Flying Instructor -- Wilfred Bennett Beale Chapter 5: Battle of Britain Pilot -- Guy Marsland. Chapter 6: From the North-West Frontier to Singapore, Forty Years in the RAF -- Ernest Edgar Chambers and Mary Craig ChambersChapter 7: An Australian Air Gunner with Bomber Command -- Victor Charles Reid Chapter 8: A Gallant Pathfinder Crew Chapter 9: A WREN in the Fleet Air Arm -- Janet Pegden. Acknowledgements Abbreviations and websites Introduction A brief history of the Air Forces featured in this book Chapter 1. Early flying experiences in the Royal Naval Air Service Reginald Bone Chapter 2. A military medal with the Royal Flying Corps David Prosser Hepburn Chapter 3. Air war in the Arctic circle Bertram Guy Blampied Chapter 4. Royal Flying Corps, Auxiliary Air Force and Second World War flying instructor Wilfred Bennett Beale Chapter 5. Battle of Britain pilot Guy Marsland Chapter 6. From the North-West Frontier to Singapore, forty years in the RAF Ernest Edgar Chambers and Mary Craig Chambers Chapter 7. An Australian air gunner with bomber command Victor Charles Reid Chapter 8. A gallant pathfinder crew Chapter 9. A WREN in the Fleet Air Arm Janet Pegden Index. What was it like to serve as an airman in the Second World War, as a pilot, a gunner, a wireless operator, or as a pilot or observer over the trenches of the Western Front during the First World War, or in the Fleet Air Arm or as a fitter or in the WomenAEs Royal Air Force, or as a member of the ground crew who are so often overlooked in the history of Britain's air arm? And how can you find out about an individual, an ancestor whose service career is a gap in your family's history? Phil Tomaselli shows you how this can be done