<div><B>Through the first-hand experiences of pilots and ground crew, the author of <I>Javelin Boys</I> chronicles the history of the RAF&rsquo;s first jet-engined aircraft.</B><BR />  <BR /> As Britain&rsquo;s first jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor has had a remarkably varied and lengthy life. But while many books have focused on its development and service history, the time has come to hear the personal experiences of its air and ground crews.<BR />  <BR /> By interviewing over thirty veterans, author and Meteor veteran Steve Bond has written an incredibly detailed insight into this iconic aircraft, which is supported by anecdotes and accounts from those who knew it best. One example is Alan McDonald who described the Meteor as &ldquo;a bit unforgiving if you got it wrong, as many pilots found out to their cost, especially on one engine, but I must admit I got to like it very much&mdash;it was a great adrenaline rush.&rdquo; Alongside these entertaining anecdotes are details of the Meteor&rsquo;s origins and developments. Starting with the first deliveries in 1944 working through to the present day, Bond documents the diverse role that the Meteor has had&mdash;from operations against the V1 and photo-reconnaissance missions to its use as a training machine and later as a display aircraft. The book also features photographs never seen before in print. This detailed history of this iconic and much loved jet fighter will appeal to all aviation fans.<BR />  <BR /> &ldquo;Bond has done a great job with this book with many personal accounts of the people that were involved every day in the life of the Meteor. Highly Recommended.&rdquo; &mdash;International Plastic Modelers&rsquo; Society/USA<BR />  </div>

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Meteor Boys

<div><B>&ldquo;Full of interesting and entertaining accounts . . . presents an authentic picture of overseas life in the Kipper Fleet during that period.&rdquo; &mdash;<I>RAF Historical Society Journal</I></B> <BR />  <BR /> After World War II, the Royal Air Force went through a considerable downsizing but retained an essential maritime reconnaissance role for the protection of British interests overseas. These areas were primarily the Mediterranean, Middle East, Far East to Hong Kong and all associated trade routes linking them to Britain and each other. With the arrival in service of the Shackleton from 1951, re-equipment with the new type initially concentrated on the home fleet of Coastal Command. The first overseas station to get them was Gibraltar in 1952, followed by Malta, Singapore, Aden and finally Sharjah. In addition to their daily routine of maritime patrols, the overseas squadrons took part in a number of significant operations. From dealing with rebellion in Aden, Rhodesia&rsquo;s Unilateral Declaration of Independence to the Indonesian Confrontation, the Shackleton played a vital peacekeeping role. There was even a permanent detachment on the island of Gan for search-and-rescue cover for aircraft transiting to and from the Far East.<BR />  <BR /> The last overseas RAF Shackletons were based at Sharjah until late 1971, with a detachment from the UK remaining in Singapore until 1972. The survivors were finally withdrawn from use in November 1984. Thus, after almost thirty-three years the Shackleton&rsquo;s overseas story was essentially over. Following the outstanding success of Volume One, published in 2018 and still available, Steve Bond has garnered another exceptional group of Shack operators who delight in giving the reader their tales of derring-do. Another one for the Boys&rsquo; kitbag!</div>

Shackleton Boys Volume 2

<div><B>This WWII Royal Air Force history reveals the activities of special ops squadrons and the electronic warfare and countermeasures they deployed.</B><BR /><BR /> Established within the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, No. 100 Group was dedicated to the complex business of electronic warfare. Though its role was vital, it remains one of the least understood aspects of RAF operations during the Second World War. In this meticulously researched volume, aviation historian Steve Bond and Squadron Leader Richard Forder RAF (Ret&rsquo;d) shed important light on the work of No. 100 Group by analyzing one of its Bomber Support Squadrons, No. 223.<BR /><BR /> Equipped with former USAAF Liberators, No. 223 Squadron operated from August of 1944 to the end of the European war. Its primary role was protecting Bomber Command Main Force ops through the use of experimental radio and radar countermeasures against German defenses. With unique access to original documents and firsthand accounts from both sides of the conflict, Forder and Bond present a detailed and comprehensive picture of the secret activities of these special operatives and their effect on German defenses.</div>

Special Ops Liberators

<div><B>This Royal Air Force history examines a revolutionary Cold War era aircraft with firsthand accounts from veterans who flew them all over the world.</B><BR /><BR /> The Gloster Javelin, an all-weather interceptor aircraft, was the UK&rsquo;s first line of air defense in the 1950s and 1960s, both at home and in Royal Air Force Germany. With an unorthodox aerodynamic design, the Javelin had major production issues early on&mdash;including a tendency for engines to self-destruct under certain conditions. But the revolutionary aircraft still receives much affection from its former crew. Some of their most thrilling, fascinating and colorful stories are collected here in terrific detail.<BR /><BR /> Starting from the first deliveries of Javelins in 1956 until the final withdrawal from RAF squadron use in 1968, <I>Javelin Boys</I> describes adventures all over the world&mdash;from Cyprus to Singapore during the Indonesian Confrontation and Zambia during the Rhodesian declaration of UDI. Alongside their anecdotes is a detailed history of this unusual aircraft, accompanied by photography never seen before in print.</div>

Javelin Boys

<div><B>This WWII history shares the personal stories of frontline airmen from all sides of the conflict gathered through original interviews.</B><BR /><BR /> Aviation historian Steve Bond has spent years interviewing veterans of World War II. He recorded the stories of former airmen and crewmembers who shared the same pieces of sky at the same time. The project brought together British and German, German and Russian, British and Italian, American and German&mdash;sometimes literally.<BR /><BR /> In Heroes All, Bond presents the stories of these veterans&mdash;some of whom are household names&mdash;with annotations and overviews providing historical context. This is not a book about the rights and wrongs of war, nor the strategies of the military commanders. It is about the experiences and feelings of those on the front line.<BR /><BR /> This volume includes stories and recollections from veterans of the Air Transport Auxiliary, British Army, Fleet Air Arm, Italian air force, Luftwaffe, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and Navy, Soviet air force, US Army, US Army Air Force, US Navy, and other groupings.</div>

Heroes All

<div><B>A history of the Royal Navy’s FAA since 1945, featuring a survey of the aircraft flown, the conflicts fought, and the daily life of those in service.</B><br/><br/>The RAF’s continuing role in the projection of air power in the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas interests since the end of the Second World War is well known. However, the same cannot always be said about the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA), in part due to the ten-year gap between the retirement of the Harrier and the arrival of the F-35B and the <I>Queen Elizabeth</I>-class aircraft carriers.<br/><br/>Flying high performance aircraft off a carrier demands not only a high level of skill, but also a considerable amount of courage and determination, not least to land back on a very small piece of real estate bobbing about in a rough sea, often at night, with no possibility of diversion. The nature of these operations has meant that the accident rate and aircrew losses were very high—and accepted as part of the job.<br/><br/>With the arrival of the <I>Queen Elizabeth</I> and the <I>Prince of Wales,</I> it is time to redress the balance and bring the FAA’s extraordinary story to the audience it so richly deserves through the words of those air and ground crews who have been part of it since 1945. What emerges is an amazing close-knit <I>esprit de corps</I>, often accompanied by a long-standing and still simmering rivalry between the RAF and the Royal Navy over who should project air power overseas. Enormous respect is shown by the aviators and ships’ senior officers for the aircraft handlers and maintainers, who work long hours in a highly dangerous environment on the flight deck.<br/><br/>This first volume looks chronologically at every aircraft type flown in an air defence role since 1945. Involvement in conflicts including Korea, Suez, the Falklands, Bosnia and elsewhere is included, and perforce the cost in human lives, even in everyday operations, frequently emerges. Balancing this are the everyday grind, the good times, the humour, the “runs ashore” and the sense of pride in a job well done. All delivered in the words of the men themselves.</div>

Steve Bond

Books By Steve Bond (6 Books)

Meteor Boys

Shackleton Boys Volume 2

Special Ops Liberators

Javelin Boys

Heroes All

Fleet Air Arm Boys

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