Yorkshire Airfields in the Second World War

This illustrated, action-packed book contains a full account of the part played by Yorkshire's airfields during the Second World War. The history of each airfield is described, with details of the squadrons and aircraft based at them and the main operations flown. The subject is brought vividly to life with detailed accounts, alongside photos of the airmen themselves and their aircraft. It has often been said that during the Second World War, Britain resembled a gigantic aircraft carrier. Of no county was this image more true than Yorkshire. Between 1940 and 1945, the RAF carried out over 100,000 sorties from some 25 Yorkshire airfields, losing more than 18,000 men, of which some 15,000 came from Bomber Command. The aircraft, especially Halifaxes, Whitleys and Wellingtons, and the airmen who flew them, made a vital contribution to the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich, as they undertook increasingly larger raids across the North Sea into the dangerous, smoke-filled skies of occupied Europe. Today, there are still frequent reminders of those dark days and nights. Memorials mark the exploits of the squadrons as well as individual crash sites. Elsewhere, the remains of derelict airfields can still be found - patches of crumbling concrete; a surviving hangar overgrown with creeper; and huts now filled with bales of hay where once men slept, ate and prepared to go into battle. This is their story.