Books recording the history of notable RAF Stations or Bases
Formed at Gorleston-on-Sea on the Norfolk coast in the early years of World War II, No.24 Air Sea Rescue Unit of the Royal Air Force (24ASRU) was responsible for one of the busiest stretches of water in the entire European theatre of war. At the time, East Anglia was home to the main Allied bomber force and the skies above Gorleston, at the mouth of the river Yare, gateway to the Norfolk Broads, were seldom silent.
by Peter Doling
Peter Doling, a former Education Officer at RAF Gan, has invested a great deal of time and effort into the task of compiling this magnificent and comprehensive history of the British military presence on Addu Atoll in the Maldives, from its origins in 1941 as ‘Port T’, a refuelling post used by the Royal Navy, to the construction and occupation of Royal Air Force Gan, which was commissioned in 1957 and closed in 1976.
RAF Gan is still fondly remembered by many who served there and former ‘Gan-ites’ will find much to enjoy in this fascinating book, crammed with just about every fact and figure about Gan that one could hope for.
by Ken Rosam
In this entertaining book, the author records the achievements of the men of the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces who, in great secrecy, constructed and operated a Royal Air Force bomber base and Air Staging Post during the latter months of World War II under the codename ‘Operation Pharos’.
It became the most advanced of all the Allied air bases in the South East Asia theatre of operations and was used to mount attacks on the Japanese forces in Sumatra and elsewhere and as a refuelling point for aircraft travelling to and from Australia.
by Raymond Leach
RAF Waddington has a history as long and illustrious as any in the Royal Air Force and is best known for its role as a bomber station - in fact, when No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron disbanded on 31st December 1982, it was the longest serving bomber station in any air force in the world...
The full story of the men, the aircraft and the major sorties flown from RAF Waddington are comprehensively described within the pages of this substantial and detailed account, which runs to over 300 A4 pages and is illustrated with over 100 black & white photographs. It will be of great interest to aviation historians and to veterans of the many squadrons that have served at the station over the years.
by David Taylor
This book tells the story of RAF Seletar, initially known as RAF Singapore.
The need for an RAF presence in Singapore was first suggested back in 1921, only three years after the birth of the service, but it was 1928 before the base opened for business. That still leaves it with a history as long and colourful as any in the Royal Air Force.
