Empowering Minds with Military Books, Honoring Service
Military Book Exchange
303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron
Share
303 Squadron: The Legendary Battle of Britain Fighter Squadron
The summer of 1940 and the Battle of Britain—the darkest days of World War II. France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway had all been crushed by the powerful Nazi German war machine. Great Britain stood alone, fighting for its life. 303 Squadron is the thrilling story of the celebrated squadron of Polish fighter pilots whose superb skill in the air helped save England during its most desperate hours. They were the highest-scoring Allied fighter squadron in the Battle of Britain, downing three times the average RAF score while incurring only one-third the average casualties. Dashing and gallant 303 Squadron was lionized by the British press, congratulated by the King, and adored by the British public. With an immediacy that vividly brings to life those harrowing days, Fiedler paints the bravery, the poignancy, the breathtaking gambles with death risked daily by this exceptional group of young men far from home, who fought to preserve freedom for all. “Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the battle would have been the same.” — British Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding Translated from the Polish; identifies the pilots by their real names for the first time in English. Nearly 200 black & white photos, maps and illustrations; contextualizing historical material; nine appendices.
Authors
Peter F. Stevens
Peter F. Stevens, New York Times bestselling author and news and features editor of Boston Irish Magazine, is a veteran journalist with a specialty in historical writing. His work has been syndicated by the New York Times and has been published in dozens of magazines and newspapers. Stevens has published fourteen books and is also a two-time winner of the International Regional Magazine Association’s Gold Medal for Feature Writing. His award-winning book The Voyage of the Catalpa: A Perilous Journey and Six Irish Rebels’ Escape to Freedom was also the chief historical resource for the PBS documentary “Irish Escape.” Publishers Weekly raved that in The Voyage of the Catalpa “…truth may routinely be stranger than fiction, but seldom is it as suspenseful as this story of the 1876 rescue of six Irish rebels from Britain's infamous prison colony in Fremantle, Australia, by the American whaling ship Catalpa.” Stevens lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jeffrey D. Guidry
Pilot, Aviation History, and Military Books Collection
Jeffrey D. Guidry is a private pilot, aviation historian with a deep focus on aviation history, and avid collector of military flight gear. A lifelong passion for aviation—and in particular, the U.S. Navy Blue Angels—was the impetus for this unique book. The effort involved more than 23 years of research, countless interviews, and onsite visits to NAS Pensacola, GENTEX Corporation, and aviation museums across the U.S.
Derek Varble
Derek Varble: Historian of Military and Aviation History
Derek Varble read Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford, receiving the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 2000. His thesis analyzed Anglo-American Cold War strategy in the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf. He also has degrees from George Washington University (Master of Arts, 1995) and the United States Air Force Academy (Bachelor of Science, 1992). This background informs his perspectives on the military and aviation history relevant to U.S. and Middle Eastern affairs. His research interests include the Presidencies of Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson, and Jimmy Carter, and Arab nationalism in the twentieth century. In the course of his research, he consults military books and sources ranging from pilot memoirs to official archives. He and his wife Amy live in southern California.