Squadron Rfc, Signed (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. 1st Edition. This copy is in as new, unmarked condition bound in blue cloth covered boards with bright gilt titling to the spine. This copy is bright, tight, white and square. The unclipped dust wrapper is in as new condition. There is an intriguing dedication and date with the author's signature to the title page. International postal rates are calculated on a book weighing 1 Kilo, in cases where the book weighs more than 1 Kilo increased postal rates will be quoted, where the book weighs less then postage will be reduced accordingly. No. 40 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport as No. 40 Squadron Royal Flying Corps and was disbanded for the last time in 1957. The squadron also included many non-British members, including volunteers from the Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force. During World War One it was known as one of the foremost Scout Squadrons. It was reformed in 1931 as a bomber squadron and served in that role throughout World War Two flying Battles, Bleheims, Wellingtons and Liberators, reformed in 1947 as a transport squadron flying Yorks in the Berlin Airlift. Ref D 2. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. Sweeping the Skies: A History of No. 40 Squadron, RFC and RAF, 1916-56 by David Gunby. Publisher: The Pentland Press, 1995, First Edition. SIGNED BY AUTHOR. VERY RARE SIGNED COPY. Near new hardback with jacket, binding firm, some minor bumping, otherwise excellent with no owner inscriptions. Jacket has some light shelf-wear. 405 pages, illustrated. ALL PHOTOS ARE OF THE ACTUAL BOOK. All books are sent with free courier postage within New Zealand. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Good +. 1st Edition. 405 pp, index, plates. maps. Dj has light rubbing and edgewear, a little yellowing along top edge. Boards have very light wear. Signed by author on title page - interior o/w unmarked. Binding tight. Signed by Author(s).

WILSON, Peter. No. 7 Squadron R.F.C.: The Diary of A.G.W. Aylesbury: Hunt, Barnard & Co., privately printed, n.d. [c. post-First World War]. First edition, first impression. A privately printed account of No. 7 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps, in original blue cloth, lettered in dark blue to the upper board. Illustrated with a group photograph of the officers of No. 7 Squadron R.F.C., dated May 1918. From the personal collection of Air Chief Marshal Lord Portal, with his ownership inscription "Portal" to the front free endpaper. A highly evocative association copy. The diary was written by Peter Wilson, whose personal record forms the basis of the volume. It captures the daily texture of an RFC corps squadron at war: artillery observation, counter-battery work, reconnaissance, contact patrols, wireless telephony, bombing duties, and the mixture of danger, routine, humour and improvisation that defined early military aviation. The Portal association is especially resonant. Portal's own military career began in the First World War, first in the Royal Engineers and then in the Royal Flying Corps, where he became a pilot and flight commander. Those early experiences shaped the whole course of his later life, culminating in his position as Chief of the Air Staff during the Second World War. This privately printed squadron record would have spoken directly to Portal's memories of early air warfare. It belongs to the same formative world from which Portal emerged: fragile machines, artillery cooperation, observation flights, improvised tactics, and the gradual creation of air power as a serious arm of war. In Portal's library, Wilson's diary becomes more than a scarce squadron history. It is a personal bridge between the RFC of 1918 and the RAF high command of 1939-45. Good condition. Cloth rubbed and marked, spine dulled, corners worn. Inner hinges tender with some exposed binding and age-toning to endpapers, but complete and sound overall.