Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command

Carl A. Christie

ISBN 10: 0802006388 / ISBN 13: 9780802006387

Published by Univ of Toronto Press, 1995

About this Item

23 cm, xx,458 pages, illus., 48p. of unnumbered plates, maps. Contents: Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Atlantic Pioneers -- 2. Canadian Pacific Railway -- 3. From Triumph to Tragedy -- 4. From ATFERO to Ferry Command -- 5. Flying Boats through Bermuda -- 6. The Northern Routes -- 7. The Southern Routes -- 8. One-Trippers -- 9. No. 45 Group -- 10. Mosquito Deliveries -- 11. No Piece of Cake -- 12. Lasting Legacy -- Appendix A. Aircraft Delivered: CPR Air Services Department, ATFERO, Ferry Command, and No. 45 Group -- APPENDIX B. Losses: CPR Air Services Department, ATFERO, Ferry Command, and No. 45 Group -- APPENDIX C. RAF Transport Command and No. 45 Group at Peak Strength, Summer 1945 -- Notes -- Note on Sources -- Index.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1639849699273

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Press
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802006388
• ISBN 13: 9780802006387
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

About this title

Synopsis

From the pioneer transatlantic flights of the interwar period and the early attempts to initiate regular commercial service, Christie traces London's decision to have aircraft, supplies, and passengers delivered across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada and the United States. Under the inspired leadership of a handful of Imperial Airways' captain-navigators, a group of civilian airmen from Britain, Canada, and the United States undertook to fly urgently needed bombers, maritime patrol aircraft, and transports to Europe for the RAF. This informal civilian organization was augmented by graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada and taken over by the RAF as Ferry Command in 1941. Some five hundred aircrew, as well as sixty passengers, lost their lives in accidents; Major Sir Frederick Banting, the discoverer of insulin, was killed in the first fatal crash of the ferry service.
Ocean Bridge chronicles an often overlooked contribution to Allied victory and aviation history. By war's end the ferry service, through its various incarnations, had created the basis for the network of international air routes and procedures that commercial travellers now take for granted.

About the Author

Carl A. Christie is Senior Research Officer, Directorate of History, National Defence Headquarters, Ottawa.