Reported Missing: Lost Airmen of the Second World War

Roy Nesbit brings to bear all the insight gained from his flying experience and his skill as a aviation historian as he investigates the wartime disappearances he describes in this haunting book. In vivid detail he retells the stories of two of the best-known disappearances – the pioneering aviator and renowned author Antoine Saint-Exupéry and the photo-reconnaissance ace Adrian Warburton. But he also explores several less well-known but equally dramatic cases – the crew of a Beaufort torpedo bomber that vanished off the coast of Greece, the loss of a Czech Hurricane pilot in Belgium, and the disappearance of a Lancaster crew during a raid on Germany.

In his search to discover the fate of these lost airmen, he reconstructs the circumstances of their final flights and reconstructs their last moments in the air, and he puts together all the scattered pieces of evidence that have come to light since the war to explain their loss. His historical detective work emphasizes the uncertainties and terrible risks that were a routine element in operational flying 60 years ago. The stories make compelling reading.

Roy Conyers Nesbit has a long-established reputation as a leading aviation historian. His many books include The Royal Air Force: An Illustrated History From 1918, RAF in Camera, The Battle of Britain, The Battle For Europe, Arctic Airmen, Eyes of the RAF, The Battle of the Atlantic, Ultra Versus U-Boats, Reported Missing, The Battle for Burma and The Strike Wings.