Royal Air Force History

Air Historical Branch (RAF)

Web pages of sources for the research of RAF history.

RAF History - The Second World War

This bibliography is designed to provide guidance on introductory reading, and is not intended to be comprehensive. Most of the books listed contain their own bibliographies and source references, which may be used for more detailed research. The inclusion of books in the bibliography does not imply AHB (RAF) or MOD approval or promotion. Click on one of the time periods to visit the relevant page.

Second World War - General

Air Historical Branch, The Royal Air Force Builds for War: A History of Design and Construction in the RAF, 1935-1945 (TSO, 1997)

Air Ministry, The Origins and Development of Operational Research in the Royal Air Force (HMSO, 1963)

Air Ministry, The Rise and Fall of the German Air Force, 1933-1945 (Arms and Armour, 1983)

H. Boog, The Conduct of the Air War in World War II (Berg, 1992)

A. Cooper, Free to Fight Again: RAF Escapes and Evasions, 1940-1945 (William Kimber, 1988)

A. Crawley, Escape from Germany (HMSO, 1985)

R. Freeman, Experiences of War: The British Airman (Arms and Armour, 1989)

N. Gibbs, J. Butler, J. Gwyer, E. Passant and J. Ehrman, Grand Strategy (6 vols., HMSO, 1956-1976)

F. Hinsley, British Intelligence in the Second World War (5 vols., HMSO, 1979-1990)

E. Hooton, Phoenix Triumphant: The Rise and Rise of the Luftwaffe (Arms and Armour, 1994)

E. Hooton, Eagle in Flames: The Fall of the Luftwaffe (Arms and Armour, 1997)

R. Overy, The Air War, 1939-1945 (Europa, 1980)

S. Rexford-Welch (ed.), The Royal Air Force Medical Services (3 vols., 1954-58)

D. Richards and H. Saunders, The Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (3 vols., HMSO, 1953)

C. Shores and C. Williams, Aces High (Grub Street, 1994)

J. Terraine, The Right of the Line: The Royal Air Force in the European War, 1939-1945 (Hodder and Stoughton, 1985)

Battle of France and early Second World War Operations

V. Bingham, Blitzed: The Battle of France, May-June 1940 (Air Research, 1990)

B. Cull and B. Lander, with H. Weiss, Twelve Days in May (Grub Street, 1995)

R. Jackson, The Air War Over France (Ian Allan, 1974)

C. Shores, C. Jacques-Ehrengardt, H. Weiss and B. Olsen, Fledgling Eagles: The Complete Account of Air Operations During the 'Phoney War' and Norwegian Campaign, 1940 (Grub Street, 1991)

Battle of Britain and UK Air Defence

B. Collier, The Defence of the United Kingdom (HMSO, 1957)

R. Collier, Eagle Day (Hodder and Stoughton, 1966)

J. Foreman, Fighter Command War Diaries, September 1939-September 1940 (Air Research, 1997)

P. Flint, Dowding and Headquarters Fighter Command (Airlife, 1996)

N. Franks, Fighter Command Losses of the Second World War, 1939-1943 (2 vols., Midland, 1997-1998)

N. Gelb, Scramble: A Narrative History of the Battle of Britain (Michael Joseph, 1986)

R. Hough and D. Richards, The Battle of Britain: The Jubilee History (Hodder and Stoughton, 1989)

T. C. G. James, The Battle of Britain (Frank Cass, 2000)

F. Mason, Battle over Britain (Aston, 1990)

A. Price, Battle of Britain: The Hardest Day: 18 August 1940 (Macdonald and Jane's, 1979)

H. Probert and S. Cox (eds.), The Battle Re-Thought (Airlife, 1991)

J. Ray, Night Blitz, 1940-1941 (Arms and Armour, 1996)

D. Wood and D. Dempster, The Narrow Margin: The Battle of Britain and the Rise of Air Power, 1930-1940 (Tri-Service Press, 1990)

K. Wynn, The Men of the Battle of Britain (Gliddon, 1989)

Bomber Command and the Strategic Air Offensive against Germany

G. Aders, History of the German Night Fighter Force, 1917-1945 (Jane's, 1979)

R. Barker, The Thousand Plan: The Story of the First Thousand Bomber Raid on Cologne (Chatto and Windus, 1965)

British Bombing Survey Unit, The Strategic Air War Against Germany, 1939-1945 (Frank Cass, 1998)

W. Chorley, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War (6 vols., Midland Counties, 1992-1998)

J. Falconer, The Bomber Command Handbook, 1939-1945 (Sutton, 1998)

Sir Arthur Harris, Despatch on War Operations, February 1942-May 1945 (Frank Cass, 1995)

M. Hastings, Bomber Command (Michael Joseph, 1979)

G. Jones, Night Flight: Halifax Squadrons at War (William Kimber, 1981)

L. Kennett, A History of Strategic Bombing (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982)

C. Messenger, 'Bomber' Harris and the Strategic Bombing Offensive, 1939-1945 (Arms and Armour, 1984)

M. Middlebrook, The Berlin Raids, RAF Bomber Command Winter 1943-44 (Penguin, 1988)

M. Middlebrook, The Battle of Hamburg (Allen Lane, 1980)

M. Middlebrook, The Nuremburg Raid, 30 March 1944 (Allen Lane, 1973)

M. Middlebrook, The Peenemunde Raid, 17 August 1943 (Allen Lane/Penguin, 1982)

M. Middlebrook and C. Everitt, Bomber Command War Diaries, 1939-1945 (Midland, 1996)

W. Morrison, Fortress Without a Roof: The Allied Bombing of the Third Reich (W.H. Allen, 1982)

N. Frankland, The Bombing Offensive Against Germany: Outlines and Perspectives (Faber and Faber, 1965)

R. Overy, Bomber Command, 1939-1945 (Harper Collins, 1997)

D. Richards, The Hardest Victory: RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War (Hodder and Stoughton, 1994)

J. Sweetman, Operation Chastise - The Dams Raid: Epic or Myth (Jane's, 1982)

A. Verrier, The Bomber Offensive (Batsford, 1968)

C. Webster and N. Frankland, The Strategic Air Offensive against Germany (4 vols., HMSO, 1961)

M. Wells, Courage and Air Warfare (Frank Cass, 1995)

Maritime Air Operations

J. Buckley, The RAF and Trade Defence, 1919-1945: Constant Endeavour (Ryburn, 1995)

N. Franks, Search, Find and Kill (Grub Street, 1995)

C. Goulter, A Forgotten Offensive: Royal Air Force Coastal Command's Anti-Shipping Campaign, 1940-1945 (Frank Cass, 1995)

R. Conyers Nesbit, The Strike Wings: Special Anti-Shipping Squadrons, 1942-1945 (HMSO, 1995)

The Re-conquest of Western Europe

I. Gooderson, Air Power at the Battlefront: Allied Close Air Support in Europe, 1943-45 (Frank Cass, 1998)

L. Lacey-Johnson, Point Blank and Beyond (Airlife, 1991)

C. Shores, 2nd TAF (Osprey, 1970)

R. Townshend Bickers, Air War Normandy (Leo Cooper, 1994)

H. Wynn and Susan Young, Prelude to Overlord (Airlife, 1983)

Other Theatres

H. Probert, The Forgotten Air Force: The Royal Air Force in the War Against Japan, 1941-1945 (Brassey's, 1995)

C. Shores, Dust Clouds in the Middle East (Grub Street, 1996)

C. Shores and B. Cull, with Y. Izawa, Bloody Shambles, Vol. 1: The Drift to War to the Fall of Singapore (Grub Street, 1992)

C. Shores and B. Cull, with Y. Izawa, Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: The Defence of Sumatra to the Fall of Burma (Grub Street, 1993)

C. Shores, B. Cull and N. Malizia, Air War for Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, 1940-1941 (Grub Street, 1987)

C. Shores, B. Cull and N. Malizia, Malta: The Hurricane Years, 1940-1941 (Grub Street, 1987)

C. Shores, B. Cull and N. Malizia, Malta: The Spitfire Year, 1942 (Grub Street, 1991)

C. Shores and H. Ring, Fighters over the Desert (Neville Spearman, 1969)

R. Townshend Bickers, The Desert Air War, 1939-1945 (Leo Cooper, 1991)

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