Ace Pilots of World War II Series, Fighter Aces of the R.A.F 1939-1945
A Gripping Compilation of WWII Air War Heroes - the Famous and the Forgotten
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Narrated by:
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Dennis Kleinman
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By:
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E. C. R. Baker
About this listen
Only a boy when World War II broke out, E. C. R. Baker was gripped by the stories he heard of heroism in the skies as the Allies defeated the mighty Luftwaffe.
But in the years after the war, he was struck by how few of the RAF's legendary fighter aces could be named by the general public.
Some, whose feats in deadly aerial combat equaled or even surpassed those of the most famous pilots, were virtually unknown.
Baker set out to make this right, devoting many years of research to collecting the personal life stories and combat details of the nearly 50 RAF fighter pilots who each shot down and destroyed more than 20 hostile aircraft.
Compiled with the help of surviving pilots and members of their squadrons, Fighter Aces of the RAF is a riveting and powerful book which combines meticulous historical accuracy with vivid descriptions, and brings some truly great men the recognition they so richly deserved.
©1962 E. C. R. Baker (P)2022 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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The Last Fighter Pilot
- The True Story of the Final Combat Mission of World War II
- By: Don Brown, Captain Jerry Yellin - foreword, Captain Jerry Yellin - contributor, and others
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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On the morning of August 15, 1945, Captain Jerry Yellin flew the last combat mission of World War II out of Iwo Jima. Today, Captain Yellin is a sharp, engaging, 93-year-old veteran whose story is brought to life by best-selling author Don Brown.
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A history Air War in the South Pacific & Iwo Gima
- By Amazon Customer on 06-30-20
By: Don Brown, and others
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The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe
- The U.S. Army Air Forces Against Germany in World War II
- By: Jay A. Stout
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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In this dramatic story of World War II, Jay A. Stout describes how the US built an air force of 2.3 million men after starting with 45,000 and defeated the world's best air force. In order to defeat Germany in World War II, the Allies needed to destroy the Third Reich's industry and invade its territory, but before they could effectively do either, they had to defeat the Luftwaffe, whose state-of-the-art aircraft and experienced pilots protected German industry and would batter any attempted invasion.
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A must read for WWII buffs
- By david on 07-27-17
By: Jay A. Stout
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Pacific Payback
- The Carrier Aviators Who Avenged Pearl Harbor at the Battle of Midway
- By: Stephen L. Moore
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Sunday, December 7, 1941, dawned clear and bright over the Pacific....
But for the Dauntless dive-bomber crews of the USS Enterprise returning to their home base on Oahu, it was a morning from hell. Flying directly into the Japanese ambush at Pearl Harbor, they lost a third of their squadron and witnessed the heart of America's Navy broken and smoldering on the oil-slicked waters below.
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Excellent companion to Dawn like Thunder
- By G. Bruce Greer on 07-21-14
By: Stephen L. Moore
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Lucky 666
- The Impossible Mission
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Jeremy Bobb
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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From the authors of the New York Times best-selling The Heart of Everything That Is and Halsey's Typhoon comes the dramatic untold story of a daredevil bomber pilot and his misfit crew who fly their lone B-17 into the teeth of the Japanese Empire in 1943, engage in the longest dogfight in history, and change the momentum of the war in the Pacific - but not without making the ultimate sacrifice.
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A WWII Pacific Tale
- By A. L. DeWitt on 11-15-16
By: Bob Drury, and others
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Tidal Wave
- From Leyte Gulf to Tokyo Bay
- By: Thomas McKelvey Cleaver
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States Navy won such overwhelming victories in 1944 that had the Navy faced a different enemy the war would have been over at the conclusion of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. However, in the moment of victory on October 25, 1944, the US Navy found itself confronting an enemy that had been inconceivable until it appeared. The kamikaze, meaning 'divine wind' in Japanese, was something Americans were totally unprepared for; a violation of every belief held in the West.
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Horrible writing
- By DearMrDear on 06-02-18
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Forgotten Fifteenth
- The Daring Airmen Who Crippled Hitler's War Machine
- By: Barrett Tillman
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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November 1943 to May 1945. The US Army Air Forces waged an unprecedentedly dogged and violent campaign against Hitler's vital oil production and industrial plants on theThird Reich's southern flank. Flying from southern Italy, far from the limelight enjoyed by the Eighth Air Force in England, the Fifteenth Air Force engaged in high-risk missions spanning most of the European continent. The story of the Fifteenth Air Force deserves a prideful place in the annals of American gallantry.
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Well written ...; felt like I was a door gunner.
- By David C. Miller on 12-08-21
By: Barrett Tillman
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Enterprise
- America’s Fightingest Ship and the Men Who Helped Win World War II
- By: Barrett Tillman
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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America’s most decorated warship of World War II, Enterprise was constantly engaged against the Japanese Empire, earning the title “the fightingest ship” in the navy. Her career was eventful, vital, and short. Commissioned in 1938, her bombers sank a submarine just ten days after the Pearl Harbor attack, claiming the first Japanese vessel lost in the war.
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Great Bio of a Truly Remarkable Ship
- By Aser Tolentino on 09-18-12
By: Barrett Tillman
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The Mighty Eighth
- The Air War in Europe as Told by the Men Who Fought It
- By: Gerald Astor
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Europe has fallen. Pearl Harbor is in flames. Enter: the Eighth. In 1941 the RAF fought a desperate battle of survival against the Luftwaffe over Britain. Then, from across the Atlantic, came a new generation of American pilots, gunners, and bombardiers, a new generation of flying machines called the B-17 Flying Fortress, the B-24 Liberator, the P-47 Thunderbolt, and the P-51 Mustang fighter.
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A Good Listen with 1 problem
- By Matthew Schuller on 08-23-19
By: Gerald Astor
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The Twilight Warriors
- The Deadliest Naval Battle of World War II and the Men Who Fought It
- By: Robert Gandt
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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April 1945. The end of World War II finally appears to be nearing. The Nazis are collapsing in Europe, and the Americans are vastly overpowering the Japanese in the Pacific. For a group of pilots in their early 20s who were trained during the twilight of the war, the biggest concern is that they'll never actually see real action and will go home without having a chance to face the enemy.
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Excellent Selection: One of the Best in this Genre
- By David on 09-22-11
By: Robert Gandt
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Lords of the Sky
- Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16
- By: Dan Hampton
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The New York Times best-selling author of Viper Pilot and retired USAF F-16 legend Dan Hampton offers the first comprehensive popular history of combat aviation - a unique, entertaining, and action-packed look at the aces of the air and their machines, from the Red Baron and his triplane in World War I to today's technologically expert flying warriors in supersonic jets.
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Great history, but ending goes off-topic
- By Lugal on 07-31-14
By: Dan Hampton
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The Battle of Britain
- Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940
- By: James Holland
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 26 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world, including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle.
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The battle up to The Battle of Britain
- By Chiefkent on 11-07-17
By: James Holland
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A Dawn Like Thunder
- The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight
- By: Robert J. Mrazek
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the great untold stories of World War II finally comes to light in this thrilling account of the members of Torpedo Squadron Eight and their heroic efforts in helping an outmatched U.S. fleet win critical victories at Midway and Guadalcanal. These 35 American men - many flying outmoded aircraft - changed the course of history, going on to become the war's most decorated naval air squadron, while suffering the heaviest losses in U.S. naval aviation history.
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Excellent story well told
- By Kismet on 01-30-09
By: Robert J. Mrazek
What listeners say about Ace Pilots of World War II Series, Fighter Aces of the R.A.F 1939-1945
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David Blacker
- 04-21-24
Needs a better narrator
The prose is in a typical British 1950s -1960s style, dry and understated. So it needs a narrator with a bit more Vim. Instead, he drones on and the listener needs to really concentrate to keep track. A dogfight is described in the same tone as the internal working parts of a .303 machine gun. Also, the narrator, while having the ability to pronounce Croix de Guerre with an unerring pinpoint French accent, doesn’t seem to have bothered to look up even the most well known WW2 terminology and how it is pronounced. The famous German aircraft manufacturer Junkers is pronounced as if it were “junkyard”. The legendary Heinkel 111 is referred to as a Heinkel 3. Strafing is pronounced like “clapping” instead of correctly like “gaping”, even though the narrator seems to pronounce strafe correctly like “gape”. Sailor Malan is “Salem Alan”, etc. Overall it’s a rather grating experience and I’d avoid this narrator in future until he demonstrates an actual interest in what he’s reading.
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