A goldstar century : 31 squadron RAF 1915-2015 / Ian Hall.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hall, Ian, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Squadron, 31--History.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (378 pages) : illustrations, maps

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Barnsley, England : Pen & Sword Aviation, 2015.

Summary:

"Number 31 Squadron RAF will celebrate its centenary in 2015; a pivotal milestone for a Squadron engaged at the forefront of military activity for the past 100 years. With a number of events lined up to celebrate this important anniversary, former Commanding Officer of the Squadron, Ian Hall, has set himself the ambitious task of penning the Squadron's entire history, from formation right up to current-day activities. This lively and informative narrative is interspersed with first-hand accounts taken from interviews conducted with the men who made/make up the Squadron. The first twenty-five years of the Squadron's history were spent on India's North-West Frontier, hence the Squadron motto 'First in the Indian Skies'. During the Second World War, it was occupied mainly in the Middle East and North Africa, before moving to the Burma theatre for the remainder of the war. Upon returning to the UK in 1948, the Squadron performed communications duties until, in 1955, it joined the Cold War in West Germany, operating successively in reconnaissance and strike/attack roles. Operational deployment in recent years has seen the Squadron deployed during the Gulf War, the Iraq War, in Kosovo, and Afghanistan. With troops pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014, 31 Squadron have now completed a circular history, and there seems no better time than now to commit it to print.Each and every facet of this long and varied history is relayed in a style that serves to provide an account that is at once celebratory and objective when it comes to recording not only the facts of the various deployments but also the personal stories of the men behind the headlines.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Maps

Prologue

Chapter 1: Birth of a Squadron

Chapter 2: Peace?

Chapter 3: Imperial Air Policing

Chapter 4: Forces of Nature

Chapter 5: Bomber Transport

Chapter 6: Middle East and Africa

Chapter 7: Call of the East

Chapter 8: Two Years of Hard Graft

Chapter 9: Pitched Battle

Chapter 10: Drawing Breath

Chapter 11: On the Offensive

Chapter 12: The End Game

Chapter 13: Zipper, or What?

Chapter 14: RAPWI

Chapter 15: Darkest Days

Chapter 16: Aftermath

Chapter 17: Job Done

Chapter 18: Back to the Frontier

Chapter 19: Independence Days

Chapter 20: Communications Interlude

Chapter 21: Through the Lens

Chapter 22: Cold War

Chapter 23: Single-Seat

Chapter 24: The Fin

Chapter 25: Back on Ops

Chapter 26: Policing the New World Order

Chapter 27: Coming Home

Chapter 28: War on Terror

Chapter 29: Family Business

Chapter 30: In Caelum Indicum Ultimus

Chapter 31: Crystal Ball

Appendix A: 31 Squadron Commanding Officers

Appendix B: 31 Squadron Locations

Appendix C: 31 Squadron Aircraft

Abbreviations and Glossary

Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed February 17, 2016).

ISBN:

9781473873865

147387386X

9781473873872

1473873878