HAMISH — THE STORY OF A PATHFINDER — The Memoirs of Group Captain T.G.Mahaddie DSO, DFC, AFC, CZMC, CENG, FRAeS
Prix régulier 30,00 € TTC 6%
Characteristics
| ISBN-13 | 9780711018266 |
| ISBN-10 | 0711018266 |
| Book cover finish(es) | Hardcover ( round back binding ) |
| Special Features | • Dust jacket |
| Condition | Like NEW |
| Author(s) | T. G. Mahaddie |
| Publisher | Ian Allan Ltd |
| Number of pages | 166 |
| Published date | 1989 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Size | 16 x 23.5 x 2 cm |
| Categorie(s) | • BIOGRAPHIES • AVIATION MILITAIRE • SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE |
Description
Hamish is the story of Gp Capt T. G. Mahaddie as told by himself — Halton apprentice, bomber pilot, staff officer, station commander, technical adviser to the British film industry, and raconteur par excellence.
In a lively narrative liberally laced with anecdotes, Hamish reflects on his formative years in Edinburgh during the First World War and the part he played in the “Trenchard Experiment” at RAF Halton in the late 1920s. We follow him to the outposts of the Empire during the 1930s with his posting to Egypt and Iraq, where he gained his wings.
On his return to the UK in 1937 he found a very different Royal Air Force from the one he had known several years before. Not only had the people changed but so had the circumstances. It was now an Air Force frantically preparing for the inevitable cataclysm of war which was about to engulf the world.
Hamish flew on two tours of operations during World War II with RAF Bomber Command in the dangerous night skies over Europe in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Short Stirling bombers, interspersed with an instructing tour at an Operational Training Unit in Scotland before joining Air Vice-Marshal Don Bennett’s staff at Pathfinder Force Headquarters.
In February 1943 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Force Cross and the Czech Military Cross — surely an RAF record. He finished the war as Station Commander at RAF Warboys where, with the help of one Cpl Christian, he transformed the Sergeants’ and Airmen’s Messes into Meccas of popular entertainment with seating liberated from the Globe Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue. At one stage he was the only Station Commander in Bomber Command with an elephant on the strength.
Post-war, Hamish followed the usual mundane duties of the peacetime RAF, but during this time he introduced the English Electric Canberra into Bomber Command service.
Upon retirement from the RAF in 1958 he acted as technical adviser to various feature films including The Battle of Britain and A Bridge Too Far.
Hamish offers a popular view of one man’s broad and very lively career in aviation, and as such will appeal not only to Service types but also to anyone with a general interest in aviation.