Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    First In The Air: The Eagle Squadrons Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]
    First In The Air: The Eagle Squadrons Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]
    First In The Air: The Eagle Squadrons Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]
    Ebook55 pages38 minutes

    First In The Air: The Eagle Squadrons Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]

    By Kenneth C. Kan

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Includes 14 illustrations of the units, planes and personnel of the Eagle Squadrons
    During the perilous years of 1940-1941, a small band of Americans joined the Royal Air Force to help England resist Nazi Germany. They did so while the United States remained a neutral power and overcame significant obstacles to accomplish their objective. Over time, the RAF formed three fighter units, known collectively as the Eagle Squadrons, around these volunteer pilots. These Americans flew alongside their British comrades in fighter and bomber escort missions until 1942, when they transferred into the United States Army Air Forces. The Eagle Squadron pilots made noteworthy contributions to the RAF, assisting them in their transition from fighting a defensive war to waging an offensive campaign against the German Luftwaffe and helping pave the way to an eventual Allied victory.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTannenberg Publishing
    Release dateAug 15, 2014
    ISBN9781782898788
    First In The Air: The Eagle Squadrons Of World War II [Illustrated Edition]
    Author

    Kenneth C. Kan

    See Book Description

    Related to First In The Air

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Lafayette Escadrille

      Jun 8, 2023

      Lafayette Escadrille
      3 min read

    • Article

      Overlord Declassified Part II

      Jun 13, 2019

      Overlord Declassified Part II
      14 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      Apr 30, 2019

      Reviews
      6 min read

    • Article

      Churchill’s ‘landships’

      Jul 25, 2023

      Churchill’s ‘landships’
      10 min read

    • Article

      Coast-to-coast

      Apr 25, 2023

      Coast-to-coast
      6 min read

    • Article

      1941-1950

      Jul 5, 2019

      1941-1950
      11 min read

    • Article

      De Gaulle’s 1941 Coup

      Apr 12, 2022

      De Gaulle’s 1941 Coup
      20 min read

    • Article

      Closing the Ring

      Aug 2, 2018

      This volume of the Churchill War Papers covers the climax of Britain’s war against Germany and its accelerating eclipse by an America whose war effort was peaking as an overstretched Britain began to decline. It shows Churchill fighting both to maint

      6 min read

    • Article

      Champion Tailhooker

      Mar 3, 2020

      Champion Tailhooker
      4 min read

    • Article

      Wwii This Month… february 1944

      Jan 18, 2024

      In the nine months running up to D-Day, over 2.8 million servicemen were stationed in southern England, preparing for the invasion of Normandy. There was limited doctrine among the Allied forces for assaulting heavily defended coastline, but experime

      2 min read

    • Article

      Those Magnificent Men

      Dec 10, 2020

      Those Magnificent Men
      7 min read

    • Article

      COMMANDERS & DESIGNERS

      Apr 18, 2019

      Hobart was originally a Royal Engineers officer who fought in France and Mesopotamia during WWI. His experiences led him to believe that tanks were the future of ground warfare and he joined the newly formed Royal Tanks Corps in 1923. Rising to the r

      3 min read

    • Article

      Never Panic Early

      Oct 11, 2022

      Never Panic Early
      7 min read

    • Article

      An Airplane For The Yanks

      Jan 24, 2023

      An Airplane For The Yanks
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Mighty Eighth Over Europe

      Jan 18, 2024

      The Mighty Eighth Over Europe
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Red Baron and the .303 Bullet

      Feb 17, 2020

      IT WAS AN hour before noon on 21 April 1918, when a .303 Brit bullet slammed into the chest of the pilot of a red, three-winged aeroplane flying over the Somme River in France. Moments later, the world’s most feared fighter ace cras landed in a beet

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Carpetbaggers

      Apr 30, 2019

      The Carpetbaggers
      6 min read

    • Article

      Final Reckoning

      Jul 30, 2019

      Final Reckoning
      10 min read

    • Article

      Hurricane Force

      Aug 18, 2020

      Hurricane Force
      10 min read

    • Article

      Books In Brief

      Jul 31, 2020

      Royal Flying Corps Kit Bag: Aircrew Uniforms & Equipment from the War Over the Western Front in WWI, by Mark Hillier (ISBN 978-1526752994, Frontline Books distributed by Casemate Publishers, 908 Darby Road, Havertown, PA 19083, 610.853.9131; www.case

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Nazis Are Coming!

      Apr 23, 2020

      The Nazis Are Coming!
      5 min read

    • Article

      Building The Bundesluftwaffe

      Jan 7, 2020

      Building The Bundesluftwaffe
      10 min read

    • Article

      The Flying Irish

      Aug 6, 2020

      The Flying Irish
      10 min read

    • Article

      “Give ’em Hell, Cap!”

      Jun 8, 2021

      “Give ’em Hell, Cap!”
      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for First In The Air

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      First In The Air - Kenneth C. Kan

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2007 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      FIRST IN THE AIR — The Eagle Squadrons of World War II

      Kenneth C. Kan

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 5

      Acknowledgments 6

      First in the Air — The Eagle Squadrons of World War II 7

      Recommended Reading 31

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 34

      Acknowledgments

      Many people assisted me while preparing this pamphlet. In the Office of Air Force History, John Sullivan, George Watson, and Perry Jamieson, kindly read the manuscript and offered invaluable suggestions; Yvonne Kinkaid and Terry Kiss, provided reference assistance; and David Chenoweth guided me through the office photo collection. My appreciation to Brett Stolle of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and James R. Ferguson of the Air Force Accessioning Center, Bolling AFB, D.C., who secured additional photographs.

      Kenneth C. Kan

      Cover picture: Hawker Hurricanes

      First in the Air — The Eagle Squadrons of World War II

      During the perilous years of 1940-1941, a small band of Americans joined the Royal Air Force to help England resist Nazi Germany. They did so while the United States remained a neutral power and overcame significant obstacles to accomplish their objective. Over time, the RAF formed three fighter units, known collectively as the Eagle Squadrons, around these volunteer pilots. These Americans flew alongside their British comrades in fighter and bomber escort missions until 1942, when they transferred into the United States Army Air Forces. The Eagle Squadron pilots made noteworthy contributions to the RAF, assisting them in their transition from fighting a defensive war to waging an offensive campaign against the German Luftwaffe and helping pave the way to an eventual Allied victory.

      * * *

      In 1940, Nazi Germany held continental Europe in its deadly grip. German armies had crushed the armed forces of Poland, invaded the neutral nations of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, and easily dispatched French forces in Belgium. France held out longer, but on June 4, 1940, the British evacuated from the beaches at Dunkirk and on June 22, France surrendered. Great Britain now faced Hitler virtually alone.

      The British government relied heavily on the Royal

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1