"'Attention to detail is apparent. One aspect which lifts it from similar histories, is the human side, which makes it all the more appealing and lifelike.' Wingspan 'It is such an important part of our history and the book features many spectacular first-hand accounts of life at the aerodrome.' Romford Recorder 'Copious listings of units, station commanders, squadron commanders, pilots and aircrew all add to its reference value.' Flypast"

Volume Two of this study of an airfield and its pilots starts just after the Battle of Britain when Hornchurch was at the forefront in taking the fight to the enemy, being heavily involved in the Sweeps and Circuses of 1941. Next came the Dieppe raid in 1942 by which time Hornchurch was truly international with Czechs, Belgians, French and New Zealanders all flying from there. Action was continuous and famous characters abound, people like Harry Broadhurst and Paddy Finucane, and as with the first book, the author is particularly adept at expressing their views, experiences and recollections. Other events during the war where the base was predominant include the audacious German Channel Dash, Operation "Starkey" with the Americans, forming Mobile Radar Units for D-Day, and countering the V-1 menace. Post-war it served as an Air Crew Selection Centre, from 1948-1956, and thousands of people passed through, some famous like Max Bygraves and Norman Tebbit, who tell their stories. With numerous photographs from private collections, this second volume maintains the standard of the first to give the complete history through the eyes of those who were there.

Volume Two of this study of an airfield and its pilots starts just after the Battle of Britain when Hornchurch was at the forefront in taking the fight to the enemy, being heavily involved in the Sweeps and Circuses of 1941. Next came the Dieppe raid in 1942 by which time Hornchurch was truly international with Czechs, Belgians, French and New Zealanders all flying from there. Action was continuous and famous characters abound, people like Harry Broadhurst and Paddy Finucane, and as with the first book, the author is particularly adept at expressing their views, experiences and recollections. Other events during the war where the base was predominant include the audacious German Channel Dash, Operation "Starkey" with the Americans, forming Mobile Radar Units for D-Day, and countering the V-1 menace. Post-war it served as an Air Crew Selection Centre, from 1948-1956, and thousands of people passed through, some famous like Max Bygraves and Norman Tebbit, who tell their stories. With numerous photographs from private collections, this second volume maintains the standard of the first to give the complete history through the eyes of those who were there.

2001-08-31 Complete, but dry.

Richard Smith has done an excellent job with these two books, fleshing out the bald details of the station and squadron log books with anecdotes, personal recollections of those who were there, and contemporary photographs. No matter how you dress it up, though, this kind of completeness ends up being a bit dry. It is impossible to relate day after day of events, particularly in the post-war period, without the details bogging down the story. My hat is off to Mr Smith that he tried, and that he succeeded as well as he did.

Between the covers of these two volumes, you will find the stories of the men and women who stood, a thin blue line, against the Kaiser's airships and Hitler's Luftwaffe. Here you will find the glorious events of two World Wars that assured RAF Hornchurch an eternal place in the history of our nation. Here, too, you will find the succession of events that led to the running down of RAF Hornchurch, the victim of its own success, ending in the closure of the airfield and the opening, by Air Marshall Harry "Broady" Broadhurst, of the Country Park on the spot that the airfield once occupied.

It is hard to read these two books through without experiencing a sense of all that we have lost as the generation of "The Few" wanes to it's close. The story of RAF Hornchurch is the story of that generation. We will not see its like again, nor theirs.