Items related to Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command (Heritage)

Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command (Heritage) - Softcover

Christie, Carl

 
9780802081315: Ocean Bridge: The History of RAF Ferry Command (Heritage)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0802081312 ISBN 13: 9780802081315
Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 1997

Synopsis

From the pioneer transatlantic flights of the interwar period and the early attempts to initiate regular commercial service, Christie traces London's decision to have aircraft, supplies, and passengers delivered across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada and the United States. Under the inspired leadership of a handful of Imperial Airways' captain-navigators, a group of civilian airmen from Britain, Canada, and the United States undertook to fly urgently needed bombers, maritime patrol aircraft, and transports to Europe for the RAF. This informal civilian organization was augmented by graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada and taken over by the RAF as Ferry Command in 1941. Some five hundred aircrew, as well as sixty passengers, lost their lives in accidents; Major Sir Frederick Banting, the discoverer of insulin, was killed in the first fatal crash of the ferry service. Ocean Bridge chronicles an often overlooked contribution to Allied victory and aviation history. By war's end the ferry service, through its various incarnations, had created the basis for the network of international air routes and procedures that commercial travellers now take for granted.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Carl A. Christie retired as Senior Research Officer of the Department of National Defence's Directorate of History in March 1996. He now lives in Winnipeg, where he teaches military and aviation history to Canadian Forces personnel as an associate professor of the Royal Military College of Canada's War Studies Programme.

From the Back Cover

From the pioneer transatlantic flights of the interwar period and the early attempts to initiate regular commercial service, Christie traces London's decision to have aircraft, supplies, and passengers delivered across the Atlantic Ocean from Canada and the United States. Under the inspired leadership of a handful of Imperial Airways' captain-navigators, a group of civilian airmen from Britain, Canada, and the United States undertook to fly urgently needed bombers, maritime patrol aircraft, and transports to Europe for the RAF. This informal civilian organization was augmented by graduates of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada and taken over by the RAF as Ferry Command in 1941. Some five hundred aircrew, as well as sixty passengers, lost their lives in accidents; Major Sir Frederick Banting, the discoverer of insulin, was killed in the first fatal crash of the ferry service. Ocean Bridge chronicles an often overlooked contribution to Allied victory and aviation history. By war's end the ferry service, through its various incarnations, had created the basis for the network of international air routes and procedures that commercial travellers now take for granted.

From the Inside Flap

'This masterly piece of research will surely become the standard reference on the subject.'

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
University of Toronto Press
Publication date
1997
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0802081312
ISBN 13 
9780802081315
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
458