Squadron Scramble: Yeoman in the Battle of Britain

George Yeoman #2

by Robert Jackson

After his time in France and the nightmare of Dunkirk, Sergeant George Yeoman of No. 505 Squadron R.A.F. no longer has any illusions about the war he is fighting.

Those months’ service have left Yeoman a battle-wearied flying ace, but if it is rest he’s after then he is sorely mistaken.

His commission finally through, Yeoman finds himself presented with new responsibilities and challenges when he is temporarily attached to a Polish fighter squadron.

Meanwhile Leutnant Joachim Richter, Yeoman’s great adversary and opposite number in the Luftwaffe, is readying his men for the storm to come.

Hurled across the Channel, the Luftwaffe begins to pound away at the defences, and with no reserves left, the Few are all that stands between Britain and defeat.

'Squadron Scramble' is a classic adventure story of the Second World War in the air.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Military Fiction, War

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1979

About the author

Robert Jackson was born in 1941 in the North Yorkshire village of Melsonby. A former pilot and navigation instructor, his active involvement with aviation lasted many years. Following his retirement from the RAFVR in 1977 as a squadron leader, he became a full-time aviation writer and aerospace correspondent and lectured extensively on strategic issues. He speaks five languages, including Russian, and has written more than forty nonfiction works on military affairs. He is also the author of the popular Yeoman and SAS fiction series.

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Squadron Scramble" takes up where "Hurricane Squadron" left off. The time is now early summer 1940. No. 505 Squadron --- with which George Yeoman received his baptism of fire in the Battle of France --- is now in Britain, where it has been re-equipped with Spitfires and its pilots have been fully trained to fly them in combat. Anticipation is rife in the squadron that the Luftwaffe, now largely confined to attacking British shipping in the Channel, will turn to attacking Britain proper, with the objective of destroying the Royal Air Force (RAF) and paving the way for the Germans to invade Britain itself.

The book is rich in conveying the full details of the air combat that raged over Britain throughout the summer and early autumn of 1940. George Yeoman survives a number of close calls, sadly loses some comrades in battle, and serves for a time on special assignment with a Polish squadron flying Hurricanes. Never a dull moment here. "Squadron Scramble" conveys the full scope of war in terms of the struggle for survival, the blossoming of romance, and the atmosphere of daily life in a nation at war. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story of the Battle of Britain, at times it felt a bit disjointed but it did feel quite realistic. I was pleased it didn’t get lost in the heroism and the camaraderie and did emphasise the loneliness and constant loss as the casualty rates just continued to rise.

[John Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Jackson's second book is not bad at all. It tells the story of the Battle of Britain, from the viewpoint of Yeoman, a fighter pilot rescued from Dunkirk, and from Richter, a German fighter pilot.

While I was reading it, it took me back to watching the battle of Britain movie, as Jackson describes the dogfights between the Hurricanes and Spitfires, and the Messerschmidt's and Heinkel and Junkers bombers.

I'm enjoying this series, and look forward to the next book.

[Jes M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Atmospheric

Followed the first book in the series without reviewing it, but went straight into this one. If you want to get a fairly convincing take on what WW2 fighter pilots went through I think this book probably does it as well as any. Decently written, adequately gripping, atmospheric and recommended.

[Tom Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read with interesting characters and plenty of action

Robert Jackson's books are awesome. The second in the series focuses on the Battle of Britain. The series reminds me of Louis L'Amour westerns with good guys and bad guys squaring off in life and death situations, except here it's WW2 with modern airplanes. Really enjoyed this one.

[Paula Fuhro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my type of book at all. The author went into a lot of detail about technical issues with flying and if the reader is not into aviation, it’s boring as heck. There were a couple of interesting scenes involving air battles, but not very much. I don’t want to trash this author, but his work is for a very specific audience, of which I am not one.

[Dale Clarke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book in a couple of days and though read when I was young, I still enjoyed the text and writing style, loads of information based on true events gives the books a real feel of nostalgia, great if Netflix could base a series on these books.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite series on WWII

So far I’ve read five of this series and none of them have disappointed me. This one details British squadrons during the Battle of Britain. Holds your interest throughout.

[Viragored · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read - emotional, touching, plenty of good descriptions of the action. And I expect I won't be the first to think of this book as a "Biggles for grown-ups" set in WWII's Battle of Britain.
I'll be looking for some more by Robert Jackson.

[Derek Bowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good WWII book

[Warren Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed immensely

Enjoyed the aspect of the story in the 1st person. You were riding with him in every single situation in the book.

[Frank Mullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good action story.

Good story of an RAF fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. It rings true by comparison with Fighter Pilot by Paul Richey.

[Snakeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another cracking Yeoman adventure

[Carl Dimara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Editing

This story contained a lot of misspelt words or totally incorrect words, otherwise a good read.
This series was a jolly good old boys yarn.

[Alan Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable if not terribly deep.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Squadron Scramble” eBook was published in 2015 and was written by Robert Jackson. Mr. Jackson has written several books, both Fiction and Non-Fiction, on World War II, with a focus on aircraft of the era.

I received a galley of this novel for review through https://www.netgalley.com. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because of Violence. This Fiction novel is set in the early days of World War II. It covers the ‘Battle of Britain’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...) that lasted from late July 1940 through October of that year.

Those months saw an aggressive air power battle between the British and Germans in the sky over Britain. This story follows Sergeant George Yeoman of the British RAF and Lieutenant Joachim Richter of the German Luftwaffe. Yeoman and Richter combat one another more than once in the sky.

I thought that this story paints a good picture of the stress both sides were under during the Battle for Britain. Pilots and those interested in that era of flying will enjoy the many details that the author has included. I have read many stories from World War II, both Fiction and Non-Fiction. This book is short (119 pages and about 6 hours of reading), but I enjoyed it. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at http://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you grew up on the works of Captain WE Johns then you'll feel right at home here as this is essentially Biggles for grown ups.

Squadron Scramble charts RAF pilot George Yeoman's progress through the Battle of Britain to the end of 1940. The aerial combat sequences are convincing but it also reflects the other aspects of squadron life, as well as dipping into the perspective of a Luftwaffe pilot on the other side of the conflict.

It's a short novel, though it suffers a little from the curse of the digital reissue, with a smattering of uncorrected OCR errors. Overall an entertaining read.

[L. R. Hintonl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable and Well Written!

Mr. Jackson generated a good story around the main character and development of the character and feeling of the time and war! My concern is there was no direction, but more events with the main character down in the channel in December of 1940 !

[Richard Azia · Rating 5 out of 5]

an interesting read.

[Robin Halvorson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not world class fiction but I am on the third book of the series, well, actually the 4th. I am enjoying them.

[John Purvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Squadron Scramble” eBook was published in 2015 and was written by Robert Jackson. Mr. Jackson has written several books, both Fiction and Non-Fiction, on World War II, with a focus on aircraft of the era.

I received a galley of this novel for review through https://www.netgalley.com. I categorize this novel as ‘PG’ because of Violence. This Fiction novel is set in the early days of World War II. It covers the ‘Battle of Britain’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...) that lasted from late July 1940 through October of that year.

Those months saw an aggressive air power battle between the British and Germans in the sky over Britain. This story follows Sergeant George Yeoman of the British RAF and Lieutenant Joachim Richter of the German Luftwaffe. Yeoman and Richter combat one another more than once in the sky.

I thought that this story paints a good picture of the stress both sides were under during the Battle for Britain. Pilots and those interested in that era of flying will enjoy the many details that the author has included. I have read many stories from World War II, both Fiction and Non-Fiction. This book is short (119 pages and about 6 hours of reading), but I enjoyed it. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.

Further book reviews I have written can be accessed at http://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/.

[Pete Pimpernel]

When I read this book, which mentions near where I lived at that time, I loved it; I was a teenager then.

Now I intend to re-read it, partly for nostalgia, but also as an example to train me in also writing short boys/mens' historical fiction.