RAF Bombers, Part 1

World War 2 Fact Files

by William Green

RAF Part 1

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Adapted from Wikipedia:
William Green (1927 – 2 January 2010) was an aviation and military author, following service with Britain's Royal Air Force, where he wrote for the Air Training Corps Gazette (later to be become the Air Pictorial).
Green was Technical Director to the RAF Flying Review, and then Editorial Director when it became Flying Review International. In 1971 he and Gordon Swanborough jointly created the monthly Air International, of which he remained Managing Editor until late 1990.
Green edited numerous editions of Observers book of Aircraft and spent most of his adult life doing research and writing on aircraft and aviation. His work Warplanes of the Third Reich is seen as a classic aviation publication. Along with Gordon Swanborough, he also wrote several books for Salamander Books including The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Worlds Commercial Aircraft, Illustrated Anatomy of the World's Fighters and Flying Colours.

Reviews

[Daniel Rex · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Green is known as the best writer on Aviation and in particular, World War II aircraft, of the 20th Century, and his collaboration with Gordon Swanborough later in his career (1970s, Green actually was in the RAF as a technical aircraft recognition writer in WW2!) takes his work to the next level with outstanding illustrations, cutaway drawings and colour scheme profiles.
Of interest is that this series of WW2 Fact Files examines some of the fighter and bomber aircraft of the major combatants, and I've seen volumes on RAF Fighters and Bombers, US, Soviet and Japanese aircraft as well. The detail is impressive, going beyond his previous work.
Bombers volume 1 (alphabetical order by manufacturer) starts with the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, and this bomber was surprisingly manufactured in greater numbers than many might think, serving as a glider tug and paratroop transport after being relegated away from front line bombing missions. Then, the little known AW Albermarle! Avro's Manchester, Lancaster and Lincoln solidly fill the middle of the volume and the Bristol Blenheim chimes in too. The Bristol Buckingham is another rare little known aircraft documented well here, while the Mosquito gets thorough treatment too. Of interest is that the Blenheim and Mosquito are also covered in the RAF Fighters volume, and I've found that RAF Fighters Vol 3 and Bombers Vol 2 are very rare and difficult to get in this series!

[Robert Hepple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Published in 1979, 'RAF Bombers Part 1' is one of a number in the 'WW2 Aircraft Fact Files' by Macdonald and Jane's. AS with others in the series, basic details of development and operations are provided, supported by a fine selection of photos, some cutaways, basic line drawings to illustrate differences in variants and 2 pages of colour profile artworks.