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In this report we just want to draw your attention on five new or forthcoming historical books announced by Fonthill Media.

The Bad Boy. Bert Hall, Aviator and Mercenary of the Skies
Author: Blaine L. Pardoe
Format: 234 x 156 mm
Hardback
Pages: 192, 16 illustrations

Weston Birch (Bert) Hall carved out his place in history with an almost devilish delight. Much of what has been written about him, including his own two autobiographies, has proven over the years to be more fiction than reality. He was labelled numerous times in his career: rogue, scoundrel, card cheat, forger, human cannonball, First World War pilot, criminal, bigamist, deserter, filmmaker, author, soldier of fortune, hero, Chinese General, arms smuggler, Foreign Legionnaire, salesman, aerial racer, aviation pioneer, father, and entrepreneur. Oddly enough, these titles were all true. Bert Hall’s fantastic life and status as the bad boy of the Lafayette Escadrille have often eclipsed the truth.
Turning to primary sources in archives around the world, many that have been overlooked for decades, this book makes the first attempt to reconstruct the life of Bert Hall. For the first time aficionados of World War 1 aviation and aviation history will get a glimpse into the life of a man who lived in extraordinary times and took advantage of them. While Bert’s autobiographies were penned mostly to create a myth around his life, they often were based on kernels of truth. This book finds those kernels and paints the real-life picture of an amazing man who lived in incredible times.
As the elder man of the Lafayette Escadrille, Bert was basically run out of the squadron by his colleagues. That should have been the end of his story. In reality, it was just the beginning. In an age where the world was fascinated by aviators, Bert became a real-life comic book character – a mercenary of the skies!


Unwanted Hero. The Flying Career of Squadron Leader Donald Barnard DFC, 1937-1955
Authors: Colin Pateman and Oliver Clutton-Brock
Format: 234 x 156 mm
Hardback
Pages: 240 pages, 45 illustrations

Donald Barnard came to England from St Lucia to join the RAF as a bomber pilot. On his second tour of operations, he was shot down over northern France in September 1942. He was rewarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross whilst missing in action. Donald evaded capture; assisted to Spain by an escape network, and later compiled a detailed diary of his entire evasion exploits. Posted to test fly Spitfires, flying in excess of 1,000 individual aircraft. Barnard then moved to the Far East supply dropping in 1945.
In Burma disapproving of the delay in recovering the emaciated allied POWs, he decided to take an aircraft without authority. 25 prisoners were recovered from Bankok to Rangoon. After a full Court Martial, he was dismissed from the RAF. He flew civilian aircraft after the war in Australia and in Britain, joining No.2 Civil Anti Aircraft Co-operation Unit in Norfolk, 1953. Flying ended for him in 1955, and he died in 1997 at the age of 79.
Rarely has the opportunity been available to reproduce from a diary such a personal account of evasion. A bomber and Spitfire pilot, Court Martialled for the rescue of Japanese held emaciated allied prisoners of war, creates a unique career story supported by French resistance sources original photographs.

The Phantom in Focus. A Navigator’s Eye on Britain’s Cold War Warrior
Author: David Gledhill
Format: 248 x 172 mm
Hardback
Pages: 256 pages, illustrations: 140 mono, 98 colour

Have you ever wondered what it was like to fly the Phantom? This is not a potted history of an aeroplane, nor is it Hollywood glamour as captured in Top Gun. This is the story of life on the frontline during the Cold War told in the words of a navigator who flew the iconic jet. Unique pictures, many captured from the cockpit, show the Phantom in its true environment and show why for many years the Phantom was the envy of NATO. It also tells the inside story of some of the problems which plagued the Phantom in its early days, how the aircraft developed, or was neglected, and reveals events which shaped the aircraft’s history and contributed to its demise. Anecdotes capture the deep affection felt by the crews who were fortunate enough to cross paths with the Phantom during their flying careers. The nicknames the aircraft earned were not complimentary and included the ‘Rhino’, ‘The Spook’, ‘Double Ugly’, the ‘Flying Brick’ and the ‘Lead Sled’. Whichever way you looked at it, you could love or hate the Phantom, but you could never ignore it for its sheer power and lethal payload.
The Phantom in Focus: A Navigator’s Eye on Britain’s Cold War Warrior is unique in that the author flew in the legendary Phantom in the front line and captured beautiful and amazing unpublished photographs that will appeal to historians, military specialists and modellers alike.


Fighters over the Aegean
Author: Brian Cull
Format: 234 x 156 mm
Hardback
Pages: 224, 40 mono

Following the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, at which the Americans refused to back Britain’s plan to invade the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean, to be followed by an invasion of the Greek mainland, a weakened British attempt was made with disastrous results. The Americans wished to concentrate all their forces in capturing Sicily and then invading southern Italy.
In this first comprehensive account of aerial operations over the Eastern Mediterranean/Aegean, the first chapter covers the disastrous Hurricane attack on Crete (Operation Thesis), an attempt to divert Axis attention from Sicily; subsequent chapters deal with British landings on the islands of Kos and Leros when Spitfires vainly attempted to hold the Luftwaffe at bay.
Meanwhile, Beaufighters flying from North Africa and Cyprus roamed over the Aegean attacking shipping and aerial transports with success but at a heavy cost, until the Germans withdrew from the Aegean and the Greek mainland. In addition, specially modified Spitfires are detailed to combat pressurised high-altitude Ju 87 spy planes used by the Luftwaffe based on Crete, and the Fleet Air Arm with its Seafires, Wildcats and Hellcats over the Aegean. Also, the book includes many first-hand accounts from both British and German aircrew extracted from official reports and memoirs.


Rise Against Eagles. Stories of RAF Airmen in The Battle of Britain
Author: Christopher Yeoman and Adrian Cork
Format: 234 x 156 mm
Hardback
Pages: 232 pages, 40 mono and colour

Rise Against Eagles is a collaborative work presenting exceptional tributes to an array of airmen from various nations who served in the Royal Air Force during critical battles of the Second World War.
The story begins at the outbreak of war when Fairey Battle rear-gunner, Bobby Pearce, was sent to France with No.142 Squadron, as part of the British Expeditionary Force in an attempt to repel the inevitable German advance into France and the Low Countries. After a long, hard winter and aerial skirmishes with the Luftwaffe, the RAF was soon withdrawn in preparation for what would be one of the most decisive battles in British history, the Battle of Britain. The core focus of this work is concentrated on a selection of fighter pilots who fought during that long summer and autumn of 1940, when everything depended on the RAF achieving air superiority to prevent Hitler’s planned invasion of Britain. This exceptional group of pilots are remembered for their evocative stories which are ripe with gripping combat experiences and gruelling sacrifice.
Rise Against Eagles celebrates the legacy of these iconic airmen who risked and gave their lives in a tremendous effort to defend Britain against all odds.


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