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Number One in War and Peace

$36.95

The History of No.1 Squadron 1912 - 2000

By Norman Franks & Mike O'Conner
Published in 2000 by Grub Street, UK
Hardcover, 284 Pages
Size - 26cm * 19cm

No. 1 Squadron was formed in 1912 and has been in almost continuous existence from then until the present day. Its Battle Honours include Western Front 1914-18, Iraq 1921-26, Battle of France 1939-40, Battle of Britain 1940, Fortress Europe 1941-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Falklands Islands 1982 and Kosovo 1999. It has fought its country's enemies in both World Wars, seen duty and action in India, combated V1 flying-bombs over southern England, flown sorties during the Suez crisis, and its pilots have been decorated from actions all over the world.

From the very early days the Squadron has flown fighter aeroplanes, Nieuport Scouts, SE5s, Hawker Furies, Hurricanes, Typhoons, Spitfires; in the jet age it operated Meteors, Hunters and now the superb and unrivalled jump-jet Harrier.

Established aviation historian Norman Franks has written this new and updated history of the RAF's most famous and longest serving Squadron describing events from 1937 until the present day, while fellow historian and former BA Concorde pilot Mike O'Connor, himself an expert on WW1 flying, has covered the story from 1912-1936. They have had the full backing not only of the Squadron Association but of the present-day Squadron itself and bring a totally new approach to the unit's history with many first-hand accounts of both wartime and peacetime flying from the numerous personalities and characters who have figured in its history, and many rare colour and black and white photographs.

The Squadron, in keeping with its number, has many 'firsts' to its name, not least being the first RAF Squadron to convert to the Harrier jump-jet fighter and fighter-bomber, bringing this exciting aeroplane to front-line efficiency with all its modern sophisticated technology that could never have even been dreamt of in 1912. In the two recent conflicts, firstly over the Falklands and then over former Yugoslavia, Number One carried out its full measure of operational flying without the loss of a single pilot, and continues to fly missions over the Balkan and Iraqi border areas helping to keep the peace.

Its story is an immense and impressive tale of men training constantly for peace but ready to fight for the world's freedom at a moment's notice. Its motto is In all things first' which it has followed diligently and will without doubt continue to do so. This book serves as a fitting tribute to every Squadron member and their families.

NORMAN FRANKS is a world-renowned figure in aviation writing with nearly 50 books to his name. Author of titles such as Battle of the Airfields, The Greatest Air Battle, Conflict over the Bay and Aircraft versus Aircraft, he has also been co-author of many more specifically concerned with WWI. He has previously written two squadron histories, No. 31 First in Indian Skies and No. 75 Squadron RNZAF, Forever Strong. He is married to Heather, and lives in Surrey.

MIKE O'CONNOR was born in 1947 and is son of an RAF pilot who spent nearly all of his 37 year career flying. After a number of schools, due to the family moving round RAF postings, he learned to fly at Kidlington in 1967 and joined British European Airways in 1968. After five years flying the Vickers Vanguard he then flew Boeing 707s, 737s, 747s, Tristars, BAC1-11, with the last two years flying Concorde. He retired early in 1998 after some 14,000 flying hours and now devotes much of his spare time to aviation research. He has two children and lives in East Sussex with his wife Polly.

Fully Illustrated with 32 pages of B&W photos and 4 pages of colour photos

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