Piloting a lurching bomb‑loaded Lancaster through the flame‑lit, shell‑torn night skies of Germany needed nerves of steel. Bomber pilots were a tough, cheery bunch. They had to be. Then into a squadron came the strange, young pilot with pure white hair and burning, bitter eyes, and raids began to go wrong. Bombs were wasted on […]
Pilot Officer Peter Culver flew his hurricane slowly over a row of parked Me 109s, fired a short burst to let them know he was there, then circled over the Nazi air base, waiting. They’d be coming up for him soon, and the odds would be twenty to one. They would shoot him and his […]
The Spits and the Hurris couldn’t get near the pilotless V1 flying bombs. So the Typhoons and the Tempests were rushed into the air. They did the job and were just getting their breath back when another menace appeared in the sky. A new jet, with a pilot this time. A plane they couldn’t touch, […]
When Major Tod Raike and his ‘Raiders’ went on the warpath in their high-speed armed jeeps, the best thing a Jerry could do was dig a quick hole in the sand and pull it in after him! What a bunch of blokes! Story: E Hebden Art: V Fuente Cover: Ken Barr
Throughout the South Sea Islands he was known as ‘Big Alec’. Six feet three inches of bronzed, husky, Australian beach-comber, gold prospector and hunter. Big Alec roamed the islands in a tattered shirt, slacks and an old bush hat, his only companion his big game rifle, with its deadly telescopic sight. Then came the Japanese, […]
The FW 190s dived confidently on the single Spitfire — it looked an easy target. In seconds the British fighter was lined up in their gun sights. But as the German pilots pressed their firing buttons, a blinding flash dazzled their eyes and suddenly there was another Spitfire in the sky — a phantom one! […]
All his life young Joe Minelli had it rough, all because he was a little guy and had an Italian name. When he passed the tough selection course for the British Special Air Service and became Trooper Minelli of X Troop, Joe thought he’d made it at last. He’d find friends and fighting comrades in […]
They told Harry ‘Kiwi’Dean to bomb the Nazi prison without hurting any prisoners —to let Paul Thierry, resistance leader, and his men escape. And he did. But there were too many Germans, tanks, and guns kicking around for Kiwi’s liking. So he went one better. Only an ace like Kiwi would have ever tried it. […]
Ask anybody who helped defend Hong Kong against the great tidal wave of Japanese soldiers near the end of December 1941, and they’ll tell you all about “Hong Kong Hooky”. A Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander whose ship was sunk by the Japanese, Hooky was put in charge of a bunch of military scruffs released from […]
Time and again the Hurricane pilots had seen that same Zero on the tail of a crippled fighter, shooting up a crash-landed pilot, striking at the defenseless, and striking without mercy. They’d seen it —but that was all. Even the Japanese airfield couldn’t be found, and such was the skill of the Japanese ace that […]
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