Winged life story air

                            Hardcover Book in good condition with crease on Dust Jacket

Ex-library. foxing and discolouration. Winged Courier by Harry Klein is the story of the 'stick and string' flyers, who first blazed the South African air trails. Introduction by: Major-General K. R. van der Spuy       Publisher: Howard Timmins   Binding: Hardcover Conditions: Please read conditions before bidding. NON PAYING WINNING BIDDERS - Please do not bid on an item unless you intend on completing the transaction. NEGATIVE Feedback will be posted for non paying winning bidders Postage will be quoted according to the size of the item. If you are making a cash deposit, please add on R16 for the deposit fee. If more than one item has been ordered, postage may be reduced. Books will be posted on the Wednesday after payment has cleared in my bank account.

This is the thoroughly researched account of the life and times of a South African WW2 pilot, the author's father, Ted. It is highly personal, drawing on family history and changing lifestyles as the central figure fights his way through a series of experiences, flying coastal strike missions in the Mediterranean and North Africa, then in the Far East against the Japanese.  The story gets off to an engrossing operational start before tracking back to the personal family story to provide a context. Images of a lost world haunt pages that relate to an era in which a decisive individual could challenge the system and get results.  As the story of Coastal Command is often overlooked, the exploits recorded here serve as an overdue reminder of the unit and the part it played in the Allied effort.  Ted's wartime exploits include the first mid-air skyjacking in history; the daring solitary attack on the Italian fleet after he had lost the rest of his strike team; narrowly surviving being burned in a horrific air crash in the Ceylon jungle; many emergency crash-landings; and finally as commander of 27 Squadron carrying out dangerous rescue operations behind enemy lines for members of the Indian Resistance Movement operating in the Burmese jungle. These exploits, written largely in the voice of Ted Strever, and extensively illustrated with photographs, come vividly to life. Hardback, 228 pages. Published August 2014    

BRAND NEW AND UNREAD. Published in Pinetown South Africa by 30 Degrees South in 2013. This is the story of the pursuit of a dream. Spitfire PK350 is the only late-mark Spitfire, an F Mk 22, to have ever been restored to full flying status. She had no restrictions on her airframe and with four fully serviceable 20mm cannons, she was as good as the day she came off the production line in July 1945 near Birmingham, England.She first flew as a restored aircraft on 29 March 1980 at the hands of one John McVicar Jack Malloch. By then a legend in his adopted country, Rhodesia, Malloch had in 1977 been entrusted by the hierarchy of the Rhodesian Air Force to restore SR64, as she was then known. In two and half years, Jack Malloch and his trusted engineers, with critical help from the Rhodesian and South African air forces, completely restored SR64 to flying condition. The fact that she was fitted with a propeller made by a German company added a sweet irony to a project that had to contend with sanctions imposed by Britain, the original country of manufacture, and highlighted the enterprising spirit of the team. This was possible because Malloch, with the backing of the Rhodesian government, had built up a successful charter airfreight company that assumed different guises, depending on where it was operating, to bypass sanctions. Malloch's network thus facilitated his quest to restore and once again fly a Spitfire such as he had flown in the RAF during the Second World War.Some fascinating insights are revealed in this account. From the test pilot who first flew her as PK350 on 25 July 1945, the reader is taken on a journey through the aircraft's complete life, with the project's lead engineer and most of the surviving pilots who flew her gracing the story with their memories. For two years PK350 delighted those fortunate enough to see her fly, mostly around Salisbury (Harare) airport. Then, on what was planned to be its last flight, Malloch's Spitfire never returned to base.

Up In The Air tells the story of a man discovering that life is not simply about the journey alone, but about the personal connections made along the way. Ryan Bingham (Clooney) plays a corporate downsizer and modern business traveller who has lived his life across America in airports, hotels and rental cars. After years of staying happily airborne, he suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection.

This is the story of an attempted coup d'etat more than twenty years ago on the Seychelles, an idyllic but obscure group of islands in the Indian Ocean. At the time, the attempt made headlines across the world, partly because it involved names still famous or notorious from the mercenary involvement in the Congo in the 1960's, partly because it involved the hijacking of an Air India jetliner, partly because South Africa, the international pariah, was involved, and partly because the incident was perceived as another small skirmish in the Cold War. However, this is more than a behind-the-scenes account of those faded headlines. It is the story of one individual's personal growth.  The author writes, "I was wounded and captured in the Seychelles. I was severely beaten on a daily basis, stood trial and then was sentenced to death. I eventually served two and a half years in prison, a time, which I value with hindsight because I now realize it was then that I discovered hidden depths in my comrades and myself. I discovered humanity in my jailers and in the president of the Seychelles, whom my group had set out to depose. Cut off from my wife and family, I treasured their support from a distance and today do not for an instant take for granted the strength and joy of a loving family. And I deepened my religious faith, which today lights my path. It seems an odd thing to say, but I owe a lot to that escapade in the Seychelles. I realized how shallow and crass the racial attitudes are that exist in this world we live in. Human courage and kindness, I discovered, knows of no racial barriers. I experienced the unbelievable magnanimity and greatness of spirit of President Albert Ren, the man to whom I owe my life. I also experienced support from a distance from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a person I had been conditioned to expect nothing from except hostility. It was an illuminating and humbling experience. I also experienced the fickleness of the apartheid regime. I suppose, it would have been expecting a bit much for them to admit they backed the Seychelles attempt and supplied the weaponry, but as far as I am aware, they subsequently did not stir a finger, officially or unofficially, to ameliorate our condition or secure our release. What they did do was put sinister and unpleasant pressure on my wife, alone in Durban with two young children, for reasons I am still at a loss to understand." Paperback, 200 pages Published July 2014 This book is imported on demand and dispatched within 15 working days depending on supplier

This is the story of an attempted coup d'etat more than twenty years ago on the Seychelles, an idyllic but obscure group of islands in the Indian Ocean. At the time, the attempt made headlines across the world, partly because it involved names still famous or notorious from the mercenary involvement in the Congo in the 1960's, partly because it involved the hijacking of an Air India jetliner, partly because South Africa, the international pariah, was involved, and partly because the incident was perceived as another small skirmish in the Cold War. However, this is more than a behind-the-scenes account of those faded headlines. It is the story of one individual's personal growth.  The author writes, "I was wounded and captured in the Seychelles. I was severely beaten on a daily basis, stood trial and then was sentenced to death. I eventually served two and a half years in prison, a time, which I value with hindsight because I now realize it was then that I discovered hidden depths in my comrades and myself. I discovered humanity in my jailers and in the president of the Seychelles, whom my group had set out to depose. Cut off from my wife and family, I treasured their support from a distance and today do not for an instant take for granted the strength and joy of a loving family. And I deepened my religious faith, which today lights my path. It seems an odd thing to say, but I owe a lot to that escapade in the Seychelles. I realized how shallow and crass the racial attitudes are that exist in this world we live in. Human courage and kindness, I discovered, knows of no racial barriers. I experienced the unbelievable magnanimity and greatness of spirit of President Albert Ren, the man to whom I owe my life. I also experienced support from a distance from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a person I had been conditioned to expect nothing from except hostility. It was an illuminating and humbling experience. I also experienced the fickleness of the apartheid regime. I suppose, it would have been expecting a bit much for them to admit they backed the Seychelles attempt and supplied the weaponry, but as far as I am aware, they subsequently did not stir a finger, officially or unofficially, to ameliorate our condition or secure our release. What they did do was put sinister and unpleasant pressure on my wife, alone in Durban with two young children, for reasons I am still at a loss to understand." Paperback, 200 pages Published July 2014

This item is sold brand new. It is ordered on demand from our supplier and is usually dispatched within 3 - 8 working days It is the s, and Englishman Andrew Bankson has been alone in the field for several years, studying a tribe in the Territory of New Guinea. Increasingly frustrated and isolated by his research, Bankson is on the verge of suicide when he encounters the famous and controversial anthropologist Nell Stone and her wry, mercurial husband, Fen. Bankson is enthralled by the magnetic couple, but Nell and Fen - hungry for a new discovery - have their own reasons for befriending Bankson. When Bankson leads them to the artistic, female-dominated Tam tribe, he ignites an intellectual and emotional firestorm between the three of them that burns out of control. Ultimately, their groundbreaking work will make history, but not without sacrifice. Inspired by the life of revolutionary anthropologist Margaret Mead, Euphoria is a captivating story of desire, possession and discovery. Features Summary 'Jaw-droppingly, heart-stoppingly beautiful' Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife Author Lily King Publisher Picador Release date Pages 272 ISBN ISBN

 PIENAAR OF ALAMEIN by A.M.POLLOCK This is a small, hard covered book of 141 pages. The life story of a great South African soldier - Major - General.D.H.Pienaar who was killed in an air crash in 1942. This is an original 1943 edition. The cover is faded and there is foxing throughout. •The postage on this item will be R48.00 within S. A. (Registered with tracking) •If outside South Africa please contact me re payment & postage before bidding. •I do not have a PayPal facility. •Please email any queries. •If you think the description in my listing is incorrect, please email me. •The photograph you are viewing in this listing is the actual item for sale.

Top-Scoring Allied Fighter Pilot of WW II researched and written by E C R Barker. First South African edition hardcover with dust jacket printed by Ashanti, 1992, as part of their Aviators of Africa series. 228 pages with index. Illustrated. Very good condition. The story of an outstanding fighter pilot and a great leader of men, the unknown ace of the Royal Air Force. Pattle was born in the Cape and raised on a lonely farm in Namibia. He discovered early in his life a keen desire within him to fly. He was rejected by the South African Air Force in 1933, but became more determined than ever to achieve his ambition. Pattle left South Africa to join the Royal Air Force before the war and achieved a success out of all proportion to expectations. He did much to help the hard-pressed troops on the ground. On 20 April 1941, a sick man, he led the remnants of his own and another squadron against an armada of over a hundred German aircraft. In the desperate fighting that followed, he shot down at least two enemy aircraft and then dived to the rescue of one of his pilots. The odds were too heavy and seconds later his aircraft, with Pattle slumped over the controls, crashed in the Bay of Eleusis. Tracked postage is R50.00.

1986. Hard cover with dust cover; 207 pages. Very good condition. Under 1 kg. The "Seychelles Affair" is one of the most infamous episodes in the tangled history of mercenary warfare in Africa. The story of the ill-fated coup begins in 1978 when representatives of the exiled Seychelles president approached legendary mercenary commander Mike Hoare - who had successfully led the uprisings in the Congo in the early 1960s - to overthrow the Marxist regime then in power. Hoare's story of the attempted coup reads like a thriller, detailing all the drama of the backroom scheming, the tense action at the airport on Mahé, the forced landing of the Air India Boeing and the ensuing escape of Hoare's band of mercenaries. Equally fascinating is the author's description of his dealings with South African intelligence agencies, the subsequent prosecution by those who had helped them prepare for the coup, his attempts to organize a proper defense and obtain a fair trial for himself and his 30 men, and what it was like to spend 33 months in a South African prison. In the exclusive new foreword to this Paladin reprint, Colonel Hoare sheds new light on the events leading up to the failed coup, discusses the lingering ramifications of the failure on the nation of Seychelles and relates how his conviction affected his life after he got out of prison. Don't miss this opportunity to read Hoare's wonderfully wry and insightful account of how one little mistake can unravel even the best-laid plans.

This is the first book to be written about a group of remarkable men who left the wealth and comfort of America before the Second World War to volunteer for the most dangerous trade in the world. Few people know there were any Americans flying with RAF Bomber Command. The book follows the life stories and flying careers of 21 Americans who fought in the air war over Europe with the RAF’s two premier Bomber Command squadrons – 9 and 617. Of these men of free will, 15 were killed in action. No Need To Die is a revelation, an untold human story from the Second World War.