They Also Serve - RAF Reconnaissance and Support Projects Since 1945

[CJGibson]

Any fule kno that UK aerospace was military driven, so why mention it again and again? Apart from Short Bros who seemed to have missed the memo.

Chris

 

[Antonio]

Already received my copy: outstanding work at first sight!
Extensive and exhaustive coverage of a very interesting subject.
Profusely illustrated. I like the idea of timelines.

Congratulations Chris and thanks for another volume in the collection. That's already a pretty comprehensive amount of knowledge on British Aviation developments since 1945.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Okay, so Chris arranged for me to have a review copy. Cheers @CJGibson.

So, a review.

They Also Serve is the latest book in Crecy's series of "Since 1945" books that started with Vulcan's Hammer. All but 'Listening In' were written by Chris Gibson, who assisted Dave Forster with that volume.

Vulcan's Hammer: V-Force Projects and Weapons Since 1945 (2011)
Battle Flight: RAF Air Defence Projects and Weapons Since 1945 (2012)
Listening In: Electronic Intelligence Gathering since 1945 (2014)
Nimrod's Genesis: RAF Maritime Patrol Projects and Weapons Since 1945 (2015)
On Atlas' Shoulders: RAF Transport Aircraft Projects Since 1945 (2016)
Typhoon to Typhoon: RAF Air Support Projects and Weapons Since 1945 (2019)

As a whole, the series documents the politics, development, production, and operations of aircraft and equipment to fulfil various RAF requirements since 1945.

Each book focuses on aircraft for specific missions - strategic bombing, air defence, ELINT, maritime patrol, transport and close air support.

They Also Serve focuses on reconnaissance, and other missions that work in support of the primary missions. Each mission type is covered in a chapter which covers the history of requirements and attempted procurement of aircraft to fulfill that mission.

The chapters are

1 Low and Local - Tactical Reconnaissance
2 High and Far - Strategic Reconnaissance
3 Aster to ASTOR - Radar Reconnaissance
4 Cold Warfare - Weather Reconnaissance
5 Dust Catching - Nuclear Reconnaissance
6 Mutton to Wedgetail - UK AEW
7 The Royal - VIP Flying
8 Harrow to VC10 - THe RAF's First Tankers
9 A Bonus, not a substitute - Freddie and the Tankers [later Tanker developments]
10 The Sea Shall Not Have Them - Air-Sea Rescue
11 The Casualties of War - Evacuation by Air

There are also thee appendices on the Circulation Controlled Rotor, When the Balloon Goes Up, The Secret Listeners. The first two are about specific technologies which were proposed for some of the missions above (CCR, Balloons), while The Secret Listeners is effectively an update on ELINT Reconnaissance developments adding to Dave Forster's coverage in the "Listening In" volume.

Overall, the focus of the book is on British developments and requirements, though it does cover foreign aircraft considered for procurement and some notable technical developments in the field made elsewhere.

So, how is the book?

It's pretty big. 336 pages, much larger than any previous book in this series.

It's just as well written and illustrated as previous volumes in the series, if not better. I've made no secret of my 'aviation interests' being mostly oriented to the martial, but nevertheless I really enjoyed reading this book. In particular, I really liked the Reconnaissance and AEW sections. I felt like I learned a lot, and gained more appreciation of the importance of these less glamorous missions.

In fact, it made me wish I'd spoken more with my own granddad, who went from pre-war employment at Kodak to working for RAF reconnaissance during World War 2, about his experiences. I believe he was mostly ground based but did fly on some specific missions, though I don't actually know why. He was in Germany immediately after the war ended, and the destruction he saw there never left him.

The research, design and acquisition of aircraft to fulfill these supporting RAF roles seems to have been just as difficult, if not more so, than that for the more directly warlike roles, as it seems like chronic funding issues rarely allowed the procurement of a dedicated design for 'ancillary' roles, and politics prevented the RAF getting the aeroplane they really wanted. Nevertheless, the support missions had to be fulfilled, and were every bit as important as the more glamorous missions.

Chris does an excellent job of weaving together information from surviving company and government archives into a well-written chronological account of how the RAF tried to develop requirements to fulfill its service mission obligations while navigating the political shoals of funding, support of local industry and more, and the designs which were proposed to said requirements.

Like in previous volumes, Chris produces drawings to explain how things work, operational or technical details. I found the nuclear reconnaissance chapter particularly interesting in this respect.

If you share Chris's enthusiasm for exploring the less martial aspects of military aviation, this title will be of great interest. If you previously only purchased the "since 1945" volumes on fighters and bombers, you should buy this book, and be pleasantly surprised by how interesting the development of support role aircraft can be.

If you haven't bought any of this series, then shame on you, as you are missing out on what is shaping up to be a excellent and comprehensive body of work on the post-war RAF.

 

[Arjen]

My copy just arrived. With a thump, all 336 pages of it.