Action Stations 7: Scotland, the North East and Northern Ireland

The first German bomber shot down, the first bombs on British soil, the first civilian killed by an enemy bomb, the first enemy capital ship sunk (by aircraft from an Orkney airfield); these distinctions all befell Scotland at the beginning of the Second World War.
The role played by the men and machines based on the airfields of Scotland, the North-East and Northern Ireland during this conflict was vital to the defence of Britain. Coastal Command units with their Hampdens, Beauforts, Beaufighters, Mosquitoes and Halifaxes were in action from Scotland and the North-East from the first to the last day of the war. From Northern Ireland the long range Liberators and flying boats turned the tide of the U-boat war, whilst all three areas housed support units essential to the operational squadrons of the RAF Air-Sea Rescue Squadrons, Meteorological Reconnaissance Squadrons and a multitude of training schools all playing their part in ultimate victory.
In this seventh volume of the highly successful Actions Stations series, David J. Smith, author of Action Stations 3, traces the histories of the airfields of Scotland, the North-East and Northern Ireland and the activities of those based on them. He covers the changing fortunes of over 130 airfields, from Abbotsinch, opened in 1932 and now Glasgow's main airport, to Wick, in the 'front line' during the Second World War but now in honourable retirement with horses grazing peacefully near the tower.



by David J. Smith
Published by Patrick Stephens Ltd 1983 1st edition 232pp fine, in fine d/j





Note:
"Long" descriptions, where shown, may have been taken from the book's dust jacket notes, and as such are relevant to the date of publication (e.g. any references to "new edition" "previously unpublished photographs" etc.) and not the present.