Readiness at Dawn

Ref: 5245

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{detailed description}The Battle of Britain seen from the perspective of the fighter controller. Written by Wing Commander Ronald Adam, Fighter Controller of the Hornchurch sector dutring the battle.

from the d/j notes:

In 1939, a Royal Flying Corps pilot of the war of 1914-1918 found himself accepted by the Royal Air Force and posted to a Fighter Station not far from London.
He was allocated to an appointment in Operations Room-Ops. as it is called throughout Fighter Command.
His own flying days had long since ceased, and he had much to learn of modern methods, and much at which to marvel in this R.A.F. whose beginnings he had witnessed so many years ago.
Operations Room, the nerve-centre of a Fighter Station's being, was regarded as the holy of holies. What went on inside was the secret of those few who worked there.
MacMurray soon settled down, first as an Operations B. officer.
" What's an Ops. B. officer ? " he asked Placket, his guide and mentor, on his first day.
"He holds the Controller's hand."
" What's a Controller ? "
" The man who carries the can."
But MacMurray soon became wiser, and his working life was to be spent in this queer room, where men, and later women, played (so it seemed) a fantastic game with coloured counters and bits of chalk, while they sat round big maps recording the information given them by distant voices. The early days of 1940 seemed dull. MacMurray was present in Ops. when the first interception was made.

Note: This description is continued on the now absent rear fold-in

{Author / Publisher / Date}by "Blake" (Wing Commander Ronald Adam)
published by Victor Gollancz 1942 7th impression 144pp illustrated 14x21
{condition}good with remains of d/j comprising most of the front panel and the separated front fold-in contained in a poly sleeve
{delivery info}