**PUBLICATION DATE: TO BE ANNOUNCED** (Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Pre-Order below)
- Lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished photographs
- Using firsthand accounts and original documentation, the author explains the fundamental role of the PR Spitfire over Europe
- Research was carried out at the National Archives and much detail was gleaned from many individuals involved in PR operations
- From the pilot who first flew Spitfire PL972 on 20 February 1945, the reader is taken on a journey through the aircraft’s complete life
On the morning of 24 December 1943, No. 542 Squadron’s intelligence officer briefed photographic-reconnaissance pilot James Elwyn Storey on covering ‘crossbow’ sites in the Calais-Abbeville area. He was airborne at 11 a.m. and set course in Spitfire PR XI for the French coast, passing over London at 15,000 feet.
The weather was perfect over the English Channel and Storey flew to Dunkirk and set course for Abbeville. Fifty miles before reaching the objective, he was targeted by an accurate German anti-aircraft battery, and he occasionally rolled the Spitfire on her side to check beneath him.
To conserve fuel, he began a gradual climb up to 40,000 feet. Over the objective, Storey was unmolested by flak and spent as much time as possible over the target and turned for home. However, he was unaware that a special trip across the Atlantic Ocean was waiting for him.
| BOOK ISBN |
9781781553572 |
| FORMAT |
234 x 156 mm |
| BINDING |
Hardback |
| PAGES |
194 pages |
| PUBLICATION DATE |
TBA
|
| TERRITORY |
World |
| ILLUSTRATIONS |
18 colour / 52 black-and-white |
TERMS & CONDITIONS OF PRE-ORDER1. Pre-orders are charged at time of order and the order will be processed and posted to you as soon as the book becomes available.2. Current publication date for this title is TO BE ANNOUNCED. Publication date can change and you may be be informed via e-mail for any such changes or delays. Please subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on social media. The book will be shipped via DPD in the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland, and, DHL internationally. For security reasons, DHL cannot deliver to post boxes.3. Current format specifications including page extent and number of images could change and you will be informed via e-mail for any such changes.4. You can cancel the pre-order at any time and request a refund. 5. Marketing, Promotions and Discounts: where at times we may offer discount(s) on forthcoming ('preorder') books and that part of the order is cancelled, we do not guarantee the same discount will be available at a future date or at all at point of availability.5. Placing a pre-order with us means that you have acknowledged and accepted these Terms and Conditions as well as our General Terms and Conditions.
Ricardo Martin Lezon was born in Buenos Aires in 1965 and spent his childhood exploring airfields and assembling kits. He studied journalism at Universidad Catòlica Argentina and became an aviation historian in 1996. Since then, he has published material in the UK and US and specialises in post-war aviation. Lezon has travelled to most Latin American countries and Europe, alternating surfing trips with visits to airfields and aviation museums. He lives in Buenos Aires with his son Tomas.
