RAF Airfields of WWII - book

Perhaps this has already been covered here - I can't imagine it not, but in any case:

www.amazon.com/RAF-Airfields-World-War-2/dp/1857803493

Tom

The publisher's blurb offers the following:

"This book gives a complete coverage of all the RAF airfields in World War in Britain, including all the RAF Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Transport Command airfields and bases of the period."


So, 600 airfields in a 320-page book? That's half a page per airfield, and unlikely to throw up anything new I suggest. This comes as a disappointment because the publisher is Midland, which is now an imprint of Ian Allan. Midland were my own publishers and were held in high regard. However, now that Midland is part of Ian Allan, I suspect that Ian Allan is living off the reputation of Midland, who I am sure would never have attempted to cover so much ground as this book seems to proclaim.

Imagine being an author and trying to write 600 individual airfield histories, avareaging half a page. If it works it will have been a stupendous achievement, and I should not pre-judge. Like PNK, I will wait until I see a review before purchase.

By the way, has anyone yet acquired the Air Britain CD 'Bases'?

I don't rate Jonathan Falconer's stuff anyway, I have had books of his in the past, they lack any detail, repeat what is already commonly known and are full of mistakes. I can't imagine this will be any different, if I am proved wrong then great but it is pretty much what we have all seen in other books before.

He also wrote/compiled two similar books in the early 1990's ; RAF Bomber Airfields Of World War 2 and RAF Fighter Airfields Of World War 2 also published by Ian Allan . I wonder if his new book is a revised compilation of these plus a few more airfields ?
In those two volumes the individual airfield descriptions were no more than a few lines each , some with runway layout , and very similar to the information in the Willis and Hollis 'Military Airfields' compendium which I highly recommend .
The Bomber Airfields book was A4 size and ran to 128 pp , was well illustrated and had airfield location maps towards the rear , a couple of chapters on related feature stories and a couple of appendicies on Bomber Command Order Of Battle .

Ian Allan also published 'World War 2 Airfields' by Philip Birtles in 1999 which listed 457 UK airfields although many , most ! , received no more than a three line description . The book was a bit larger than A5 size and ran to 160 pp . In a similar format they also published 'British Military Airfields - Then & Now' by Leo Marriott in 1997 in which is credited the Airfield Review magazine of the Airfield Research Group which "was of particular interest" .

David wrote:

Ian Allan also published 'World War 2 Airfields' by Philip Birtles in 1999 which listed 457 UK airfields although many , most ! , received no more than a three line description.

I have a copy of this and distinctly remember that ARG decided at the time not to publish a book review on the grounds that it would be too upsetting! Given the luxury of only having to give a 'three line descriptions' per airfield the number of errors was beyond comprehension.

As Bill mentioned above the new Falconer book promises '...complete coverage of ALL the RAF airfields in World War 2 in Britain, including all the RAF Fighter, Bomber, Coastal, and Transport Command airfields and bases of the period. What on earth is the point of the last half of that statement. That's a bit like a book giving details on ALL British cities, including London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool...

The description also states; General chapters also cover airfield construction and organization, orders of battle for each command at notable points of the war, and a significant part of the book is its tabular listings of RAF frontline airfields, including full details of location and user squadrons/units. Present-day usage of the airfields and the buildings is also covered. Firsthand accounts by veterans of the four wartime commands add a layer of compelling personal testimony to the book. All in 320 pages!

Out of interest Willis and Hollis list 653 airfields in 274 pages.

One thing i noticed about his two 1990s publications is that they were limited to Fighter and Bomber stations. to the best of my knowledge i don't recall seeing a book published about training or coastal command airfields.

Also, it was very odd that Llandow was included as a fighter airfield in the Fighter airfield book, because it had a Spitfire OTU, but Llandow was primarily a ASU station. But at the same time omits St Athan, a ASU station which also had a Hurricane OTU.
Just pre-ordered it so i hope errors like this were corrected

Slightly off topic but I notice that some of the recently revised Action Stations Revisited books are at reduced prices on a certain mail order website and may be worth consideration as Christmas presents ?