A Goldstar Century, Ian Hall, Pen S Sword, 348pp, illus, hbk, £25 - a detailed history of 31 Squadron, which marked its centenary in 2015. The lively narrative is interspersed with first-hand accounts from past and present personnel from the unit, which played an important role in the Middle East, North Africa and Burma in World War Two. Formed at Farnborough in October 1915, the unit's first deployment was to Risalpur in India, originally flying BE.2C and Farman aircraft. It returned to India in 1941 and re-equipped with the Douglas Dakota. It later switched to jets and today the squadron operates the Panavia Tornado GR.4 from RAF Marham in Norfolk. V-Weapons Bomber Command - Failed To Return, Steve Bond, Steve Darlow, Sean Feast, Marc Hall, Robert Owen and Howard Sandall, Fighting High, I28pp, illus, hbk, £19.95 - highly readable and well illustrated, this book tells the story of the airmen who risked their lives countering the German V-weapon offensive. The V-1 and V-2 bombs were a major threat to the civilian population, but locating and destroying the hidden German bases was no easy job. The task for RAF Bomber Command was considerable and extremely dangerous. It often involved flying low-level 'ops' against heavily defended targets, but when the end of the war came, the units involved could justifiably claim success.
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