BOOKS BY TOM DOCHERTY
TRAINING FOR TRIUMPH
A history of RAF Aircrew Training in WW II.
Published by Woodfield Publishing. £12.00
ISBN 1-873203-71-3.
This book is the culmination of 20 years of research and writing on the part of
Tom Docherty, who has compiled this superb history of Royal Air Force aircrew
training in the United Kingdom during World War II. Tom has gathered an
impressive amount of material, including first hand accounts from many f
ormer aircrew, ground staff and instructors along with reproductions of ground
plans, crests, log books and other memorabilia plus many photos. The book salutes
the remarkable achievement of the dedicated staff of the RAF's wartime
establishments in training over 90,000 aircrew in a five-year period. It is also a
tribute to the many airmen who lost their lives in the course of training, either due
to accidents or as a result of enemy action during operational training sorties or air
raids.
HUNT LIKE A TIGER 230 Squadron at War 1939-45.
Published by Woodfield Publishing. £15.00
ISBN 1-903953-37-5.
Whilst serving on 230 Sqn in the 1990's it occurred to me that the history of the
former flying boat squadrons of the RAF was very poorly recorded and that those
serving beyond the areas of Coastal Command and the Battle of the Atlantic were
particularly badly served. Accordingly, I decided to set down the history of No
230 Squadron during WW2 and in the course of my research discovered that it was
a unit with an incredible pedigree. The squadron started the war in the Far East in
Singapore but in the course of its wartime service its aircraft and personnel saw
action in North Africa, the Mediterranean, the Aegean, Greece, Crete, East Africa,
Ceylon, Madagascar and Burma before completing the circle and returning to RAF
Seletar in Singapore. The crews of the squadron engaged in dogfights with Italian
and German fighters, made the sighting which resulted in the Battle of Cape Matapan,
sank Italian submarines in the Mediterranean, worked behind Japanese lines with the
Chindits and attacked Japanese shipping along the coast of Burma... using Sunderland
flying boats in a role more commonly expected of a fighter-bomber!
All this and more is covered here in detail, accompanied by first hand accounts from
WW2 veterans and many historical photographs of the squadron and its aircraft,
making this a must-have for former 230 Sqn personnel or anyone interested in the
history of the Short Sunderland.
