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ARABIAN PENINSULA. 'Iraq Command Report. December, 1932 - December, 1934.London : 1935
First and only edition of this report by the Iraq Command (1922-1941), at the time of Britain's "policing from the air" strategy. It examines key issues including Iraqi independence, the death of King Faisal, and the Assyrian massacre. This is copy 27 of a print-run of 400.
"Iraq was the RAF's biggest challenge in the 1920s [...] First,...Learn More
LEES, Jack Leslie. RAF airman's archive from the Western Desert campaign, Egypt, Libya, the Levant, and Iraq.1940-43
A British airman's substantial archive, comprising photographs, autographs, ephemera, and medals.
A skilled photographer, Jack Leslie Lees (1912-1980) was a leading aircraftman at the RAF's Air Ministry Experimental Station (AMES) Number 235, a British radar unit employed in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt, and Tobruk, Libya, where they suffered...Learn More
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Photograph album compiled by an RAF serviceman, including six images of Churchill.1942-45
Gracing the final page of this album are six candid, apparently unpublished, images of Churchill arriving at Milan airport in 1945. The album was compiled by a serviceman in RAF Transport Command, who served in North Africa and Italy during and immediately after the Second World War.
On 2 September 1945, Churchill arrived in Milan aboard...Learn More
GRAHAME-WHITE, Claude, & Harry Harper. The Aeroplane in War.London : [1912]
First edition, inscribed by the co-author on the front free endpaper, "To W. A. Robson, with best wishes from C. Grahame-White, May 30/14".
William Alexander Robson (1895-1980) served as a second lieutenant in No. 4 Squadron RFC during the First World War and was later professor of public administration at the London School of Economics. He...Learn More
DAHL, Roald. Going Solo.New York : 1986
First US edition. In this autobiographical work, Dahl describes his travels in Africa and his wartime experiences in the RAF.Learn More
MIDDLE EAST AVIATION. Air route book from Cairo to Karachi via Habbaniya.Cairo West : 1945
A confidential navigational aid, correct to July 1945, including folding maps of radio and responder beacons on and around the Arabian Peninsula and emergency airfields in the Gulf, Iraq, and Persia. Individual plans give the layout of Cairo West and other airfields in Palestine, Iraq, Bahrein, and Sharjah.
In Arabia, RAF pilots were served...Learn More
BYRD, Richard Evelyn. Skyward.New York : 1928
First trade edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the frontispiece verso, "To Joe Barnum with affectionate good wishes and deep appreciation of his friendship. Dick Byrd. New York City March 16, 1928." Barnum published the Syracuse Post Standard and organized media appearances for Byrd.
Skyward was published amid...Learn More
AVIATION. Campania Seaplane Photographs. 1918.Glasgow : 1918
A handsome album depicting the construction and trial of an early seaplane on the banks of the Clyde.
The Fairey Campania, built from 1917 to 1919, was among the earliest aircraft produced for use on aircraft carriers. Some 62 airframes were built, of which 12 were subcontracted to Barclay Curle & Co., the Glasgow shipbuilders who compiled...Learn More
MAHURIN, Walker M. Honest John.New York : 1962
First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title, "For Mike Corba. Hope this brings back memories both good and bad. I wouldn't want to do it again. Thanks so much for your help. Best ever, Bud Mahurin". Corba, whose ownership stamp is beneath the inscription, was an F-86 Sabrejet pilot with the Fifth Air Force in Korea....Learn More
MASEFIELD, Sir Peter G. To Ride the Storm: The Story of the Airship R.101.London : 1982
First edition of the definitive account of the ill-fated dirigible. Masefield (1914-2006), aeronautical engineer, journalist, and industrialist, was "a most erudite and prodigious chronicler of contemporary aviation matters" (ODNB).Learn More
IMPERIAL AIRWAYS. An Exhibition of Photographs. Flying over the Empire.[Canada? : 1935-6]
Rare ephemeral catalogue for a photographic exhibition organized by Imperial Airways, the British Empire's commercial airline from 1924 to 1939, and The Times. This show at the R. T. Holtman gallery on Prince Edward Island, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, was one of several stops in its world tour, spanning Canada, Palestine, and New...Learn More
DE HAVILLAND. The Puss Moth. 120 H.P. Gipsy III Inverted Engine.[c.1930]
Stylish promotional poster-cum-brochure for this grand tourer aircraft, capable of 124 mph and much beloved of the interwar elite. Amy Johnson flew a Puss Moth, named Jason II, on a record-breaking trip from London to Tokyo in 1931.
The Puss Moth, which first flew in September 1929, was part of a lineage that led to the famed Tiger Moth,...Learn More
FARMAN, Henri & Maurice. Biplans & Monoplans.Paris : [1911]
First edition of this catalogue from the early pioneers of aviation, including a striking double-page spread of a Farman biplane flying low over the Parisian skyline.
Henri Farman (1874-1958) and his brother Maurice (1877-1964)designed and constructed aircraft from 1908 to 1936, notably helping to pioneer the use of ailerons in aircraft...Learn More
DAHL, Roald. Going Solo.London : 1986
First edition. In this autobiographical work, Dahl describes his travels in Africa and his wartime experiences in the RAF.Learn More
ARABIAN PENINSULA. RAF Aeronautical Chart of Hofuf.[London : 1944
Third edition of this uncommon RAF wartime map, revised from the one of 1942, of the eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula, covering al-Jubail, Fort Damman (Dammam) and al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia, as well as Bahrain, and Qatar. It was originally drafted by the Royal Engineers of the 512 Field Survey Company.
This example is annotated,...Learn More
WORLD WAR II. Flight Engineer's Notes for "Lancaster" Aircraft: Avro Type '683' Mk. I & III;Manchester : 1943
Presumed first editions, number 911 of an unknown distribution. They were issued to Sergeant Desmond Howard Hughes (1923-1943) of 115 Squadron RAFVR on 26 July 1943, and have his signature and annotations. Just four months later he was lost with his Lancaster Mk II DS782 KO-K while on a raid, the largest so far sent to Berlin.
Following...Learn More
ARABIAN PENINSULA. Three RAF Aeronautical Charts.London : 1956-59
Three uncommon flight charts from 1956 to 1959 covering the south-eastern region of the Arabian Peninsula, used most probably during the Jebel Akhdar War (1954-59), when the British Forces provided direct support to the Sultanate of Muscat against the Imamate of Oman.
547A shows the coastal area of al-Jubail, just north of Dammam, in the...Learn More
ROYAL AIR FORCE MIDDLE EAST. Tactical notes.[Cairo] : [1940-41]
Unrecorded manual for military pilots of RAF Middle East, produced during the Italo-German North African campaign. We have traced no copies in OCLC or the National Archives.
Established in 1917, RAF Middle East had responsibilities in Egypt, Sudan, Syria, and Transjordan, going under this name from 1922 to December 1941. Based in Cairo and...Learn More
ARABIAN PENINSULA - DE GAURY, Gerald, John Bagot Glubb, Donald Banks, and others. Field Notes on Sa'udi Arabia 1935,London : 1936-39
First edition, never reprinted in any form. This rare official report is unquestionably the most important contemporary source on Ibn Sa'ud's newly consolidated kingdom, including its relations with neighbouring states. Produced by the body responsible for Britain's military operations in the region, it offers a comprehensive account,...Learn More
ROYAL AIR FORCE. ...So many.London : 1995
First edition, number 202 of 401 copies signed by the four members of the creative team on the mounted authentication leaf. This magnificent volume contains 25 silhouettes of Bomber Command personnel from Britain, Canada, and Australia, all signed by the sitter and the artist, Michael Pierce.
Each portrait is accompanied by a biography,...Learn More
