Darren Hendley

The letter that changed the course of history

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Darren Hendley

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6th February 2018

On 16 May 1940 Air Chief Marshal Lord Dowding, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Fighter Command, wrote this famous letter to the Under Secretary of State at the Air Ministry requesting that a sufficient Home Defence fighter force be maintained in Britain and that until the minimum strength was reached not a single further fighter should…
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Birth of a legend

by

Darren Hendley

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6th February 2018

The development of the first Spitfire, K5054 On 5 March 1936, a beautiful-looking sleek new monoplane made its first flight from the Supermarine works airfield at Eastleigh in Hampshire – attractive as it may have been, this aircraft was designed to be the leading fighter of its time and intended solely for combat. The Spitfire…
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‘Lancs’ on film

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Darren Hendley

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24th January 2018

With Peter Jackson’s new ‘take’ on the ‘dam busters’ legend currently in production, Jonathan Falconer looks back to the original – and some might say never-to-be-bettered The Dam Busters – when real RAF bomber pilots flew real Lancasters on camera. For many cinemagoers, The Dam Busters is probably the best-known and loved British war film…
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Enemy coast ahead

by

Darren Hendley

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22nd January 2018

In 1944 Wg Cdr Guy Gibson VC DSO* DFC* wrote a fascinating account of his wartime experiences, which was first published in book form in 1946. What follows here are edited extracts taken from his original manuscript that form an article focusing on the famous Dams raid of 16/17 May 1943 – written by the man who formed and led 617 Squadron on this most famous aerial operation.…
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Darren Hendley

The letter that changed the course of history

Birth of a legend

‘Lancs’ on film

Enemy coast ahead

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