The Fleet Air Arm in the Battle of Britain
The involvement of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm is relatively little known and while numerically small, had a significant impact on the Battle. Two squadrons of the Royal Navy’s […]
Tag Archives: fleet air arm
HMS Queen Elizabeth
At approximately seven o’clock on the morning of 16 August 2017, the Royal Navy’s newest and largest aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, entered her home port of Portsmouth for the […]
The Fleet Air Arm over Dunkirk
The involvement of the RAF in the Dunkirk evacuations is well recognised now (even if it wasn’t at the time by those on the ground) – less well known is […]
New Fairey Flycatcher book published
My book on the Fairey Flycatcher published by MMP Books is now available. For more information and to buy, see the MMP site Reviews include: ‘Matthew Willis has delivered a […]
Captain Eric Brown – a personal reflection
There’s very little I can add to the many tributes to the incomparable Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, written by those far better placed than me to assess the great man’s […]
Sopwith Pup book available!
I’m delighted to announce that my book on the Sopwith Pup WW1 biplane fighter is available. The Sopwith Pup, as it is unofficially but universally known, was one of the […]
The Hawker Sea Fury and HMS Illustrious
My thanks are again due to Dave Bull for sharing his collection of classic photographs with Naval Air History. These photographs date from the immediate postwar period when the battered […]
Fairey Swordfish – fluke victor?
An acquaintance who has no small knowledge of military matters put the following to me recently: ‘We all have different perspectives and experiences and mine lead me to say this: […]
The Rarest Seabird – FAAM Grumman Martlet
During the early part of 1940, Britain and France were scrambling to acquire sources of modern fighting aircraft from wherever they could. At that time there were serious fears that […]
Fleet Air Arm twins, HMS Illustrious
The following series of photographs from the Dave Bull collection (see previous post for images of prototype naval aircraft) depicting postwar naval aircraft landing on aircraft carriers, believed to be […]
Blackburn Skua book reprinted
One of my non-fiction books, a history of a WW2 naval dive bomber known as the Blackburn Skua, has just been reprinted by MMP Books. For more information on the […]
Happy Birthday Sea Vixen XP924
Wednesday 16 October 2013 marked the 50th anniversary of the first flight of de Havilland Sea Vixen FAW.2 XP924. ‘Foxy Lady’, as she is known by her operators DS (Drilling […]
Prototypes and trials, HMS Illustrious
Naval Air History is very lucky to have been given access to Dave Bull’s wonderful collection of photographs of aircraft on HMS Illustrious in the late 1940s-early 1950s. The first […]
Sea Hawk Swansong
It’s hard to know whether to envy or pity the Fleet Air Arm aircrew who take part in the bundle of naval flying tasks known as Fleet Requirements, as these […]
An event in the early career of Captain Eric Brown
With the anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic making headlines, the legendary Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown has come to even greater prominence. Captain Brown flew a Grumman Martlet fighter […]
Naval Air History 