|
As the Harrier retires from service and WikiLeaks reveals that US generals did not think British forces were up to the job in Afghanistan, Blue Sky Warriors tells the inside story of life in the RAF in one of the world's most dangerous places.
Blue Sky Warriors includes the most recent account of what it's like to fly a Harrier in battle, which following their early retirement this week, will never happen again.
*** Blue Sky Warriors is out in paperback on 6 January. For interviews please contact
Spirit Public Relations 0117 9441415***
Now available in paperback, Blue Sky Warriors is the first officially endorsed book about the RAF's mission in Afghanistan to offer a glimpse behind-the-scenes. It features the personal stories of the RAF's men and women deployed in Afghanistan, drawn from across all ranks and trades in the Service, and told in their own words.
What does it feel like to fly a Chinook helicopter into a landing zone when the Taliban are trying to shoot you down; to run the gauntlet between buildings under direct enemy fire to check for your own troops before calling in fire from overhead Apaches; or to cook for hundreds of troops when your kitchen temperature reaches 70 degrees centigrade? Here, the men and women of the RAF recount what life is like for them in one of the most hostile environments on the planet.
British forces have been fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2001 and the men and women of the RAF have been there right from the beginning of the mission. They play vital roles in theatre, flying the Harriers that provide close air support to ground troops and the Chinooks that deploy them and evacuate the wounded, often under hostile fire.
It's the RAF's Hercules transports that drop much-needed supplies to the soldiers at the forward operating bases, and the RAF Regiment that provides Kandahar Airfield with its security. And countless RAF personnel work tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the aircraft flying, feed the troops and minister to them, and to provide medical, fire and rescue services.
The eighteen candid first-person accounts of life under fire range from those whose actions have been recognised at the highest level with military honours, to those who do an equally valuable job but who have only the recognition of their colleagues. They are the compelling stories of RAF men and women who have travelled thousands of miles from home to a land where the expeditionary nature of warfare is at its strongest and most demanding.
The Author
Antony Loveless is an English freelance author, broadcaster, journalist and photographer. He has covered events from the front in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is a regular contributor to many defence-related publications. He is also an established travel and features writer whose words and pictures appear regularly in leading newspapers, magazines and periodicals around the world. He lives in Belfast and Blue Sky Warriors is his first book.
|
Review copies available
Notes to Editors:
The information on this page is supplied courtesy of Haynes Publishing, please credit accordingly if you intend to use it. For more information or to request a review copy please contact Spirit PR on 0117 944 1415 or email haynes@spiritpublicrelations.co.uk
Haynes Publishing
Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7JJ
Telephone: 01963 440635 Fax: 01963 440001 E-mail: sales@haynes.co.uk
www.haynes.co.uk
Haynes Publishing is a trading style of J H
Haynes & Co Ltd.
Registered in England, Number: 1449587 Registered Office: Sparkford, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 7JJ
|
