Mosquito Night Intruder Ace (Hardback)
Wing Commander Bertie Rex O’Bryen Hoare DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar
Imprint: Air World
Pages: 240
Illustrations: Approximately 100 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781399017862
Published: 7th February 2023
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Bertie Rex O’Bryen Hoare was born on 6 June 1912. Having been educated at Harrow and Wye Agricultural College, ‘Sammy’, as he was often known to friends and family, entered the RAF on a short-service commission in 1936.
In October 1938, whilst piloting a Fairey Battle, Bertie sustained a serious injury from a piece of loose aircraft cowling. This incident resulted in him being totally blinded in one eye. Though he was initially grounded, his determination to return to the air never diminished. The outbreak of war in September 1939 saw his wish be granted when Bertie was given permission to return to operational flying duties.
Bertie was posted to 23 Squadron, which was flying Blenheims at the time. The squadron then converted to Havocs, the crews being tasked with undertaking night-time operations over Occupied Europe. Despite his restricted night vision and depth perception, Bertie went on to became one of the RAF’s leading advocates in the art of what was known as ‘intruder operations’.
In the months and years that followed, Bertie served in, and then commanded, a number of RAF squadrons. By the time the war in Europe came to an end he was the Station Commander at RAF Little Snoring in Norfolk – which, at the time, was home to de Havilland Mosquitos undertaking intruder operations.
Bertie opted to remain in the RAF after the war, this time being posted to 84 Squadron. However, his luck finally ran out on 26 March 1947, when the Mosquito he was ferrying to Australia crashed off its northern coast. With Bertie reported missing at the time, Danny Burt reveals the full circumstances of this tragic incident.
This is the biography of one of the RAF’s greatest characters of the Second World War. With his ‘epic’ over-sized moustache, Bertie Hoare was a pilot who had risen to the rank of Group Captain, been awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar, and been Mentioned in Despatches. Bertie ended the war having flown over 100 combat sorties.
"I really enjoyed this book….it is jam packed full of really interesting photographs & newspaper articles that not only tell Berties story but many of those he served with."
Air Force Webinar Series
Read the full review here.
Most book on RAF during World War II, refer to large scale bombing over German cities. The little told story marauder lonely flights over enemy territory seen through the eyes of Danny Burt who has documented the story of Group Captain Burty Hoare hundred combat missions, who tragically disappeared in a post war flight across the Pacific. .
Richard Gough - Historian, writer, author of the Escape from Singapore, The jungle was Red, Outpost of the Empire, SOE Singapore 1941-42. Waiting publication Tony Poe, CIA Paramilitary in SE Asia.
Page turner.
As featured in
Scramble 1940 - Official Newsletter of the Battle of Britain Historical Society, Autumn/Winter 2023, Issue 168
As featured on Scale Modelling Now
Scale Modelling Now
5 Stars
Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)
The author is to be congratulated for bringing forward the story of a remarkable man and his experiences... I found this a very enjoyable book and would thoroughly recommend it.
Read the Full Review Here
As featured in
The Bookseller, Jan 23
About Danny Burt
DANNY BURT joined the British Army at the age of 18. As a Fire Support Team member in the Royal Artillery he served in Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, completing two tours in the latter theatre. Living in County Durham, having served nearly 23 years in the military, Danny has recently completed his MSc (Hons). In his spare time, Danny collects and restores Second World War British military motorbikes and equipment.
Beaufighter and Mosquito Operations in WWII The Memoirs of a Radar Operator (Hardback)
Zbyšek Necas was just 18, and still a high school student, when he escaped from the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia a month before the outbreak of war in 1939. He managed to make his way to Britain where he had a cousin. Necas enlisted in the RAF in 1940, initially being posted as an interpreter at the Czech Depot. Some of his early duties involved the interrogation of captured German aircrew. He was, however, determined to fly. That wish came not as a pilot, but as a radar operator. In time, Necas was posted to 68 Squadron, which throughout the war had a large number of Czech exiles on its…
By Col Zbyšek Nečas-PembertonClick here to buy both titles for £37.50