New book from Dunbeath publisher recounts vivid RAF memories
The latest title from Dunbeath-based Whittles Publishing will appeal to anyone interested in the RAF and the decline of the British Empire.
Airman Abroad by Hamish Brown recounts the author’s vivid memories of his time as an airman serving in the Canal Zone and East Africa and is described as a revealing picture of a time when Britain was losing its empire.
The book draws on letters written at the period by an airman, his vivid memories and experiences from the Canal Zone, Kenya during Mau Mau times, Cyprus and Jerusalem. His time encompassed conducting church services, being shipwrecked, numerous wildlife encounters and the formation of many lifelong friendships.
The Canal Zone was no easy life and 50 years later a medal was awarded when the government was forced to admit it was deserved and to confess its own political chicanery in the events. Hamish paints a picture of the highs and lows of RAF life, a station being run down in Egypt, working in oppressive heat and now and then being shot at.
He saw the Windrush a week before it exploded and sank in the Mediterranean; both the Windrush story and that of building the Suez Canal are detailed in an appendix. There is much to find in this story including background histories to events and the politics of the time. As a whole it provides a fascinating account of the era.
Hamish Brown has travelled the world for a lifetime, often on mountaineering expeditions, and is the author of numerous titles including The Mountains Look on Marrakech, Three Men on the Way Way and Canals Across Scotland.
Airman Abroad is available from Whittles Publishing, Dunbeath, Caithness, Scotland, UK. KW6 6EG
T: +44(0)1593-731 333; E: info@whittlespublishing.com www.whittlespublishing.com
ISBN 978-184995-540-9, 240 × 170mm, 240pp, 70 b/w photos, 30 drawings/sketches, 2 maps, softback £18.99.