AirForces Monthly – September 2019

The Collectors

US and British Cold War Aerial Intelligence Gathering

A comprehensive overview of

aerial intelligence during the

latter years of the Cold War has

been a long time coming in print

• at last we have it. Author Kevin

Wright has delved deep into

previously classified documents

in the US and UK to provide the

most detailed account to date

of RAF, USAF and US Navy spy

plane operations

around the Eastern

Bloc. Beginning in

the 1950s with RAF

former wartime

Spitfires flying out

of Hong Kong, the

author quickly moves

on to the operations

of more familiar

types, such as the

Canberra, RB-47,

RC-135 and SR-71.

But this isn’t simply

a list of historical

missions; the text

covers the political

impact when sorties

went wrong and

reveals previously

unknown operations

along the West

Berlin corridor.

The relationship

between the US and

UK governments

often saw combined

intelligence-gathering missions,

and those of the U-2s flown

by RAF exchange pilots have

remained hidden for decades.

The author brings together all

the information released to date,

including accounts from some

of the British pilots involved.

During the 1980s, US Air Forces

in Europe intelligence gathering

increased and many of the

aircraft flew out of RAF Mildenhall

in Suffolk or RAF Alconbury,

Cambridgeshire. Details of these

missions – and, for some of the

types, the equipment carried

• are described, but it’s clear
  there are further stories to be
  told once more information is
  declassified. This is among the
  most authoritative accounts
  so far of the West’s Cold War
  surveillance missions and
  planning with, in some cases, ‘the
  take’ from such eavesdropping
  warriors. Glenn Sands

Publisher: Grub Street

Author: Tony Blackman

with Joe Kennedy

Pages: 254

Price: £25

ISBN: 9781911621270

Nimrod Boys

I had eagerly awaited this edition

of the ‘Boys’ series from Grub

Street. I’ve been interested

in the Nimrod’s intelligence-

gathering operations for more

than 25 years – mostly due to the

mystique surrounding the details

of its sorties and deployment.

This new book answers

some of my questions

and offers much more.

Following the familiar format

of the series, the authors

bring together a collection of

stories from pilots, co-pilots,

electronic warfare operators

and signals intelligence officers

• the ‘spooks’ who sat in
  the back of the aircraft.
  From reading these detailed
  personal accounts, it’s clear the
  Nimrod was quietly on the front
  line every day during the Cold
  War and remained a critical asset
  right up to its final retirement.
  There are the expected stories of
  tracking and shadowing Russian
  submarines and warships.
  However, more noteworthy are
  the crew explanations of the
  particular ships’ details requested
  of them by British intelligence,
  and the ‘cat and mouse’ games
  over the Atlantic between the
  Soviet vessels and Nimrod crews.
  Details relating to the secretive
  R1 variant are perhaps the
  highlight. It’s one of the rare
  occasions that readers are given
  an insight into the electronic
  and signals intelligence
  operations of the RAF’s No
  51 Squadron. Glenn Sands

A Cold War Fighter Pilot in Peacetime and War

Peacetime flying careers in

the RAF don’t get much more

dramatic than that of Sqn Ldr

Derek Sharp. Fortunately, he’s

put his experiences into print.

Joining the RAF in 1964, the

author briefly covers his flight

training on the Provost and Gnat,

providing one of the best insights

of UK flying training during the

1960s and 1970s that I’ve read.

Sharp is honest about his

abilities and on more than one

occasion admits he just ‘scraped’

a pass mark to progress to the

next stage of training. After failing

selection for single-seat fast

jets, he served his early years

on the Canberra bomber, a type

he disliked at first, before its

performance and its demanding

missionwon him over.

Later progressing to single-seat

fast jets, the pilot was posted

to a Jaguar squadron and these

days provide the material for the

bulk of the book. NATO exercises,

deployments and tactical

evaluations (TACEVALs) are all

covered in great and entertaining

detail. But the aviator’s time

flying in Jaguars was cut short

after a catastrophic bird-strike

which looked as though it

could end his flying career.

After numerous ground tours,

he realised he wanted to return

to operational flying with the RAF,

despite the challenges he might

face. Fortunately, Sharp got back

into the cockpit of a very different

aircraft – and even went to war.

The writer’s openness makes

this a standout book that’s one

of the best accounts of what

it was like to be an RAF flying

officer towards the end of the

Cold War. Glenn Sands

Publisher: Fonthill Media

Author: Derek J Sharp

Pages: 208

Price: £28

ISBN: 9781781557242

Publisher: Casemate

Author: Kevin Wright

Pages: 312

Price: £19.95

ISBN: 9781912390809

• at last we have it. Author Kevin of RAF, USAF and US Navy spy

http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #378 September 2019 // 65

Book

Reviews

These titles are available from: The Aviation Bookshop, 31-33 Vale Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent,

TN1 1BS, United Kingdom. Telephone: +44(0)1892 539284 Website: http://www.aviation-bookshop.com

65 BookReview AFM Sep2019.indd 65 8/2/2019 2:40:34 PM