Spitfires in Japan: From Farnborough to the Far East. A Memoir

Author:   Cecil Bouchier ,  Dorothy Britton
Publisher:   Brill
ISBN:  

9781901903447


Pages:   352
Publication Date:   07 July 2005
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
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Spitfires in Japan: From Farnborough to the Far East. A Memoir


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Overview

'Boy' Bouchier, as he was known, who died in 1979, was both a remarkable 'soldier's soldier' and a 'diplomat's diplomat', combining battlefield courage and endurance with great leadership skills and a keen understanding of human nature. As a soldier in World War I in the Honourable Artillery Company, he found fighting the Senussi in the desert so gruelling, he recalls gazing up at the small aircraft of the Royal Air Corps and longing for a life that might be short but at least would be clean! He soon managed to get transferred to the RAC and learned to fly, so successfully, in fact, that, before long, he was training others and by the end of the war had become a talented test pilot. Between the wars, Bouchier went on to form the Royal Indian Air Force, successfully combating much prejudice in the process. In World War II he held key positions in Fighter Command and was Station Commander of Hornchurch during the Battle of Britain; he also both planned and supervised air cover for D-Day. By war's end he was in the Far East, where he took the initial surrender of the Japanese in Burma, and went on to command the Commonwealth Forces of Occupation in Japan, after which he represented the British Chiefs of Staff at General MacArthur's HQ during the Korean War and was responsible for bringing Britain into that war. This memoir, long-awaited by many, and skilfully edited for publication by Dorothy Britton (Lady Bouchier) concludes with Bouchier's day with Winston Churchill and, in retirement, for the RAF, single-handedly achieving the funding for the rebuilding of St Clement Dane's church in the Strand, London.

Full Product Details

Author:   Cecil Bouchier ,  Dorothy Britton
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Global Oriental Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 14.50cm , Height: 3.50cm , Length: 22.50cm
Weight:   0.700kg
ISBN:  

9781901903447


ISBN 10:   1901903443
Pages:   352
Publication Date:   07 July 2005
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock   Availability explained
We have confirmation that this item is in stock with the supplier. It will be ordered in for you and dispatched immediately.

Table of Contents

Editor's Introduction and Acknowledgements; Foreword; 1 Southsea - 1902; 2 Making One's Way in the World; 3 Articled Pupil; 4 The King's Shilling; 5 Soldiering in Egypt; 6 Palestine; 7 Wings; 8 Flying Instructor; 9 Torpedoed; 10 Roses in Picardy; 11 Fools Rush In; 12 Left Holding the Baby; 13 Retreat From Russia; 14 The Call of the East; 15 Test Pilot, Farnborough; 16 No. 41 Fighter Squadron; 17 Test Pilot, Aboukir; 18 RAF Staff College; 19 India; 20 Birth of the Royal Indian Air Force; 21 No. 54 Fighter Squadron; 22 No. 11 Fighter Group; 23 Hornchurch - 1940; 24 The Battle of Britain; 25 A King's Favour; 26 The Leigh-Mallory/Park Controversy; 27 I return to 11 Group; 28 Air Ministry; 29 SASO 11 Fighter Group; 30 Normandy; 31 Acting AOC 11 Group; 32 AOC 221 Fighter Group, Burma; 33 Japan - The Occupation; 34 A Touch of Retirement; 35 MacArthur and the Korean War; 36 'I Like Bouchier's Stuff ' - A Day with Winston Churchill; 37 St Clement Danes; Bibliography; Index

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Author Information

Dorothy Britton (Lady Bouchier), who posthumously edited her husband's enthralling story, studied composition with Darius Milhaud and has pursued a busy career in Japan as composer, musician, author and translator. Her many works include an LP Japanese Sketches, a CD Chinoiserie, a translation of Basho's classic prose and travel journal, A Haiku Journey, and The Silver Drum, her translation of Princess Chichibu's memoir.

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