John Frayn Turner

Ken Revis was training to be a structural engineer, and had almost qualified, when war broke out in September 1939\. He promptly enlisted and, at the age of 23, was commissioned in the Royal Engineers. Training complete, it was during the Christmas festivities of 1940, such as they were in the Army in wartime Britain, that Ken glanced at a typewritten sheet pinned to a noticeboard to discover that he had been posted to a Bomb Disposal unit. His first device, aside from those he had seen under the watchful gaze of his instructors, came early in 1941 in the form of an unexploded 500kg German bomb. Having failed to detonate, it had buried itself in a garden only a yard or so from a footpath leading off a pleasant avenue in the East Sussex town of Hastings. This is it,' Ken remembered thinking. This is the real thing.' Despite his nerves, Ken successfully dealt with this bomb, the first of many that he faced over the coming weeks and months. While most soldiers in the United Kingdom were busy training and preparing for the coming invasion of Europe, Bomb Disposal units were engaged with their dangerous craft in which almost daily they matched their skill and nerve against the inventive genius of the German scientists. It was at 10.00 hours on 10 September 1943, however, that, in an instant, Ken's life irrevocably changed. While he was removing anti-invasion booby-traps from the West Pier in Brighton, something went terribly wrong. In a blinding flash, thirteen mines blew up in his face. After immediate first aid, the mangled body of Ken Revis was rushed to East Grinstead Hospital, home of the renowned plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. It was the start of the long, hard trail that lay in front of him, for it required no less than twenty skilled reconstructive operations to rebuild Ken's shattered face and body. But despite all the surgeons' best efforts, Ken's sight could not be saved. Aside from the traumatic injuries he had suffered, he now had to deal with complete blindness. In this moving biography, John Frayn Turner reveals the remarkable individual who was Ken Revis, exploring the many, and very different, challenges that he faced before and after the disaster on 10 September 1943\. As Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks once remarked, Courage and determination are the two outstanding qualities that emerge from this remarkable story'.

This unique book, now republished, was the first of its kind to be published on British aircraft of the Second World War. Aviation enthusiasts and aero-modellers can see British aircraft as they really were, through magnificently reproduced colour photographs. Each of the forty-nine types of aircraft is accompanied by a brief 'biography' together with tables of the most important marks and their specifications, engine, span, length, height, weight, crew number, maximum speed, service ceiling, normal range and armament. There is also a section on British aircraft in action, which includes accounts of outstanding exploits by the pilots of different types. John Frayn Turner, the well-known aviation author, has chosen the pictures and provided the text.

Members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force played a vital role in supporting the operations of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain and thereafter but their story has not received the attention it deserves.In The WAAF at War, highly experienced author John Frayn Turner has addressed this serious oversight by capturing the indomitable spirit of the thousands of youngwomen who made up the WAAF. He vividly describes the diverse roles played by members of this highly respected organization, both on the ground at air stations and in control bunkers, reading radar monitors or plotting the course of air operations.In addition WAAF pilots were released to the Air Transport Auxiliary to deliver aircraft to front line units and flew all types of aircraft, often with minimal training, regardless of weather. Their adventures make for excellent reading.Most poignant are the hazardous exploits of those WAAF who volunteered for SOE. Perhaps the best known of these incredibly gallant girls is Noor Inayat-Khan GC who was executed at Dachau in 1944 but there were many others whose stories are told here.A long overdue tribute to the courage and war-winning contribution of all its members, The WAAF at War will appeal particularly to air historians and those who were members of or are proud to be descended from members of the WAAF.

Frank Sinatra is an international icon who continues to hold endless fascination for millions of fans. In this authoritative biography, John Frayn Turner examines every aspect of Ol' Blue Eyes' charisma, character, life, loves, failings, and fame. Fresh and objective-and not obsessed with mafia allegations-it is a book about Sinatra the good guy as well as the bad. From his humble beginnings in working class Hoboken, to his start in the business singing with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, through the scandals, the loves, the music and the movies, Frank Sinatra looks closely at Sinatra the singer, actor, philanthropist, and man-a three-dimensional view of a complex genius.

This collection of popular naval stories covers the entire span of World War II, beginning when Britain's Royal Navy faced fascist forces on its own until the final Allied victory over the Japanese in 1945. It offers a rich mixture of stories about such large and well-known battles and operations as the Battle of the River Plate, Pearl Harbor, and the Battle of the Coral Sea, and such lesser-known actions as the submarine attack on Corfu harbour, the loss of USS Leedstown, and the saga of USS Rich to characterise the breadth and variety of the war at sea. Also included are memories of John F. Kennedy's heroic actions with PT 109 and George Bush's near-death experience with an aircraft known as the flying casket. While readers might have heard some of the stories before in greater detail, John Frayn Turner's prose crackles with action and tension to keep their rapt attention. Even those who know little about the war will be drawn into the combat. A sailor's eye view of the war at sea in every sphere, this compelling account has broad appeal. Offering special attraction are the all-too-little-known contributions of rescue ships and merchant seamen and the adventures of civilians, among them Johnnie Ferguson, who spent three weeks adrift in an open boat when her ship was torpedoed. Readers will come away with a clear understanding of the giant scope of World War II and the individual grit and determination that produced a victory.