Having been operational in the European theatre during the early years of WWII, No. 82 Squadron moved to Burma in 1942 to support the campaign against the Japanese Imperial forces.

The unit was one of only four squadrons to fly the Vultee Vengeance dive bomber and it was then selected in 1944 to convert to the incomparable de Havilland Mosquito VI fighter bomber. The Squadron’s Second World War exploits in the Far East under South East Asia Command are told from the stories of flying the unorthodox Vultee Vengeance through to the wondrous de Havilland Mosquito.

These were aircraft that had to be flown in totally different ways, in harsh climatic conditions. The men of the squadrons in this campaign faced not only monsoons and tropical diseases, as well as a particularly brutal enemy.

More than simply a history of one squadron at war, this book records the extraordinary trials and tribulations of flying against the Japanese Imperial forces in the Far East. Often referred to as the ‘Forgotten Air Force,’ by the end of the war, they had forged themselves into one of the most efficient and accurate fighting forces in the history of air warfare.

These were men of more than ordinary merit, fortitude, and resilience and their stories deserve to be commemorated. Based on the aircraft flown, official records and firsthand accounts from both air and ground crew, the story documents the courage, despair, fortitude and resilience in the face of anger.

These young men came from all parts of the Commonwealth of their own free will to unite under the banner of freedom and democracy. .