Korte beschrijving/Annotatie

Air Commodore Andrew James Wray Geddes CBE DSO LoM EM RAF was probably the only British officer who retired as a captain in the Royal Artillery and an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.

Slogan/Promotie

Air Commodore Andrew James Wray Geddes CBE DSO LoM EM RAF was probably the only British officer who retired as a captain in the Royal Artillery and an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.He was Officer Commanding No.II (Army Co-operation) Squadron when war broke out in 1939 and the Squadron fought in the Blitzkrieg in May 1940. He flew the first secret sorties to France in a Lysander, calling it radio calibration flights. Geddes served in North Africa and was involved in all the preparations for D-Day as Air Commodore Plans of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. He flew over the Normandy beaches, bringing home the first pictures of the landings. In 1945 General Eisenhower told him to prepare and negotiate food drops over starving West Netherlands in Achterveld. In 1985 Andrew Geddes was the Guest of Honour of the Dutch during the 40th anniversary of Operations Manna & Chowhound. This book describes his life, using his private diaries and documents. The life and times of the ‘Winged Gunner’ gives a fascinating testimony of the career of a brave and loyal officer.

Biografie

Hans Onderwater MBE (1946) is a historian, researcher and author from the Netherlands. He was a teacher and a member of the National Reserve Corps of the Royal Netherlands Army for 40 and 30 years respectively. Hans is also the historian of No.II (Army Co-operation) Squadron, the oldest fixed-wing Squadron in the world. He wrote three books about this famous RAF Squadron. As the secretary of the Food & Freedom Foundation Hans was involved in the commemorations of Operations Manna and Chowhound, the Allied food drops over starving Holland in April and May 1945. Hans was secretary of the Netherlands Coastal Defence Museum, governor of the War and Resistance Museum in Rotterdam and chairman of the Documentation Group 40-45. Hans identified several airmen who were buried. He also found the next of kin and arranged for visits to the graves and crash sites of their loved ones. For his research, his many publications and much other work Hans did in the service of the Netherlands, HM Queen Beatrix made him a member of the Order of Oranje-Nassau. In January 2017 HM Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain honoured with the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Inhoudsopgave

CONTENTS. Foreword by His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands Foreword by Lord Jock Stirrup Foreword by Air Marshal Philip O. Sturley Foreword by Mr. Angus Geddes, son of Air Cdre Andrew Gedde Preface by Hans Onderwater MBE 1. These wonderful flying machines. Geddes’ youth and introduction to flying 2. A pilot after all. Geddes’ flying training and his first secondment to the RAF 3. A passage to India. A tour of duty in the Raj 4. No. II(Army Co-operation) Squadron. Geddes joins the Elite 5. Phoney War, busy war. No.II(AC) Squadron moves to Drucat, Abbeville, France 6. The lull before the storm. The months before the German attack against the West 7. Blitzkrieg over Northern France and Belgium. No.II(AC) Squadron at the forefront 8. We deliver… Rebuilding No.II(AC) Squadron in England 9. New job: very strange, secret and useful. Preparations for the SOE-missions 10. Operation Crusader; a gunner in the desert. Geddes in the Western Desert 11. Mopping up the enemy. The last phase of Operation Crusader 12. Reflecting on Crusader at Battle HQ. Lessons learnt; evaluations made 13. Home to prepare for the Great Adventure. Geddes gets involved in Overlord 14. We called it BIGOT. D-Day preparations 15. From Normandy to Paris. D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge 16. From Paris to Brussels. Headquarters 2TAF in Brussels 17. A worrying winter. The last German offensive; the Allies under fire 18. The last chase. Moving into Germany 19. Operation Manna. Saving the Dutch from starvation 20. Flying a desk. The end of the Second World War 21. The last command. Geddes’ last appointments, retirement and civil occupations 22. The Dutch people never forgot those days. Geddes and the Netherlands 23. Postscript Appendix. Geddes Family; Service Record; Education; Military service; Civilian service; Decorations and awards; London Gazette; Who is Who: Geddes, Air Cdre Andrew James Wray; Old Wellingtonians (military); The RAF Army Co-operation Command; Army Co-operation Command (April 1942); Bibliography; For specific Operations; Special thanks Institutes; Special thanks People; Other books and articles written by Hans Onderwater MBE; Articles; Documentary movies; Lectures

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