Strike Force : The USAF in Britain since 1948

London: Robson Books Ltd. Very Good/Very Good. 1986. First Edition. Hard Cover. 8vo 0860513033 Dust jacket complete, unclipped in a clear protective sleeve. Blue cloth with gilt titling on spine. No ownership inscription. 182 pages, index, clean and tight. In the summer of 1945, the squadrons of the mighty United States Air Force flew away from Britain after playing their part in the greatest air offensive of all time in the war against Nazi Germany. Three years later the Americans were back, making preparations to confront a new threat - the growing military power of their former ally, Soviet Russia. They have remained on British soil ever since, often amid much public debate. In this first history of the USAF in Britain, Robert Jackson argues that - without the presence of this great war machine - Europe might not have survived in freedom during the crucial years of the 1950s and 60s. Strike Force is a complete account of the United States Air Force in Britain since 1948, from the first B-29 bombers to the controversial arrival of cruise missiles and what was probably the most controversial action of all - the launching, in April 1986, of F-111 bombers from UK bases to strike Libyan targets. It is a story of constantly-changing strategies and the increasing complexities of air power in the European context - but it is a story of people as well as of machines. The Americans, at one time described as 'over paid, over sexed and over here', have had to come to terms with the British way of life - including private front gardens and what they felt was inadequate central heating! .