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Steve Brew
25th November 2012, 09:54
Dear fellow forumites

I'm pleased to announce the release of my history of 41 Squadron, covering the war years August 1942-May 1945, titled "Blood, Sweat and Valour". It will be launched in London on 15 December - just in time for Christmas!

ISBN - 978-1-78155-193-6
Publisher - Fonthill Media
RRP - £35.00

"Formed in 1916, 41 Squadron is one of the oldest Royal Air Force squadrons in existence. The unit saw service in the First World War, on Policing Duties in the Aden Protectorate during the 1930s, throughout the Second World War, and more recently in the First Gulf War and Yugoslavia. Until now, however, its History has not been written.

Blood, Sweat and Valour is the first comprehensive study of this illustrious squadron, concentrating on its wartime activity between August 1942 and May 1945. The work examines the unit’s role within battles, operations, offensives and larger strategies, and details experiences made by the pilots and ground crew participating in them.

The Squadron’s actions are often revealed for the first time, through records that have previously not been available. The author has drawn heavily on unpublished primary sources, including a large number of logbooks, interviews and personal accounts. 41 Squadron’s own archive was made exclusively available to him for the purpose of writing this work.

Blood, Sweat and Valour evokes the feeling of the period, portraying not only a factual account but also one that captures the colour of life on a Second World War fighter squadron, with a balance between material of a documentary nature and narrative action, intertwining fact with personal recollections of events, serious events with humour, and sobering statistics with poignant after-thought.

Blood, Sweat and Valour is borne of deep and emotive sentiment, expressed by the pilots and their families, which is also embedded in the culture of today’s 41 Squadron, to remember every man and to give him his rightful place in history."

Further information on the book can be obtained at http://brew.clients.ch/BSV.htm

Any forumites who would like to attend the launch at the RAF Club in London on 15 December would be most welcome; several are already coming. Please contact me off board if you would like to come.

Regards
Steve

Andy Ingham
24th December 2012, 10:09
Steve
Having attended the Launch of your book at the RAF Club on 15 December and now had some time to browse through the many pages I must congratulate you on an excellent piece of work.
You have created a fitting tribute to the men of 41 Squadron and I look forward to the next volume.
Regards
Andy

jossleclercq
24th December 2012, 13:17
Hello

I have also attended the launch as well, where I was happy to meet a couple of fellow forumites (Andy Ingham, Allan Hillman, Serge Bonge and obviously Steve Brew).

I can only concur with what Andy writes. It's a big volume, very detailed (I've started reading it and I've just reached August 1943), and it's a true labour of love, highly dedicated, full of details about the men of No. 41 Squadron, and the operations they carried out.

It will take me a few more weeks to get to the end of it, but I already really recommend it. And as explained during the launch, there had never been a history of the Squadron published before, so this book fills a gap, and you just can't ask yourself whether it would replace a previous published work.

Regards

Merry Christmas to all

Joss

allan125
24th December 2012, 23:11
Andy + Joss

it was a pleasure meeting you two last weekend, along with my old friend Serge, and of course Steve, after working with him for almost 10 years providing information for his website and working on the book (both parts, and you will both enjoy volume 1, as I have so far) and I am particularly looking forward to reading the book as a whole instead of word by word, line by line etc.!!

From my viewpoint the launch was a great, and well deserved, success for Steve and Jacqui, and I sincerely hope that it will become the standard work of reference to 41 Squadron in WW2.

Personally I have never seen anything so comprehensive before, and the sheer amount of documents and detail that Steve has shared with me showed me just how seriously he took the subject. Steve is not someone who will ever give less than 100%, and it shows in this book.

An added bonus to me for the weekend was to visit the Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park, virtually opposite The RAF Club, and I can recommend a trip to see it to anybody visiting London. It is something that should have been done years ago, and that is reflected in the large number of crosses and wreathes left by families of deceased aircrew and veterans remembering friends etc. around the centre-piece air crew.

Merry Christmas to all

Regards

Allan

Steve Brew
26th December 2012, 03:47
Thanks guys

I appreciate your kind words; glad you like the book.

It was a pleasure to meet Allan, Serge and Andy for the first time, too.

Thanks for travelling as far as you did to be there, and thanks for all your support.

Regards and best wishes for 2013 - now on to the next volume...!

Steve

aestorm
27th December 2012, 10:09
I also went to the launch which was at the comfortable venue of the RAF club .I was hoping to meet rafc members but missed them as there were so many people attending so I wasn't sure "who was whom". [or whom was who ? ]

Good to see Steve again and am glad his book was so well received .

As I came down from Park Lane I saw the Bomber Command Memorial for the first time and thought it was breathtaking considering it was built by public donations .It looked even more impressive at dusk with the Christmas lights in the parks.

Anne

T-6
10th December 2013, 09:07
Steve,
I've sent you a PM.
Cheers