WINGS OF SHADOW – The Clandestine Operations of the RAF and the USAAF in Europe 1940–1945

A book on the special operations of the RAF and the USAAF in Europe, from 1940 to 1945. British Moon Squadrons and American Carpetbaggers, secret agents and resistance fighters — it's all here! This work is a goldmine, teeming with information. Essential reading for anyone interested in aviation, the secret war and clandestine operations!

During the Second World War, the Resistance played a vital role in the liberation of countries fallen under the Nazi yoke. But its effectiveness depended to a great extent on the support provided by the Allied secret services, with which it maintained a tenuous link through radio communications and air liaison. 

Of all the operations conducted by Allied aviation, those in support of resistance movements and networks ranked among the most difficult and most hazardous. They resemble a genuine adventure novel, in whose pages the actions of thousands of shadow fighters mingle with those of a handful of exceptional airmen.

This work presents these resistance networks, the various aircraft types and equipment used, and the procedures applied both in the air and on the ground. It describes as completely as possible how these high-risk missions were prepared — both on Allied airfields and in occupied territory — and how they unfolded, giving maximum space to the accounts of the men and women who took part in them, as well as to the spirit that drove them.

Discover the role of clandestine radio operators playing a deadly game with enemy detection services, and that of these resistance fighters who, after receiving a personal message broadcast by the BBC, waited night after night on drop zones and secret landing grounds, ready to recover agents, weapons and supplies dropped or delivered.

Follow the training of the pilots and crews of the Moon Squadrons, as well as the instruction of the secret agents responsible for reception committees. Take part in certain missions during which, after navigating with rudimentary means — aided only by a handful of ground markers barely visible in the moonlight — these airmen located a landing ground marked out with a few torches.