Eight thousand miles from home, its fate hinges on just twenty Sea Harriers against the two hundred-strong might of the Argentine Air Force. The odds against them are overwhelming. The MoD's own estimates suggest that half the Harriers will be lost in the opening days of the conflict.
Built of lightweight wood, powered by two growling Rolls Royce engines, impossibly aerodynamic, headspinningly fast, armed to the teeth, the DeHavilland Mosquito was the plane which never should have existed. Designed, built, tested and flying operations within 13 months of its original conception, it was the answer to the RAF's prayers in the Second World War- an utterly versatile plane which would leave the Luftwaffe in its wake, could fly in under the radar and delivers 2000 lbs of bombs when and where the enemy was least expecting it. It was corralled into a critical pathfinding role for the hundreds of heavy bomber raids as the tide of the war turned but its reputation was cemented by a series of daredevils raids across Europe, including on Berlin itself, where stealth, speed and precision were required. So when the Special Operations Executive needed a plane to drop a bomb on the Gestapo HQ right in the centre of Copenhagen to prevent the plans for D-Day being tortured out of Danish resistance fighters, there was only one plane for the job - the Mosquito. This is the story of this brilliant aircraft told through that one impossible mission. Like Rowland White's previous books, Mosquito is an unputdownable mix of utterly compelling storytelling, incredible human stories and fascinating technological detail, which sheds never-before-told light on a pivotal mission that helped bring the war to its bloody and brutal close.
When Argentinian forces invaded the Falklands Islands in 1982, it took the British government by surprise. They needed a fast response, and military chiefs came up with a plan of action - Operation Black Buck. This is an account of the last British bomber raid, recalling the long-range attack on Port Stanley that opened the Falklands War.
January 1972: the tiny outpost of British Honduras is threatened with imminent invasion by battle-hardened, US-trained Guatemalan paratroops. But there is only one deterrent the government can offer: HMS Ark Royal, once the Navy's most powerful warship, now a white elephant on the verge of being scrapped.