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Dear Mr Barnard,

I’ve just finished reading “Band of Eagles” and found it equally absorbing as “Blue Man Falling”. Its a real tribute to Malta’s ordeal at the hands of the Axis’ air forces. You write so knowledgeably about the RAF and the sometimes strained, relationship between groundcrew and aircrew . Both stories are told as a serviceman would tell them. Its interesting to read a story set in the Battle of France as this period seems to have been overlooked by most authors.

I have served in the RAF for nearly 32 years (Flight Sergeant, Logistics “Mover”), and have witnessed the aircrew/groundcrew interaction on many occasions whilst deploying Tornado squadrons around the world.

A slight tangent here, but I was privileged enough to attend the 65th anniversary of the D Day landings last June and met several ex-RAF veterans of that immense operation, including one fighter controller who landed on Utah Beach with the US Marines! Its a shame that the air force rarely gets a mention in stories of that period, although I appreciate it was primarily a land/sea affair. The Typhoon ground attack squadrons lost many aircrew, based at approximately twenty temporary Forward Operating Bases in Normandy, in the first couple of months after D Day and their story is rarely told.

I am very much looking forward to reading your next novel and wish you all the best for the future.

Best regards,

Paul Amies