Cinderella Boys

The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler's U-boats and made Allied victory possible.

In early 1943 Britain was engaged in an epic struggle for survival. As the deadly wolf packs of German U-boats roamed the Atlantic, supply lines and shipping losses fell victim to the carnage.

In desperation, Churchill turned to the RAF's maritime wing - an overlooked, underfunded force known as "The Cinderella Service". But the ascendancy of the U-boat forced a change in attitude. Provided with the long-range planes, depth charges, rocket projectiles and radar equipment with which to challenge the enemy. The Cinderella boys provided vital air defence the whole way across the Atlantic. The German hunters were now the hunted, and - in a stunning defeat - had fully retreated by the summer of 1943.

The transformation of Coastal Command from a ramshackle outfit into a vast, formidable organisation provided one of the turning points of the war, keeping Britain in the war and opening the way to D-Day in 1944. But they never received the credit they deserved.

Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, official records, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers - many of them outsiders - who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.

If any branch of Britain's armed force in the Second World War needs saving from an undeserved obscurity, it is RAF Coastal Command. McKinstry has done a fine job in rescuing it from long neglect -- Richard Overy, author of BLOOD AND RUINS
A story as satisfying as it is utterly compelling -- Duncan Campbell-Smith, author of JET MAN
An engrossing account of the huge, and often under-appreciated, contribution made by RAF Coastal Command to the defeat of Hitler's Reich -- Brendan Simms, co-author of HITLER'S AMERICAN GAMBLE
Compelling. McKinstry's masterful grasp of his subject shines in this story of RAF Coastal Command. Detailed, readable and important -- David Price, author of THE CREW and MOSQUITO MEN
The men of Coastal Command have long deserved a worthy monument to their amazing deeds. Leo McKinstry has provided it magnificently -- Patrick Bishop, author of FIGHTER BOYS
Illuminating -- Nick Rennison Mail on Sunday

Leo McKinstry has been a successful, high-profile writer for almost three decades, winning praise for his fluent style, his range of subjects and his diligent research. He is the author of twelve non-fiction books, including a trilogy on the RAF during the Second World War, several football and cricket biographies, two of which won the WHSmith Sports Book of the Year awards, and a study of the 19th century Liberal Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, which was named as the Channel Four Political Book of the Year in 2006. He is also a national newspaper journalist. Since 2005 he has been a twice-weekly columnist on the Daily Express, while he has been a feature writer on the Daily Mail for 27 years. His articles have also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Independent, The Spectator, The Oldie, New Statesman and The Cricketer.

The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler's U-boats and made Allied victory possible. In early 1943 Britain was engaged in an epic struggle for survival. As the deadly wolf packs of German U-boats roamed the Atlantic, supply lines and shipping losses fell victim to the carnage.In desperation, Churchill turned to the RAF's maritime wing - an overlooked, underfunded force known as "The Cinderella Service". But the ascendancy of the U-boat forced a change in attitude. Provided with the long-range planes, depth charges, rocket projectiles and radar equipment with which to challenge the enemy. The Cinderella boys provided vital air defence the whole way across the Atlantic. The German hunters were now the hunted, and - in a stunning defeat - had fully retreated by the summer of 1943.The transformation of Coastal Command from a ramshackle outfit into a vast, formidable organisation provided one of the turning points of the war, keeping Britain in the war and opening the way to D-Day in 1944. But they never received the credit they deserved.Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, official records, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers - many of them outsiders - who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.

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