About the Author...

Martin W. Bowman

Martin Bowman's interest in World War Two and contemporary British and US aviation was fired by the proliferation of US and RAF air bases in his native East Anglia. He is the author of seventy-six books on military and commercial aviation as well as photographic books on a variety of subjects. His first book, 'Fields of Little America', a history of the US 2nd Air Division, was published in 1977. 'Castles in The Air', 'The USAF At War, The B-24 Liberator followed and more recently he has authored 'The USAAF Handbook 1939-45', 'F-104 Starfighter', 'Vought F4U Corsair,' 'Wild Blue Yonder', 'Remembering D-Day'; 'Personal Histories of Everyday Heroes', 'The Men Who Flew the Mosquito', 'Mosquitopanik!' 'Confounding the Reich' and 'The B-52 Stratofortress'. All have been built up from many years of painstaking and fact-finding research, interviews and correspondence with contributors in America, Europe and throughout the world. His quest has taken him to all parts of the world, to 22 countries, including the USA, Africa, Australia and Russia. He has flown into the world's war zones of Mogadishu, Somalia, and Bosnia and he has participated in German and USAFE air/land and night air/drop missions aboard C-160 and C-130 Hercules aircraft. He continues to explore all matters aviation and has “suffered” for his art, landing aboard (in a C-2 Greyhound) and being catapulted from, the USS John F Kennedy in the Mediterranean. He has flown in, B-17 Flying Fortresses, the Lancaster and with the Canadian Snowbirds. In 2004 he became one of the few Englishmen to fly in a B-52 Stratofortress.

An accomplished aerial and landscape photographer, he has had several photographic books published including, 'Piston Powered Propliners', 'The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, Jetliner Generation, Wild Blue Yonder; 'Glory Days of the 8th AF in England' and more recently, 'Airs and Graces', which features a collection of his evocative air-to-air shots Two further photographic essays, 'Norfolk: Above And Beyond' and 'Echoes of East Anglia', will appear in spring 2006. For many years he has been a frequent contributor of photographic and written articles to aviation journals in Britain, the United States and Australia. In 1999 he was appointed as an official researcher for DERA. He has recently completed a magnum opus with Theo Boiten of Holland called 'Battles With the Nachtjagd', which follows on from their successful collaborative projects, 'Raiders of the Reich' and 'Battles With the Luftwaffe'. His latest projects include 'Flying Into The Flames of Hell', 'Clash of Eagles' and 'Sentimental Journey'.

Martin lives in Norwich, Norfolk, England.