
A Pathfinder's War
An Extraordinary Tale of Surviving Over 100 Bomber Operations Against All Odds
Grub Street Publishing
Published on 31. July 2009
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-1-906502-52-2 (ISBN)
Description
Ted Stocker lived a charmed life. Trained at RAF Halton as one of Trenchard's 'Brats', a posting to Boscombe Down saw him fly in both the prototype Stirling and Halifax just as war engulfed Europe for the second time. Qualifying as one of the RAFs first flight engineers, he flew operations in 1941/42 with 35 and 102 Squadrons, a contemporary of Leonard Cheshire, helping with the often hair-raising task of converting pilots from two to four engines. On his return to 35, he became a pathfinder and flight engineer leader, taking part in virtually every major air battle of the war. Awarded the DFC in 1943, he was posted to 7 and then 582 Squadrons, going on to complete more than 100 bombing operations , often as a master bomber, and flying with some of the pathfinder greats, including Don Bennett himself. Although his aircraft was frequently hit, and he survived a crash landing on only his second trip, Ted was never wounded. His achievements were recognised with the Distinguished Service Order, the only known DSO issued to a flight engineer during the war or since. After the war, he flew with Bomber Harris on a tour of Brazil and later qualified as a pilot, introducing the Lockheed Neptune anti-submarine aircraft to the RAF for the first time as a flight commander with Coastal Command.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 160 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
517 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-906502-52-2 (9781906502522)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Ted Stocker | Sean Feast
A Pathfinder's War
An Extraordinary Tale of Surviving Over 100 Bomber Operations Against All Odds
E-Book
02/2021
Grub Street Publishing
€18.18
Available for download
Persons
Sean Feast is a Director and co-owner of Gravity London and the author of several books on World War II pilots.