YEARS of COMMAND

Laid in card signed by

Sholto Douglas, Lord Douglas of Kirtleside
Marshal of the Royal Air Force, 1947

Signed on the front end paper by

Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader

Collins First Edition 1966.   382 pages plus photographs.

Fine condition hardback book and Fine condition unclipped dustjacket which looks smart in its protective cover. It is unknown why this book is signed by Douglas Bader. It may be an ownership signature as he is mentioned in the book but there are no other marks to help solve the mystery. The book comes with a period colour picture from the magazine ‘Illustrated’ dated March 22 1947.

Lord Douglas of Kirtleside was a wartime Commander-in-Chief for 7 years, longer than any other officer in the 3 services during WWII.  He succeeded Hugh Dowding as C-in-C Fighter Command in 1940 and after the war was appointed Military Governor of the British Zone in Germany.

In his first volume, ‘Years of Combat’, Sholto Douglas recalled his WW1 experiences from when he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery in August 1914 through to becoming CO of 84 Squadron, flying S.E.5s on the Western Front. After the war Douglas worked briefly for Handley Page as a commercial pilot before re-joining the Royal Air Force in 1920 after a chance meeting with Hugh Trenchard and this is where this volume begins.

The inter-war years gave him the knowledge and professional qualifications for high command and honed his outstanding personal abilities. He recounts his experiences of command at the highest levels throughout WWII and has a wealth of anecdotes about his fellow commanders in the RAF and other services. As Military Governor and C-in-C of the British Zone in occupied Germany, Lord Douglas had to pass judgement on the fate not only of the Nuremberg war criminals but also of others sentenced to death by military government courts in the British Zone. After retiring from the RAF, Lord Douglas spent 15 years as Chairman of BEA and died in 1969 aged 75.

In this absorbing memoir, Lord Douglas vividly shares his personal experiences of WWII. An authoritative book with two very collectable signatures.