While Others Slept

RAF World War II
ISBN 1-873203-72-1
New Edition
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by Eric Woods
An RAF observer/navigator's experiences during World War Two 1940-46

This detailed account of the early years of RAF Bomber Command will be of value to historians, researchers and aviation enthusiasts interested in the period but is also a compelling read for general readers with an interest in the RAF and World War 2

Affectionately nicknamed ‘Timber’ by his RAF comrades, Eric Woods was a dedicated member of RAF Bomber Command from its inception. He completed a full tour comprising 32 harrowing missions over enemy territory as a navigator/bomb aimer aboard a twin-engine Armstrong Whitworth Whitley during 1940/41.

Initially assigned to 144 Squadron based at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire, he remarkably survived a crash landing and, after receiving hospital treatment, finished his tour with 161 Squadron, also based at Hemswell.

Eric’s memories of his aerial adventures are refreshingly humble, offering a captivating insight into the perilous reality of flying in a slow and vulnerable aircraft during the war's early years.

Despite experiencing two crash landings and sustaining injuries that would trouble him for life, he showed remarkable resilience. In the middle years of the war, he transitioned to training new navigation recruits at a specialized unit in Wigtown, Scotland. Later, he served as the navigator of a Albemarle, Dakota & York aircraft, flying VIPs to overseas locations with 511 Squadron based at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire until hostilities ended.

After the war, Eric brought his expertise to BOAC, where he spent the next 18 years traveling the world—journeys he intends to share in his forthcoming book, Climb to and Maintain.

In 1946 Eric joined  the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and spent over two years operating on Flying Boats and following the retirement of these wonderful flying machines from service he transferred to more conventional aircraft, spending 18 years flying worldwide routes as a navigator, transitioning from piston-engined aeroplanes to jets.

His recollections of these years are to be found in his book Climb to and Maintain, also published by Woodfield.

He left BOAC in 1964, moving over to the legislative side of aviation by joining the organisation which eventually became the Civil Aviation Authority, where he worked as a flight crew examiner, eventually heading up that unit.

In retirement he delivered popular talks on aviation to ex-service and other groups.

Eric 'Timber' Woods passed away on 24th February 2012, aged 90.

Woodfield are proud to have been able to publish his memoirs.

details: softback | 140 x 205 mm | 180 pages
genre: military memoir / air forces and warfare / real-life adventure
readership: military historians / aviation enthusiasts / general readers
themes: RAF in World War II / RAF Bomber Command