Battle of Britain: Then and Now updated

[Edward]

FIVE volumes now

Battle of Britain Then and Now

Volume I RAF Personnel: Pilots, Aircrew and Ground Crew
(After the Battle / Pen & Sword Books - early 2026)
Edited by Andy Saunders
"There will be a completely updated roll compiled / checked by Ed Edward McManus plus ground casualties from Rob Pritchard"

Cover art for volume I at link below

Volume 2 - RAF aircraft losses
(Spring 2026?)
updated by Peter Cornwell and with footnotes updated and edited by Mark Kirby

Volume 4 - Airfields, Commanders, and Operations Rooms
"significant input by Robin Brooks"

I assume that Volume 3 will cover aircraft losses of the Luftwaffe(?)

Andy Saunders fb page - 12 August 2025
"Many have been asking for an update on where things are with publication of the revised five editions of 'Battle of Britain Then & Now' by After the Battle / Pen and Sword Books. Everyone has been very patient! However, a prodigious amount of work has been done (and IS being done) on this piece of work and there have been more than a few changes and hiccups (plenty!) along the way. A good few unforeseen issues, too, but we will find work-arounds. Now, finally, we are getting there!

A major development has been that the running order of the five volumes has changed and Vol 1 will no longer be Airfields, Commanders, and Operations Rooms but, instead, will be the volume covering RAF personnel. This will include, for instance, the section on James Nicolson VC and the battle commanders (which will no longer be in the Airfields and Ops room volume). There will be a completely updated roll compiled/checked by Ed Edward McManus plus ground casualties from Rob Pritchard. Volume 2 will now be RAF aircraft losses updated by Peter Cornwell and with footnotes updated and edited by Mark Kirby. The airfields section is now Volume 4 with significant input by Robin Brooks.

I hope to have Vol 1 off my desk before the end of this summer, and we will then be getting properly stuck into the RAF aircraft losses and so I would expect that volume should be ready around spring of 2026. However, publishing schedules are above my pay grade, as it were, and I will update as soon as anything concrete to tell!

Pretty much everyone (but not all! ☹️��) far and wide, have been generous of their time and input to this truly massive project, including individuals, organisations, museums, national institutions etc"

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...21744877980572

[Edward]

The original 1980 edition

The Battle of Britain Then and Now
(After the Battle 1980, 1982, 1987)
Edited by Winston G. Ramsey
848 pages w/ 1700 b&w photos - hardcover

"This text illustrates and details the graves, memorials, crash sites and pilots of both the RAF and Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain. Twenty famous fighter aerodromes have been explored and there's a listing of The Few in its entirety."

"First published to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, After the Battle ploughed an entirely fresh furrow across this legendary field of human conflict to produce a book which has now come to be regarded as a memorial in itself to 'The Few'. Never before has such detailed coverage been given to the losses of either the Royal Air Force or the Luftwaffe. The graves of RAF aircrew that were killed have been listed, visited by the editorial team and photographed as a complete and lasting record of those that died. The pilots, their memorials, crashes and crash sites, and the aircraft that have survived are profusely illustrated. Twenty of the most famous fighter aerodromes have been explored and described as they were at the time and as they are today. Also included is a complete listing of 'The Few' — more than twenty-five years' work by the late John Holloway."

"The definitive pictorial retrospective of the Battle of Britain, based on the 'then and now' photographic matches for which this publisher is renowned."

Contents
Ultra and the Battle of Britain
Foreward by Gwen Black
The Way it Was . . . - Wilf Nicoll
The Commanders
The Operations Rooms

The Aerodromes
Sector A
Tangmere Sector Station - Jim Beedle
Westhampnett - Wilf Nicoll

Sector B
Kenley Sector Station - Peter Corbell
Croydon - Wilf Nicoll

Sector C
Biggin Hill Sector Station - Peter Halliday
West Malling - Robin J. Brooks

Sector D
Hornchurch Sector Station - Group Captain H. T. Sutton
Hawkinge Roy Humphreys
Gravesend Ray Munday
Manston - The Late Flying Officer W. Fraser
Rochford - Bill Gent

Sector E
North Weald Sector Station - Wilf Nicoll
Martlesham Heath - Wilf Nicoll
Stapleford Tawney - Peter Norris

Sector F
Debden Sector Station - Keith Braybrooke

Sector G
Duxford / Fowlmere Sector Station - Alister Raby

Sector W
Exeter - Michael Payne

Sector Y
Middle Wallop Sector Station - Norman Parker
Warmwell - Ivan Mason

Sector Z
Northolt Sector Station - Peter Norris

The Casualties
The Runneymede Memorial
The Polish Memorial
The Battle of Britain VC - Andy Saunders
The Aircraft Losses - Peter D. Cornwell
Aviation Archaeoloogy and the Battle of Britain

The Royal Air Force
July
August
September
October

The Luftwaffe
July
August
September
October

The Balance Sheet
The Survivors - by Gordon Riley
The Battle of Britain Memorial Fight
Tribute to the Few
Postscript - Winston Ramsey
Editorial Note — MkIII/IV Edition
Editorial Note — THE MkV Edition
Portrait of a Pilot - Humphrey Wynn
The Few - John Holloway
Aircraft Index
The Royal Air Force
The Luftwaffe
General Index
A Personal Obituary

[edwest2]

From the Stone & Stone site:


Battle of Britain News
23 August 2025
Following its acquisition of After the Battle, Pen & Sword Books has been reprinting various ATB material and adding new titles. In what is probably its biggest ATB project to date, P&S has embarked on a new edition of the classic Battle of Britain: Then and Now volume, originally published in 1980. Rather than a straight reprint, this will be thoroughly updated with all the latest BoB information accumulated in the past 45 years. Further, the new version will be split into five separate volumes covering distinct topics within the campaign, such as personnel, aircraft losses, airfields, etc. The first of the new volumes, RAF Personnel, will be ready in the coming months. (Thanks to Edward for bringing this to our attention.)

[Edward]

Has anyone heard of a possible publication date for Volume I?

Battle of Britain Then and Now
Volume I RAF Personnel: Pilots, Aircrew and Ground Crew
(After the Battle / Pen & Sword Books - early 2026)
Edited by Andy Saunders

[Edward]

An update for the revised and expanded five volume "After the Battle" series Battle of Britain Then and Now.

Andy Saunders fb page - 15 September 2026

"As it is 15 September, probably as good a time as any to update on progress - admittedly glacially slow - with the 'Battle of Britain Then and Now' update(s).

Volume 1 is just about ready to deliver and an all day meeting with the commissioning editor this week should push things on a bit. Vol 1 sweeps up all of the 'personnel' related subjects in one volume and Rob Pritchard has done a great of work adding in detailed lists of all RAF ground casualties.

Vol 2 will cover RAF aircraft losses, and Mark Kirby has added considerably to our sum of knowledge in respect of recovered artefacts. Also, Mark has worked hard in respect of
re-assessing previous understanding of aircraft losses, locations etc.

Vol 3 will cover Luftwaffe aircraft losses, and I will begin properly working on that with Mark Kirby - probably from next spring.

Vol 4 will cover airfields, whilst

Vol 5 will be commemorative issues, museums, preserved/surviving aircraft etc. etc.

No schedule for 4 and 5 exists, but I'd guess mid to end of 2028.

We are also pleased that Lord Ashcroft has written a foreword to the series.

We are often asked: why is it taking so long? That is not an unreasonable question!

However, this is very much a labour of love by those involved and we all have busy lives doing other 'stuff'. As editor, I don't have the luxury of being able to commit 24/7 to the project and need to earn a living doing other stuff for most of the time.

So, please be patient!

Of course, in 1979/80 a large team (I think around 12 people full time) put the original together - and we don't have that luxury.

Additionally, we have been hamstrung (to an extent) gathering some of the original source material in respect of images. Remember: 1980 was long before the digital age and copies were not kept of many of the photos. Also, most of the contributors are no longer with us and this presented another problem. So, getting all of that together has taken time, although we have all the images sorted for Vol 1, at least. However, NOTHING from the original volume was retained electronically, text or imagery, and reproducing (scanning) images from the original doesn't produce very satisfactory results.

But...we are getting there!"

[rickback4444]

Hi Andy,

Is there an email I can contact you on around your volume 3 Luftwaffe losses? I'd love to contribute any sterbebild of lost aircrew if you wanted them.

Rick

[Chris Goss]

Andy doesn't frequent this board but I will bring his attention to it. Trouble is with sterbebild the quality of photo varies