WWII Diary of RAF Mechanic Corp. Leonard F. Guttridge

[Edward]

A welcome addition to the corpus of RAF history. However the pricing is certainly high for a softcover book.
The diary spans 1937 - 1945. I wish that a few sample pages had been provided as the scant description of the book is wholly generic.
Hopefully a member of this forum can provide a brief overview of the diary entries.

McFarland released the book in the UK back in August and in the U.S. yesterday.

We Kept Britain Flying: Diary of an RAF Mechanic in World War II
(McFarland - 23 October 2023)
Edited by Vivien J. Olsen and Jan K. Herman
235 pages w/ 12 b&w photos - paperback
$39.95

"Corporal Leonard Guttridge was among the many unsung heroes of the Battle of Britain—the Royal Air Force mechanics and armorers who patched bullet holes, repaired engines, refueled empty tanks and replenished ammunition, enabling outnumbered pilots to return to the skies. His journal, written in tiny notebooks, at moments under enemy fire, chronicles the battle and its human toll, and portrays the tenacity of the RAF ground crews without whom the British could not have defeated the German Luftwaffe."

Table of Contents
Preface
About the Author
A Note to the Reader
Abbreviations
The RAF versus the Luftwaffe: September 1939
The Diary: 1937–1945 (pages 15 - 215)
Afterthought
Glossary of Aircraft Mentioned
RAF Bases Where Posted (1937–1945)
Index

About the Editors
Vivien J. Olsen is an attorney for a non-profit organization in Topeka, Kansas.

Jan K. Herman is the former chief medical historian of the U.S. Navy. He has written and produced documentaries for the Navy, highlighting its medical service during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam. He has authored more than 50 articles and five books. Now retired, he resides in Takoma Park, Maryland.

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/w...ritain-flying/

[Edward]

>Hopefully a member of this forum can provide a brief overview of the diary entries.

Well, the every reliable Bill Stone has provided an excerpt from the diary . . . and it's really good. Check out the full entry at the Stone & Stone website - link below.

16 March 1941 - Diary of Corp. Leonard Guttridge
"Next morning. Breakfast (bread and corned beef, smoky tea) served to long queue by sleepless cooks and WAAFs. No. 25 Hanger was wrecked, two new Beaufighters written off—inside rested an unexploded bomb, 50-yards radius from it roped off. Out on the field our Lysanders and Blenheim were untouched, though shrapnel lay not far from them, and dozens of burn patches showed where incendiary bombs had exploded.

I've heard so far that three were killed, over 30 injured. Last night a number of men left the camp for safety, but fog descended, ruling out further attack. There are shrapnel holes in the wall three feet from where I write this."

http://stonebooks.com/