The Seafaring Heroes Who Helped Win WWII

Churchill’s Pirates

BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PATHFINDERS 
 
As the UK entered WWII, and the nation called its men and women to their battle stations, a rag-tag group of sailors was brought together to form a ‘navy within a navy’ – the Royal Naval Patrol Service – to help defend Britain’s shores. 
From sailing on the frontlines with the motley crew of sailors using converted fishing vessels to clear sea mines from British waters to Winston Churchill's clandestine war room meetings with navy leaders, Will Iredale brings us into the pivotal moments that transformed the war and helped secure victory for the allies with first hand accounts, exclusive interviews with veterans, and new material from the archives. 
 
This is the defining story of the overlooked unit of ordinary people who worked day and night to keep Britain safe in her darkest hour.

Will Iredale is a bestselling author, journalist and media consultant. After a decade working at the Sunday Times, first on the foreign news desk and subsequently the home news desk specialising in domestic news and investigations, he wrote the bestselling book The Kamikaze Hunters. He is currently a media consultant and lives in Kent with his family.

Churchill’s Pirates was the naval force whose “toils and tireless courage” - in the words of Churchill himself -helped the Allies defeat Hitler’s mighty war machine. At its heart was the Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS), a “navy within a navy” that was bought together to fight the Nazis and their fellow Axis nations across the world. 
 
The 70,000 men and women are largely forgotten today, but they played a vital role in winning World War II. Manning 6,000 ships, at least 3,218 men officially lost their lives, and more of their vessels were attacked and sunk by the enemy than any other branch of the Royal Navy. 
 
Told through fascinating first-hand accounts with surviving veterans, exclusive interviews, original papers and new archive material this will be the defining story of the overlooked unit who worked night and day to keep Britain safe in her darkest hour.

Will Iredale

Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner

They were the bravest of the brave... [an] absorbing history

A sensitive, colourful and moving account... Compelling

Another excellent book by Will Iredale, delving into the story of Bomber Command's Pathfinder Squadrons with drama and pace. The human stories, and the incredible advancements in aerial warfare, leap from the page from start to finish

John Nichol, author of TORNADO - In the Eye of the Storm

Fascinating and utterly gripping ... Will Iredale's painstaking research is impeccable, as is his storytelling. This stunning book is scored with unforgettable characters, reminding us this is a human story of resourcefulness, ingenuity, and above all, extraordinary courage

Painstakingly researched and brilliantly told: Will Iredale has really captured the essence of the RAF's elite pathfinder force

Keith Lowe, bestselling author of SAVAGE CONTINENT

A highly-readable account of raw courage and technical innovation, brought to life by a master historian

Paul Beaver, historian and heritage pilot

A superb book full of evocative stories

Mesmeric ... their contribution to Britain's victory was vital ... skillfully interweaves details of the brave pilots' lives with a weighty account of British military strategy

The Elite RAF Force that Turned the Tide of WWII

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER! 
 
Military History Matters Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner 
'Compelling... sensitive, colourful and moving' -- Saul David, Telegraph 
'Fascinating and utterly gripping' -- James Holland 
'Absorbing' -- Daily Mail Book of the Week 
 
The incredible story of the crack team of men and women who transformed RAF Bomber Command and helped the Allies deliver decisive victory over Nazi Germany. 
 
 The Pathfinders were ordinary men and women from a range of nations who revolutionised the efficiency of the Allies' air campaign over mainland Europe. They elevated Bomber Command - initially the only part of the Allied war effort capable of attacking the heart of Nazi Germany - from an impotent force on the cusp of disintegration in 1942 to one capable of razing whole German cities to the ground in a single night, striking with devastating accuracy, inspiring fear and loathing in Hitler's senior command. 
 
 With exclusive interviews with remaining survivors, personal diaries, previously classified records and never-before seen photographs, The Pathfinders brings to life the characters of the airmen and women - many barely out of their teens - who took to the skies in legendary British aircraft such as the Lancaster and the Mosquito, facing almost unimaginable levels of violence from enemy fighter planes to strike at the heart of the Nazi war machine.

Will Iredale

Praise for The Pathfinders

Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner

They were the bravest of the brave... [an] absorbing history

A sensitive, colourful and moving account... Compelling

Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner

They were the bravest of the brave... [an] absorbing history

A sensitive, colourful and moving account... Compelling

Book of the Year Bronze Award Winner

They were the bravest of the brave... [an] absorbing history

A sensitive, colourful and moving account... Compelling

Books by Will Iredale

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