Overview

The first full reappraisal of one of Britain's great fighter aces, this book examines the truth behind Tuck's 1956 biography, Fly for Your Life. It looks at the evidence behind the myths, checks out some of the exaggerated stories and reveals the real Stanford Tuck. In January 1942 Bob Tuck was the top-scoring British fighter ace with an official score of twenty-nine enemy aircraft destroyed. During the Battle of Britain his legendary prowess grew and he was posted to command a leaderless and demoralized squadron, this time flying Hurricanes. He continued to prove he was an outstanding fighter ace, gaining the rare distinction of three DFCs and then the DSO for his leadership. He was shot down over France in January 1942. In January 1944 however, around twenty POWs, including Tuck, were purged to a new camp. Still determined to escape, Tuck and a Polish officer took a risky chance and made their way east to Russian forces and thence to England. This book reveals a more complex man than the one-dimensional hero of the previous biography. Post war, he became good friends with the Luftwaffe ace, Adolf Galland, and was a key advisor with him on the film Battle of Britain, and, often made many media appearances. His health suffered in later years from the impact of his war service and his imprisonment and he died aged seventy in 1987.

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Helen Doe is a well-established author and historian with a PhD in history from the University of Exeter. Stanford Tuck is her second biography focusing on World War II RAF aces. Graham Mack is a multi-award-winning voice actor, producer, broadcaster, and programmer. It all started one day in 1991 when he was working as an an air-conditioning engineer in Sydney Australia. He came home from work and said to his wife, ""I've had the radio on in the van today; I reckon I could do that!"" Graham was born in Liverpool and grew up in Great Sankey near Warrington. His family emigrated to New Zealand when he was eighteen. His parents returned to Britain and left him in New Zealand when he was twenty-one. He worked as a pipe fitter on an oil refinery construction site, married a Kiwi (Julie), and studied heating ventilating and air-conditioning. After seven years in New Zealand, three married to Julie, Graham and Julie moved to Sydney, Australia, where he looked after air-conditioning plants in high-rise buildings. He studied commercial radio full-time at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney and graduated top of the class of '93. After graduation in August that year, he started his first paid on-air radio job at 2PK, Parkes (in the Central West of New South Wales), doing afternoon drive. Then he did breakfast at 5SE in Mount Gambier, South Australia, then nights on 2GO on the NSW Central Coast. He moved back to the UK in 1997 to present the breakfast show on 2CR FM in Bournemouth, then Century North East, BRMB, Century East Midlands, and returned to 2CR FM as program director for three years (2004-2006). Then he spent four years on breakfast at TFM, three years doing an all-speech breakfast show on BBC Wiltshire, five years as the program director and breakfast show host at BOBfm in the home counties, and two years as the PD at Fix Radio in London. He has also presented radio shows on BBC London 94.9, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, BBC Hereford and Worcester, BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Derby, BBC Radio Kent, and 106 Jack FM. Graham has also done a lot of TV work, presenting commercials and corporate videos in Australia and in the UK. He was the subject of a five-part documentary called Changing Places for Carlton Television, appeared on Ready Steady Cook, Monkey Business on Animal Planet, and Big Brother and Big Brother's Little Brother with Russell Brand. He has also worked as a voice-over artist for many commercial clients, including radio and television companies in the UK, USA, and Australia, and has narrated many audiobooks. Graham Mack is a multi-award-winning voice actor, producer, broadcaster, and programmer. It all started one day in 1991 when he was working as an an air-conditioning engineer in Sydney Australia. He came home from work and said to his wife, ""I've had the radio on in the van today; I reckon I could do that!"" Graham was born in Liverpool and grew up in Great Sankey near Warrington. His family emigrated to New Zealand when he was eighteen. His parents returned to Britain and left him in New Zealand when he was twenty-one. He worked as a pipe fitter on an oil refinery construction site, married a Kiwi (Julie), and studied heating ventilating and air-conditioning. After seven years in New Zealand, three married to Julie, Graham and Julie moved to Sydney, Australia, where he looked after air-conditioning plants in high-rise buildings. He studied commercial radio full-time at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney and graduated top of the class of '93. After graduation in August that year, he started his first paid on-air radio job at 2PK, Parkes (in the Central West of New South Wales), doing afternoon drive. Then he did breakfast at 5SE in Mount Gambier, South Australia, then nights on 2GO on the NSW Central Coast. He moved back to the UK in 1997 to present the breakfast show on 2CR FM in Bournemouth, then Century North East, BRMB, Century East Midlands, and returned to 2CR FM as program director for three years (2004-2006). Then he spent four years on breakfast at TFM, three years doing an all-speech breakfast show on BBC Wiltshire, five years as the program director and breakfast show host at BOBfm in the home counties, and two years as the PD at Fix Radio in London. He has also presented radio shows on BBC London 94.9, BBC Radio Merseyside, BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, BBC Hereford and Worcester, BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio Shropshire, BBC Radio York, BBC Radio Derby, BBC Radio Kent, and 106 Jack FM. Graham has also done a lot of TV work, presenting commercials and corporate videos in Australia and in the UK. He was the subject of a five-part documentary called Changing Places for Carlton Television, appeared on Ready Steady Cook, Monkey Business on Animal Planet, and Big Brother and Big Brother's Little Brother with Russell Brand. He has also worked as a voice-over artist for many commercial clients, including radio and television companies in the UK, USA, and Australia, and has narrated many audiobooks.

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