Halpenny served in the Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) in specialist units, often overseas.[3] After being wounded, he moved across to the RAF Police on Special Security Duties (Atomic & Chemical Weapons), and was part of a special RAFmilitary police unit in the Nuclear Division,[3] responsible for protecting the nuclear weapons used by the V bombers in times of war.[4]
Literary career
In the 1950s, whilst in the Royal Air Force, he was wounded and had to undergo several operations to save his hand and arm.[citation needed] In rehabilitation, he started writing and research as a hobby, before turning it into his profession in later years after leaving the forces.[5]
Early years
In the early period of his writing career, Halpenny started out by writing love stories and cowboy stories for the American market under pen names.[citation needed] Because of his specialist knowledge of the Royal Air Force, he began to focus on military history, especially that of the RAF in the Second World War, often with deep insights, facts, and personal human interest stories.[6] At one time, he was writing articles for up to 14 military journals around the world, when he was approached by the publishers Patrick Stephens to write the Airfield books due to his vast knowledge and authority.[5]
Military history
When he researched the British RAF airfield histories, particularly those of London, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Halpenny found that public records held very little, if any, information so he had to do all the research himself going back to the very beginning. This helped to unearth a rich source of information, which others have since used, and made Halpenny an undisputed RAF expert.[7] For his research on the airfields, Halpenny interviewed 1,400 people, researched records and letters, and traveled thousands of miles.[8] Halpenny visited each and every airfield he wrote about (some of which he had prior knowledge of from his military days) to ensure accuracy.[9]
His books quickly became essential reference books for all aviation historians.[10] Virtually all of the information was new, in the sense that it had not appeared in the dozens of books which had been written about the RAF, new too were the many photographs that were just a selection of the thousands he collected and commissioned.[11] In the opening chapters of his book Action Stations 2 Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, there were a selection of control tower photos – this was the first time this had been done in any book.[12]
The author, known for his books on airfields and aircraft, spent nine months researching the Lightnings[15] with the pilots of 5 and 11 Squadrons and Binbrook's own Lightning Training Flight.[15] To gather information for the book, the author talked to men like, Sqdn Ldr Dave Carden (with 3,000 plus hours, the most experienced Lightning pilot in the world) and fellow pilots and ground staff.[15]
The book itself gives an insight into the workings of RAF Binbrook, its Lightnings, and the men that fly and maintain them.[15] Sqdn Ldr Dave Carden takes the reader on a typically "hair-raising mission",[15] while another section is devoted to a pilot's experiences when his aircraft caught fire and crashed into the sea off Flamborough Head in 1981.[15] It also deals with the Quick Reaction Alert shed, where two fully armed Lightnings and their pilots were on constant standby to intercept Russian aircraft which used to sometimes fly to within 100 miles of Spurn Point.[15]
The author was already working on the book when he was approached by the BBC to produce a related theme for a history programme, hence the book and programme sharing the same name. The programme was aired on BBC1 in late 1983 and the book launched in early 1984.[16] The book (ISBN978-0-85059-678-6) tells of the day-to-day activities at bomber stations between 1939 and 1945, where the author had meticulously researched his material.[16] It draws extensively on reminiscences from surviving crew members who served at stations such as Waddington, Scampton, Skellingthorpe, Binbrook, Fiskerton, Bardney, Woodhall Spa, and many others.[17]
The book also recalls the stories of those that did not survive or were shot down over enemy territory. A routine flight from RAF Skellingthorpe that turned into a nightmare, and memories of raids on Nuremberg, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, where airmen watched their comrades shot out of the sky by a barrage of deadly enemy flak, all help to paint a picture of what it was like to be an airman based in wartime England.[16]
The book was the basis for a BBC television programme with the same title, which plots the history and present conditions of seven RAF and USAF airfields in the East Midlands. Halpenny scripted the programme and merged wartime film footage with up-to-date shots.[18] The film cameraman was Dick Kursa, the film editor was John Rosser, and the producer was Mike Derby. First shown on BBC1 at 10.15pm on 11 February 1983.[citation needed]
The book, known to James Bond fans,[19] and also used as a reference book for other Bond books,[20][21] gives a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film,[21] as well as providing all the location shoots for the film,[22] and also a brief history of aviation legend[23] Ken Wallis. Halpenny and Wallis were friends and both ex-Royal Air Force.
The book briefly delves into Ken Wallis's early family connections with aviation, then onto his own World War II exploits, first as an operational pilot in the Army Co-operation Command flying Lysanders and then as an operational captain of Wellington bombers. Finally, the reader is brought to Wallis’s post-war activities and early stunt filming in Brazil, (some around the statue of Christ by the Corcovado Mountain at Rio de Janeiro and at one point accidentally getting caught in one of Brazil’s notorious "ventana" windstorms) and Italy.
The book then gives the behind the scenes information about Little Nellie, a Wallis WA-116 Agile, and the filming.[21][22]
James Bond 007: Aproximación a una saga by Luis Saavedra Castaño— Published by Saimel Ediciones, 2000. Original from the University of Michigan. Digitized February 26, 2008 (229 pages)
The book has first hand accounts by veteran RAF aircrew and their support staff, giving an insight into life in RAF Bomber Command as well as the creation and development of the bomber airfield for a new form of war.[24] There is also a full account of all of Bomber Command's Victoria Cross awards. Reviewers have noted that the book also features previously unpublished photographs.[24]
The book looks at the development of the aircraft during the early days of jet power and beyond.[26] Each of the many marks and variants are described.[26] The type's record of service with RAF Squadrons is given together with descriptions of the many experimental models.[26]
In the introduction, the author states, “it was a matter of producing either a technical book, or one that would appeal to a wider readership, setting out the true Canberra story: marks, variants, overseas orders, squadrons, records, experimental Canberras, camouflage, markings, and most importantly, the truth about bombing up the aircraft; also serious problems with which the Canberra was sent out to operational R.A.F. stations."[27] He chose the latter and the finished article is an "outstanding"[27] tribute to a remarkable aeroplane,[27] though those that were deep aviation fans were unhappy that it was not a technical book. A case that the author could not satisfy everyone.
The book took 18 years to complete and the acknowledgments cover two full pages - a testimony to the thoroughness of Halpenny's research.[27] Among the many firms and names mentioned, one in particular comes in for special mention. W/Cdr. K H Wallis, who saved the life of the Canberra by inventing the system of loading bombs for as late at 1951 at R.A.F. Binbrook, not a single aircraft was capable of delivering bombs, simply because the fuselage was too low to the ground![27]
With Canberra's introduction came the early Rolls-Royce Axial Flow Avon engine, a full description of which, its history and development is given in Chapter 2 - the author even tells us how a jet engine delivers its thrust.[27]
The book displays a collection of photographs - some never seen before, also the history and deployment of no less than 81 Squadrons each of which flies the Canberra in its various marks and roles.[27]
Ghosts and mysteries
Halpenny had been writing ghost stories in the 1960s, and encountering ghost stories in his exhaustive research into airfield histories, when in 1984 he decided they should form the subject of a special book, and so started to add to, and research his 'ghost-mystery' files about abandoned airfields that murmur and whisper with ghosts.[28] By 1984, he had become acknowledged as not only a respected Britishmilitary historian, expert in airfield histories, but also the expert in RAF Ghosts, especially surrounding airfields.[29]Ghost Stations was born, and in 1986 the first book was published, and proved a best seller as it recounts how "headless airmen and other spectres have appeared in control towers and other Service buildings throughout the country".[30] Such was demand that a second book entitled, Aaargh! was published with over 30 stories, one of which was The eerie mystery of Lightning 894.[31]Aaargh!, was later to become Ghost Stations 2, as more books later followed over the years, and became the cult series of Ghost Stations books.
Halpenny's unique knowledge and position meant that he was also known for accessing and finding information generally closed to the general public and media, especially Ministry of Defence (MoD) material concerning UFOs.[32]
Halpenny always maintained that all airfields are haunted.[33] Over the years, he uncovered a wealth of material about ghostly experiences on wartime airfields.[29] "The evidence of ghosts keeps popping up and is so rich that it cannot be ignored," he said[29] continuing, "You have to remember that 55,000 men of Bomber Command died while operating from Britain in World War Two, and almost all of them met a violent end, so it isn't surprising that dozens of earthbound spirits have been left behind."[29]
Halpenny was always vocal in his campaigns for numerous organizations and causes, especially concerning veterans, war widows, wounded and invalided servicemen and women. He also helped schools[35] and children's charities such as Mencap, in campaigning and highlighting issues, and even in one case when he donated a vintage bottle of wine to help raise funds. The bottle was unique in that it was the last bottle remaining after the Nazis had plundered the cellars of families living in an Italian Abruzzo village in World War II. The author's uncle was a Canadian tank commander whose tank was the first to liberate the village, and was also the first tank to enter Ortona in the Battle of Ortona.[36] The bottle was given to the author, as he lived in Abruzzo[37] and his research work had taken him to that area.[38] Halpenny said on donating the bottle:[38]
Because the bottle is unique, it seemed a waste to just drink it without using it to gain some benefit for others.
He also long campaigned for the Government to do their part and preserve a 1939-45 War airfield in its original condition; to let future generations see how the RAF operated during those dark days.
If something isn't done to preserve one of them soon, we'll get to the silly situation where one is built from scratch as a memorial to the RAF's effort in the last war.
123James Bond 007 By Luis Saavedra Castaño - PUBLICACIÓ Valencia: Saimel, cop. 2000 (OCLC293138301) Pages 123 & 226
12Der große James Bond Atlas by Siegfried Tesche - Oktober 2008 (ISBN9783577073059) Alle Filme, Schauplätze und Hintergründe. zahlreiche farbige Abbildungen. Pages 92-95
