Between 1939 and 1945, Oxfordshire's airfields were kept continuously active in a variety of roles vital to the national war effort.

Benson was the Headquarters for the RAF's Photographic Reconnaissance Unit, with its American equivalent based at nearby Chalgrove and Mount Farm. From these bases, pilot flew photographic missions over occupied Europe, tracking the movement of men and machinery and the damage inflicted by allied bombing. The interpretation of many of the thousands of photographs brought back was done at RAF Medmenham near Henley. Spectacular successes included the discovery of the V2 rocket site at Peenemunde and the awesome results of the Dambusters raid in 1943.

Other airfields such as Abingdon, Edgehill, Harwell and Upper Heyford were dedicated to the training of pilots and crew while Brize Norton and Weston-on-the-Green specialised in training for towed gliders. These were to prove their worth in transporting both troops and equipment on D-Day and at Arnhem.

The airfields of Kidlington, Cowley and Witney concentrated on the repair of damaged aircraft which, after testing, were often flown back to their squadrons by women pilots of the Air Transport Auxiliary which included pioneer Amy Johnson.

The county also found room for work on new technique and inventions such as the ejector seat, wire-mesh covered grass landing strips and the revolutionary Beam Approach instrumentation developed at Kelmscot and Watchfield.

As part of their training pupils from Oxfordshire's Operational Training Units carried out 'nickelling' sorties - the dropping of propaganda leaflets behind enemy lines - and together with their instructors they also took part in 'Bomber' Harris's 1,000 bomber raids on Essen and Cologne.

This book describes the history of each airfield, highlights some of the major operations carried out from them and shows the overall effect on the daily lives of the local people.

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