Publications
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, published 1982 (pamphlet) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 8514]
Tangmere: a village with two stories, by Barbara Best and George Harper, published 1983 (pamphlet, 36 pp., Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., ISBN-10: 0850335094 & ISBN-13: 9780850335095) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12435][Lib 8903] & West Sussex Libraries
Fighter Station Supreme: R.A.F. Tangmere, by Wing commander H. R. Allen, D.F.C., published 9 May 1985 (192 pp., Harper Collins Publishers Ltd., ISBN-10: 0586062661 & ISBN-13: 9780586062661) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 9359] & West Sussex Libraries
RAF Tangmere Revisited (Sutton's Photographic History of Aviation), by Andy Saunders, published 1 November 1988 (144 pp., Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN-10: 075091906X & ISBN-13: 9780750919067) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 13876] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This title is a pictorial look at one of the most famous stations in the history of the RAF. The author gathers a selection of photographs, including commentary on Tangmere after World War II, and the jet age. Some of the most famous names in the history of the RAF flew from Tangmere including Johnny Johnson and Douglas Bader, and its squadrons were considered to be among the finest in service. This book is a tribute to Tangmere, and should be enjoyed by aviation enthusiasts and historians everywhere.
Merlin and the Sabre: The Story of RAF Apuldram, 1943-1945, by Ken Rimell, published 1992 (booklet, published by the author) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 11836] & West Sussex Libraries
RAF Tangmere in Old Photographs, by Andy Saunders, published 26 November 1992 (160 pp., Stroud: Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN-10: 0750901721 & ISBN-13: 9780750901727) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 12174][Lib 12926] & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Coolham Airfield remembered: Memories and anecdotes of a Sussex D-Day Fighter Station and village, by Paul Hamlin and Ann Davies, published 1996 (150 pp., published by the author, ISBN-13: 9780952796800) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries
Bader's Tangmere Spitfires, Untold Story, 1941, by Dilip Sarkar, published 1 November 1996 (207 pp., Patrick Stephens Ltd., ISBN-10: 1852605634 & ISBN-13: 9781852605636) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
A Sussex Sunset: RAF Pevensey & Wartling 1938-1964, by Peter Longstaff-Tyrell, published 1998 (Polegate: Gote House Publishing, ISBN-10: 0952129728 & ISBN-13: 9780952129721) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries
Destination Fowington, East Sussex Military Airfields & Allied Aircraft Incidents, by Peter Longstaff-Tyrell, published 1999 (Polegate: Gote House Publishing, ISBN-10: 0952129744 & ISBN-13: 9780952129745) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Spitfires Over Sussex: The Exploits of 602 Squadron, by David Rowland, published 30 October 2000 (150 pp., Peacehaven: Finsbury Publishing, ISBN-10: 0953939200 & ISBN-13: 9780953939206) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Heroes of Fighter Command Sussex, by Rupert Matthews, published 2007 (192 pp., Berkshire: Countryside Books, ISBN-10: 1846740363 & ISBN-13: 9781846740367) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
West Sussex at War: the role of the military airfields during World War Two, by Robin Brokes, published Autumn 2007 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 76, article, p.27) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/76] & The Keep [LIB/500500]
Traffic Lights and a Lot of Prudence: the design and construction of RAF Thorney, 1936-45, by Philip MacDougall, published Autumn 2007 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 76, article, p.38) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/76] & The Keep [LIB/500500]
Tangmere Military Aviation Museum Silver Jubilee 1977, by Alan Bower, published Autumn 2007 in West Sussex History, the Journal of West Sussex Archives Society (no. 76, article, p.51) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16404/76] & The Keep [LIB/500500]
RAF Friston, by Mike Keller, published 2013 (booklet no. 36, East Dean & Friston Local History Group) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/509213] & East Dean & Friston Local History Group
Diary of a wartime airfield with some personal memories.
Tangmere: famous Royal Air Force fighter station : an authorised history, by Reginald Byron and David Coxon, published 3 December 2013 (328 pp., London: Grub Street in association with Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, ISBN-10: 1909166197 & ISBN-13: 9781909166196) accessible at: British Library & West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This is the first full history of the Royal Air Force fighter station at Tangmere, West Sussex, from its beginnings in the First World War until its untimely closure in 1970. In its day, it was one of the best-known and strategically most important fighter stations in the British Isles. Tangmere first became prominent in the 1920s and 1930s for the highly polished air displays given at the RAF Pageants at Hendon by the pilots and aircraft of its resident squadrons, 1 and 43. On the outbreak of the Second World War, 1 Squadron was the first RAF squadron to be sent to France. With the fall of France in May 1940, Tangmere's squadrons found themselves right on the front line and during the Battle of Britain Tangmere was one of the main fighter stations constantly engaging with the deadly Luftwaffe. Tangmere's Hurricane and Spitfire pilots continued heroically to defend southern England for the next three years and turned increasingly to an offensive role, led by Wing Commander Douglas Bader. Squadrons at Tangmere were heavily involved in Operation Jubilee, the combined raid on Dieppe, and continued over the years to harass the enemy across the Channel with increasing accuracy, ferocity and persistence, culminating in a pivotal role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings.
After the war Tangmere settled into a peacetime routine, became home to the High Speed Flight and the World Air Speed Record was broken there in 1946 and again in 1953 by Neville Duke. As the cold war set in Tangmere was no longer well positioned as an interceptor station and by the end of 1958 Fighter Command had withdrawn its last squadron. The airdrome was used by Signals Command for six years or so then served as a home to various non-flying units until its decommissioning in 1970. It is now a highly prized museum with many valuable artifacts and aircraft. Expertly told with use of official diaries and operations record books this is a long-awaited, comprehensive and conclusive account of a fascinating fighter station and its neighboring airfield Ford.
After the war Tangmere settled into a peacetime routine, became home to the High Speed Flight and the World Air Speed Record was broken there in 1946 and again in 1953 by Neville Duke. As the cold war set in Tangmere was no longer well positioned as an interceptor station and by the end of 1958 Fighter Command had withdrawn its last squadron. The airdrome was used by Signals Command for six years or so then served as a home to various non-flying units until its decommissioning in 1970. It is now a highly prized museum with many valuable artifacts and aircraft. Expertly told with use of official diaries and operations record books this is a long-awaited, comprehensive and conclusive account of a fascinating fighter station and its neighboring airfield Ford.