This biography of wreck hunter Terry Parsons provides an absorbing insight into the archaeology of WWII aircraft wrecks. The able text is supported by exclusive photography and is created from original notes recorded by Terry Parsons. – Most Highly Recommended.
NAME: The Wreck Hunter, Battle of Britain & the Blitz FILE: R3125 AUTHOR: Melody Foreman PUBLISHER: frontline books, Pen & Sword BINDING: hard back PRICE: £25.00 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War II, World War 2, Second World War, air war, medium bombers, multi-role aircraft, light bombers, Army co-operation, ground attack, fighters, fighter bombers, interdiction, wrecks. Wreck hunters, archaeology
ISBN: 1-52671-258-X
PAGES: 214 IMAGE: B3125.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/tqgfzeo DESCRIPTION: This biography of wreck hunter Terry Parsons provides an absorbing insight into the archaeology of WWII aircraft wrecks. The able text is supported by exclusive photography and is created from original notes recorded by Terry Parsons. – Most Highly Recommended. The archaeologist has revolutionized the process of building history. Although we often look down on oral history, much of what has become accepted as true and accurate written history is no better than second hand information. Often it is recorded many years after an event and coloured by the prejudices of the writer or the writer's patron. When the camera was used from the American Civil War we might have assumed that all had changed dramatically, an increasing volume of photographic images, and then film and video, is assumed by many to have placed history on an unshakeable foundation. This is not an entirely firm assumption. Even modern war, with embedded journalists and photojournalists, mountains of official documents, and interviews recorded with those involved in the events, still leaves much ambiguous information and large gaps where nothing is recorded. The growing use of photographic and video imaging does close off many areas of building history from 'interpretation' by historians, but it also misleads or simply misses action. Archaeology has been steadily filling the gaps in knowledge and questioning many aspects of accepted history, however or whenever it was recorded. This enthralling biography demonstrates how much the work of archaeologists has been contributing to military history from as recently as 75 years ago and the last of those who participated in events die and the memories of some of the last survivors dim before they can be recorded and compared with other memories. Those searching for WWII aircraft wrecks to provide an archaeological record of one of the major air battles of history face challenges that archaeologists working on more ancient sites do not. One delicate area in working WWII wreck sites is that the remains of the pilot or crew may still be present and close relatives of the dead may still be alive. The site is therefore a war grave with all of the sensitivities that this involves. The other factor is that when aircraft crashed, they became buried with their ammunition and bombs which are still very much alive. Then, the archaeologist has all the normal constraints in preserving history. A further unique factor is that the air Battle for Britain covered most of the British Isles and although we may formally regard the Battle of Britain as being conducted in the Summer of 1940, almost entirely in the south east of England, it continued until the last V1 and V2 impacted and the last German aircraft was removed from the skies.