The RAF did not come of age until the Second World War. The role of its forerunners in the Great War, the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service, although important, was peripheral to that of the ground forces. The founding father of the RAF, Lord Trenchard, was determined that it should become a fully-fledged third service, equal in status to the Royal Navy and British Army, and this he succeeded in doing between the wars, firstly by setting up the RAF College at Cranwell, and Staff College at Andover, and secondly by providing a cost-effective policeman of the more rebellious parts of the British Empire. By 1939 the RAF had grown substantially, but, of the three best aircraft of the coming War, only the Supermarine Spitfire was in service, as neither the Avro Lancaster nor the De Havilland Mosquito would be available until early 1942. Aircraft, however, were not enough. It was the leaders of the RAF, the subjects of this book, who would take the battle to the enemy and who, after six long years, would prevail. AUTHOR: Richard Mead was born in 1947. Educated at Marlborough College and Pembroke College, Cambridge, Richard qualified as a Chartered Accountant and was successively an investment banker, a partner in a Big Four accountancy firm and an independent adviser to and non-executive chairman or director of a large number of public and private companies. He retired in 2014. Richard has always been interested in military history and biography. His first book, Churchill's Lions – A Biographical Guide to the Key British Generals of World War II, was published in 2007. He has subsequently built himself a reputation as a biographer with General 'Boy': The Life of Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Browning, The Last Great Cavalryman: The Life of General Sir Richard McCreery, Commando General: The Life of Major General Sir Robert Laycock and 'Sam': Marshal of the Royal Air Force The Lord Elworthy and Dambuster-in-Chief: The Life of Air Chief Marshal Sir Ralph Cochrane. These five books and The Men Behind Monty, which was shortlisted for the British Army Military Book of the Year 2016, are all in print with Pen & Sword.