Derek Robinson
Encyclopedia
Derek Robinson is a British author best known for his military aviation
novels full of black humour. He has also written several books on some of the more sordid events in the history of Bristol, his home town, as well as guides to rugby. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 for his first novel, Goshawk Squadron.
After attending Cotham Grammar School
, Robinson served in the Royal Air Force
as a fighter plotter, during his National Service
. He has a History degree from Cambridge University, where he attended Downing College, has worked in advertising in the UK and the US and as a broadcaster on radio and television. He was a qualified rugby
referee for over thirty years and is a life member of Bristol Society of Rugby Referees. He was married in 1964.
s of the Royal Flying Corps
(later the Royal Air Force) during the First World War:
Novels set in RAF squadrons during the Second World War:
Novels featuring Luis Cabrillo:
Other books include:
Military aviation
Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...
novels full of black humour. He has also written several books on some of the more sordid events in the history of Bristol, his home town, as well as guides to rugby. He was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1971 for his first novel, Goshawk Squadron.
After attending Cotham Grammar School
Cotham School
Cotham School is a secondary school with academy status in Cotham, a suburb of Bristol, England.-History:Its predecessor was the Merchant Venturers School.Until the academic year 2000/01, Cotham was a Grammar School...
, Robinson served in the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
as a fighter plotter, during his National Service
National service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
. He has a History degree from Cambridge University, where he attended Downing College, has worked in advertising in the UK and the US and as a broadcaster on radio and television. He was a qualified rugby
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
referee for over thirty years and is a life member of Bristol Society of Rugby Referees. He was married in 1964.
Works
Novels set in squadronSquadron (aviation)
A squadron in air force, army aviation or naval aviation is mainly a unit comprising a number of military aircraft, usually of the same type, typically with 12 to 24 aircraft, sometimes divided into three or four flights, depending on aircraft type and air force...
s of the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
(later the Royal Air Force) during the First World War:
- Goshawk SquadronGoshawk Squadron- Goshawk Squadron - a novel by Derek Robinson :This Derek Robinson novel is a brutal black comedy telling the adventures of a squadron of SE5a pilots from January 1918 to the time of the German spring offensive of March 1918.This novel was Robinson's first....
(1971) is set in 1918 with the squadron flying the S.E.5aRoyal Aircraft Factory S.E.5The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. Although the first examples reached the Western Front before the Sopwith Camel and it had a much better overall performance, problems with its Hispano-Suiza engine, particularly the geared-output H-S...
. - War Story (1987) is set in 1916 with Hornet SquadronHornet SquadronHornet Squadron is the name of a fictional Royal Flying Corps, and later Royal Air Force, fighter squadron featured in a number of novels by British author Derek Robinson....
flying the F.E.2b. and F.E.2d - Hornet's Sting (1999) is set in 1917 with Hornet Squadron flying the Sopwith PupSopwith PupThe Sopwith Pup was a British single seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good maneuverability, the aircraft proved very...
and the Bristol F.2B Fighter.
Novels set in RAF squadrons during the Second World War:
- Piece of CakePiece of Cake (book)Piece of Cake is a 1983 novel by Derek Robinson which follows a fictional Royal Air Force fighter squadron through the first year of World War II, and the Battle of Britain. It was later made into a television series....
(1983) is set during the Phoney War and Battle of BritainBattle of BritainThe Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
with Hornet Squadron flying the HurricaneHawker HurricaneThe Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
. The TV mini-series (1988) with the same namePiece of Cake (TV series)Piece of Cake is a six part 1988 television series, depicting the life of a Royal Air Force fighter squadron from the day of the British entry into World War II through to one of the toughest days in the Battle of Britain...
is based on this book. - A Good Clean FightA Good Clean FightA Good Clean Fight is a 1993 novel by Derek Robinson, and a sequel to Piece of Cake , his famous and controversial novel of the Battle of Britain. It continues the story of RAF Hornet Squadron, now posted to North Africa in 1942, during a lull in the fighting...
(1993) covers the Desert Air ForceDesert Air ForceThe Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...
during 1942 with Hornet Squadron flying the Curtiss Tomahawk. - Damned Good ShowDamned Good ShowDamned Good Show is a 2002 novel by Derek Robinson, concerning the actions of Bomber Command of the Royal Air Force in the first two years of the Second World War. It is the third book of Robinson's "RAF Quartet", which began with Piece of Cake in 1983 and continued with A Good Clean Fight in 1993...
(2002) covers RAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber CommandRAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
's early bomber operations and has fictional No. 409 Squadron RAF flying the Handley Page HampdenHandley Page HampdenThe Handley Page HP.52 Hampden was a British twin-engine medium bomber of the Royal Air Force serving in the Second World War. With the Whitley and Wellington, the Hampden bore the brunt of the early bombing war over Europe, taking part in the first night raid on Berlin and the first 1,000-plane...
. - Hullo Russia, Goodbye England (2008), self-published and available from his website. It begins in 1943, as Silk (the main protagonist from "Damned Good Show") is on his second tour, and moves into the early 1960s when he rejoins the RAF as an Avro VulcanAvro VulcanThe Avro Vulcan, sometimes referred to as the Hawker Siddeley Vulcan, was a jet-powered delta wing strategic bomber, operated by the Royal Air Force from 1956 until 1984. Aircraft manufacturer A V Roe & Co designed the Vulcan in response to Specification B.35/46. Of the three V bombers produced,...
pilot during the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
.
Novels featuring Luis Cabrillo:
- The Eldorado NetworkThe Eldorado NetworkThe Eldorado Network is a 1979 espionage novel by Derek Robinson. Three sequels followed, Artillery of Lies in 1991, Red Rag Blues in 2006, and Operation Bamboozle in 2009...
(1979), about counter-espionage in WWII Spain and Portugal. - Artillery of Lies (1991), set mostly in England and Germany.
- Red Rag Blues (2006), about espionage and the McCarthy witchhunts in 1950s America.
- Operation Bamboozle (2009), Luis Cabrillo travel to Las Vegas and tangles with the Mob. Self-published and available from his website.
Other books include:
- Son of Bristle (1971) Abson Books. A guide to Bristle azit's poke.
- Rotten with Honour (1973), about Cold War-espionage.
- Kramer's War (1977) is set on the island of JerseyJerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
in 1944. - Run with the Ball (1984). Collins. Guide to Rugby Union play.
- The Best Green Walks in Bristol (1994). Westcountry Books. Local walking guide.
- A Load of Old Bristle: Krek Waiter's Peak Bristle (2002). Robinson, Derek, and Wiltshire, Vic. Countryside Books. More infermasun on howter's peak Bristle.
- Kentucky Blues(2002), about life in a nineteenth-century American town.
- Sick Sentries of Bristle (2004). Countryside Books. "A slapstick dash through 600 years of local excitements".
- Invasion, 1940 (2005), a non-fiction work about World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
which aims to debunk "two powerful myths": first, that the RAFRoyal Air ForceThe Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
alone prevented an invasion of Great Britain by HitlerAdolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's Germany; and second, that such an invasion force would inevitably have conquered Britain. - A Darker History of Bristol (2005). Countryside Books. "A fair share of cruel, inglorious and scandalous episodes that are generally little referred to".
- Rugby: A Player's Guide to the Laws (2005). HarperCollinsWillow. The laws of the game made simple.
- Better Rugby Refereeing (2007), co-authored with Ed Morrison.