Royal Air Force Kenley, more commonly known as RAF Kenley is a former airfield station of the Royal Flying Corps in the First World War and the RAF in the Second World War. It played a significant role during the Battle of Britain as one of the three RAF stations specifically tasked with the defence of London. It is located near Kenley on the edge of Greater London. The site remains in use with the Ministry of Defence, as Kenley Airfield.
Ralph Hammond Innes was a British novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as works for children and travel books.
Kenley is a residential suburb within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 13 miles (21 km) south of Charing Cross and within the southern boundary of London, England. Surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt on three sides, it includes the large open spaces of Kenley Common and Kenley Aerodrome. Kenley was part of the ancient parish of Coulsdon in the county of Surrey and was connected to central London by rail in 1856. As the population of the area was growing, it became part of Coulsdon and Purley Urban District in 1915 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. At the 2011 Census, Kenley had a population of 14,966.
The Hardest Day was a Second World War air battle fought on 18 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain between the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF). On that day, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command. The air battles that took place on that day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history to that time. Both sides suffered heavy losses. In the air, the British shot down twice as many Luftwaffe aircraft as they lost. However, many RAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground, equalising the total losses of both sides. Further large and costly aerial battles took place after 18 August, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including 15 September, the Battle of Britain Day, generally considered the climax of the fighting. For this reason, Sunday 18 August 1940 became known as "the Hardest Day" in Britain.
Killer Mine or The Killer Mine is a 1947 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. Jim Pryce, a deserter from the British Army, returns clandestinely from Italy aboard the ship Arisaig to his native Cornwall, but is left on a beach having been robbed, beaten, and implicated in murder. Seeking to use his mining expertise, he becomes involved in an attempt to re-open the abandoned and flooded Wheal Garth mine owned by the elderly Manack, but Manack's son and his henchmen force him to drill a sea entrance from one of the mine galleries to be used for smuggling liquor. His only ally is the girl, Kitty, who delivers him a letter from his long-dead mother and hints that her death was not an accident, but part of a plot by which old Manack gained control of the mine.
Maddon's Rock is a 1948 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes published by Collins. The following year it was released in America by Harper with the alternative title of Gale Warning. To research the novel Innes crewed on a friend's yacht in the Fastnet Race.
The Blue Ice is a 1948 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes and published by Collins.
Wreckers Must Breathe is a 1940 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was published in the United States by Putnam's under the title Trapped. Set in the early stages of the Second World War, it tells a story about German U-boats operating from a secret base in Cornwall. The title refers to the tradition of wrecking on the Cornish coast.
The Trojan Horse is a 1940 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. A London lawyer decides to help a German inventor suspected of murder.
The Angry Mountain is a 1950 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. An Englishman still tortured by his wartime experiences, gets drawn into intrigue in Czechoslovakia and Italy.
Air Bridge is a 1951 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes.
The Strange Land is a 1954 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was released in the United States by Knopf under the alternative title The Naked Land.
The Land God Gave to Cain is a 1958 adventure novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was published in the UK by Collins and in the United States by Knopf. After a plane crash in a remote part of Labrador, a British pilot heads out to investigate based on some radio messages his father has overheard.
Atlantic Fury is a 1962 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. A man investigates the death of his brother in a military disaster in the Outer Hebrides.
Golden Soak is a 1973 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was adapted into a 1979 Australian television series of the same title. In 1981 it was adapted to a children's story.
North Star is a 1974 British thriller novel by Hammond Innes. A man tries to prevent a plot to blow up a North Sea oil rig.
The Doomed Oasis is a 1960 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. A solicitor helps a young man to travel to the Arabian peninsula to find his father, a famous oil prospector Colonel Charles Whitaker.
The Black Tide is a 1982 mystery thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was first published in The United Kingdom August 23, 1982. It was published in America the following year by Doubleday.
Solomon's Seal is a 1980 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. It was published in the United Kingdom by Collins and in the United States by Knopf.
The Big Footprints is a 1977 thriller novel by the British writer Hammond Innes. A British television director, Colin Tait, representing the BBC and his American counterpart, Abe Finkel, representing CBS, get drawn into a battle between two old rivals in Kenya. Alex Kirby-Smith is a hunter with a government contract to cull elephants so the land can be used for cattle and crops, while his rival, Cornelius van Delden, is trying to preserve the elephants. Since there is a drought, van Delden feels that there is no need for culling the herd, while Kirby-Smith is determined to fulfill his government contract. Tait wants to enlist van Delden to take him to a mountain called Porr on the east shore of Lake Rudolf to investigate some rumored ancient rock dwellings, while Finkel is enamored with elephants, so convinces Tait to let him tag along. The inevitable clash between van Delden and Kirby-Smith leads to murders, both human and animal.
