Chinook!: Special Forces Flight in War and Peace by David McMullon

The Special Forces Flight is a flight in the RAF that is devoted to the air transportation of the SAS and SBS. McMullon was posted to this flight as a crewman on the Chinook, that is, as one of two non-pilot crew members on this amazing helicopter. Teamwork is of the essence in this monster of a machine. A very good and complete description of the helicopter is given in an early chapter, after an introduction on how he loved flying and entered the RAF at an higher than usual age.

Saudi, Iraq, Falklands, Northern Ireland and numerous exercises in the UK are described, but the most moving part for me was the Lockerbie experience.

It was Bill's turn to go out. He went out attached to a long intercom lead. There was silence for five minutes. This wasn't like Bill so I hurried out to see what the problem was. He was just standing there, staring blankly into the distance, drifting off away into another world. At his feet were these three beautiful little kids, maybe six, three and just ten months old. Even after they had hit the ground together, the oldest two were still holding on to the baby's hands