Leo McKinstry
Cinderella Boys

The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler’s U-boats and made Allied victory possible.

Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light on the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.

Tickets: £14 (includes entrance to Layer Marney Tower, usually £10)
Box Office: Online or Mercury Theatre 01206 573948

Part of our The History Books day at Layer Marney Tower
Fancy indulging in a spot of time-travel this Summer? Then head to Layer Marney Tower, one of Henry VIII’s confirmed ‘favourites’, for a rich assortment of history books, extending from the Tudors to World War II and the royal wardrobe.

Ticket deal: All three The History Books events for £36 (includes entrance to Layer Marney Tower and Gardens). Discount will be automatically applied at checkout when tickets for all 3 events are booked:

12.00midday – Leo McKinstry
2.00pm – Rosie Harte
4.00pm – Alison Weir

About the book

The remarkable story of the unsung RAF wing who rescued Britain from Hitler’s U-boats and made Allied victory possible.

In early 1943 Britain was engaged in an epic struggle for survival. As the deadly wolf packs of German U-boats roamed the Atlantic, supply lines and shipping losses fell victim to the carnage.

In desperation, Churchill turned to the RAF’s maritime wing – an overlooked, underfunded force known as “The Cinderella Service”. But the ascendancy of the U-boat forced a change in attitude. Provided with the long-range planes, depth charges, rocket projectiles and radar equipment with which to challenge the enemy. The Cinderella boys provided vital air defence the whole way across the Atlantic. The German hunters were now the hunted, and – in a stunning defeat – had fully retreated by the summer of 1943.

The transformation of Coastal Command from a ramshackle outfit into a vast, formidable organisation provided one of the turning points of the war, keeping Britain in the war and opening the way to D-Day in 1944. But they never received the credit they deserved.

Based on a wealth of new sources, including from diaries, log books, official records, archives and interviews, Leo McKinstry shines a new light the courageous pilots, ingenious scientists and political risktakers – many of them outsiders – who defended the freezing Atlantic from Nazi rule.

‘If any branch of Britain’s armed force in the Second World War needs saving from an undeserved obscurity, it is RAF Coastal Command. McKinstry has done a fine job in rescuing it from long neglect’ – Richard Overy, author of Blood and Ruins

‘A story as satisfying as it is utterly compelling’ – Duncan Campbell-Smith, author of Jet Man

About the author

Leo McKinstry has been a successful, high-profile writer for almost three decades. He is the author of twelve non-fiction books, including a trilogy on the RAF during the Second World War, several football and cricket biographies, two of which won the WHSmith Sports Book of the Year awards, and a study of the 19th century Liberal Prime Minister Lord Rosebery, which was named as the Channel Four Political Book of the Year in 2006.

He is also a national newspaper journalist. Since 2005 he has been a twice-weekly columnist on the Daily Express, while he has been a feature writer on the Daily Mail for 27 years. His articles have also appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Independent, The Spectator, The Oldie, New Statesman and The Cricketer.