The Library

The Club Library is entered through the Churchill Bar on the ground floor. It was started in 2002 following a very large donation of books by the aviation artist Frank Wootton. The collection has steadily grown and there are now almost 3,500 books related to aviation and the story of the Royal Air Force from the First World War to the present day.

The library is managed by a small team of volunteers who are normally present on Wednesdays from 1100hrs am until 1500hrs. They will be happy to show you around the library, explain its workings and demonstrate the borrowing procedure.

To contact the Librarians, please email library@rafclub.org.uk

The Catalogue

The catalogue is directly accessible online or on the two Apple computers in the Library. Searching is simple, instructions are included and are set out on the computer desks.

The books are arranged in broad categories, including Aircraft, Commands, Squadrons, Operational Techniques and Campaigns, include books on the two world wars, the Suez Crisis, the Cold War, Vietnam, Korea, the Falklands, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Libya, to mention but a few. There is also a large collection of biographies and memoirs and a new section containing lighter reading and fiction.

For those who prefer to browse the shelves, there are diagrams showing the locations of the various categories on the computer desks and by the door to the Churchill Bar.

Download the Catalogue

Using the Library

Procedure for borrowing books

Members are welcome to borrow books at any time. Simply fill in a Loan Sheet (to be found on the librarian’s desk) and place it in the box provided. Books should be returned within a month.

When returning books by hand, please remember to return them to Reception, not the Library. The librarians will collect and re-shelve them when on duty. If you are not revisiting the Club, please return books by post.

Members staying at the Club
You may borrow books to read in your room. No loan form is needed – simply return the books to Reception.

New additions to the Library
If you would like to suggest a book for purchase or have a query, please email in the first instance library@rafclub.org.uk. Whilst the Library team welcome offers of donations, please do not send books until the librarians have confirmed that they do not duplicate works already in the library.

Download the Categories

Library News - Summer 2026

All the books in the catalogue are listed on the two computers at the far end of the library. They also contain a facility to search for a book either by its title or by the author’s name.

Our recent additions to the stock include:

F2 LOM 3784 - One Wing High - The Life and Times of a Halifax Navigator in WW11 - by Harry Lomas

B11 WAR 3781 - Ministrare non Ministrari - A History of the Royal Air Force Chaplaincy from its Foundation in 1918 to the Present - by Stephen Ware

H1 STR 3775 - Whitney Straight: Racing Driver, War Hero, Industrialist - The Biography. Qualified as a Pilot at 17 and Revolutionised Aircraft Design - by Paul Kenny

H1 BRO 3783 - Squadron Leader Tommy Broom DFCxx His Story: A Posset Lad - Flew his first operational sortie as a navigator in September 1939; last in April 1945 - by Tom Parry Evans

H1 YEO 3785 - Bravest of the Brave - The true story of W/C “Tommy Yeo- Thomas” GC, MCx SOE Secret Agent: Codename “White Rabbit” - by Mark Seaman

A8 SPI 3778 - Beyond the Spitfire. The Unseen Designs of RJ Mitchell - Often called a genius he also produced a huge body of concepts, projects and ideas that never left the drawing board - by Ralph Pegram

H1 MUN 3790 - Fast Jets on the Front Line - Flying Phantoms, Javelins & Tornados in the Cold War - by Alan Munro

H1 BEL 3787 - Bloody Dangerous - Flying Missions over Germany. The Last First Hand Account from WWII - by Fl Lt Colin Bell DFC

“Truly Memorable combining laugh-out-loud reminiscences with jaw dropping accounts of aerial warfare” John Nichol