There is very little to criticise here but I have subtracted one star from my rating by virtue of a few perceived minor faults. He fought throughout the Battle of Britain and through to the end of 1941 as the RAF started to conduct more operations over France, and after a spell as an instructor took part in Operation Pedestal to relieve Malta.

I've had a distant fascination with Spitfires for 10-ish years now, so imagine my excitement when I was reading the detailed accounts of flying one. In First Light, Geoffrey Wellum tells the inspiring, often terrifying true story of his coming of age amid the roaring, tumbling dogfights of the fiercest air war the world had ever seen. He is tough, and he is tireless, but he also has a strong streak of sadness and reflection about where he is, what he is doing and the world around him.

It was adapted in 2010 as a drama documentary that premiered on 14 September 2010 on BBC 2 as part of the BBC's commemorations of the 70th anniversary of Battle of Britain, with Wellum himself narrating and the young Wellum played by Sam Heughan. It is the story of an idealistic schoolboy who couldn't believe his luck when the RAF agreed to take him on as a "pupil pilot" at the minimum age of seventeen and a half in 1939.

photo pictorial montage wrappers, the experiences of an RAF fighter pilot during WW2, joining aged 17 two months before the outbreak it covers his training and includes his service with 92 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, 65 Squadron at Debden as flight commander and in HMS Furious taking Spitfires out to Malta as part of Operation Pedestal, very slight slant to spine, edges tanned, nine line ink inscr.

My gamble to go into instructing first in an effort to gain a lot of tailwheel experience in a short space of time, rather than to the airlines and more money, was starting to look like it might have been worth it. He describes a hilarious scene during his first day in the prestigious 92nd Squadron when his commader discovered that Wellum had not only never flown a Spitfire, he'd never even seen one. Wellum left the RAF in 1961 to take up a position with a firm of commodity brokers in the City of London until his retirement to Cornwall. It was especially poignant to feel the author's loss of hope for his own survival as his tours wore on, and he lost increasing numbers of friends. v=1667583269"}},{"id":405389541628,"handle":"world-book-day","title":"World Book Day","updated_at":"2024-01-28T20:20:17+00:00","body_html":"Enjoy World Book Day on 2 March with our fantastic range of aviation and RAF themed books for all ages, and why not help your little future pilot dress the part in one of our official RAF Display Team flying suits.

Enlisting in the RAF weeks before the outbreak of World War 2, Wellum found himself fighting the Germans as a Spitfire pilot at just 18 years of age. I wrote to Geoffrey again, having met him once more since Capel-le-Ferne, at the film premier in London for the dramatisation of his book, where he was attending as guest of honour.A book for all ages and generations, a treasure * Daily Express * An extraordinarily deeply moving and astonishingly evocative story. Quiet conversation with friends, Jonny, Mike, one or two of the BBMF chaps, and a few of the locals. It then shifts to his participation in the Battle of Britain and to his participation in Operation Pedestal, flying planes to Malta off an aircraft carrier. I had met John Romain, the founder of the Aircraft Restoration Company, a number of times, through my DA flying with Cliff and as part of the Typhoon project. I'm very glad that this finally found it's way to publication, and it should be regarded as one of the great personal memoirs of the Second World War.