First Light: Original Edition (Penguin World War II Collection)

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Forget the over dramatized history Channel rubbish this is a straight and calm description of an astonishing young man in a tensely real moment in modern history. I am a retired airline pilot who has flown over almost everywhere he has mentioned,flown in the same beautiful skies, as he had,but without the fear of flak or fighters. Bursting with youthful energy and enthusiasm, he makes it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. But the combination of immediacy - Geoffrey Wellum had jotted down notes in an exercise book at the time - and distance - another 35 years would pass before he expanded his notes into a narrative - gives this account extraordinary depth and resonance .

About the Author: Geoffrey Wellum was born in Walthamstow, and educated at Forest School, Snaresbrook.Next day,with no flying experience,he is expected to pilot a Spitfire;he is nervous but exhilarated. I find his work, including the backgrounds featured, to be very evocative, moving and highly commendable. At the beginning of the same year I co-founded the Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group, a charity established to raise the funds required to rebuild Hawker Typhoon RB396 to flight.

A stunning collection of Philip’s finest works, encompassing all of the most famous aircraft from around the world. I walked into the pub on my own, saw John Romain, James and Anna at a table round the corner, waved, went to the bar and thought nothing more of it. He was going to “bend every ear he could in Whitehall, the Air Ministry” as he said, “and anyone else who would listen. It's over 100 pages in before Wellum sees a Spitfire for the first time when he comes to join an operational squadron.Wellum claimed a Heinkel He 111 bomber shot down on 11 September 1940, and a quarter share in a Junkers Ju 88 downed on 27 September. One of the best memoirs for years about the experience of flying in war’ Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph Two months before the outbreak of WWII, seventeen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF . Wellum's frank account of his long, losing bout with battle fatigue is both moving and enlightening. This time my letter explained the situation, how I was disappointed, but that I wouldn’t give up and asked if he had any advice.

The fact that Wellum was teenager when he entered the RAF makes me realize all over again what the people of England were willing to do to protect their homes and their land. pictorial upper wrapper, 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, slight roll to lightly creased spine, a little rubbed at extrems. Light reading creasing to spine; tiny chipping to base of spine; else a very good plus copy of a SCARCE first paperback edition, ninth printing SIGNED BY AUTHOR, GEOFFREY WELLUM. Overall impressions wer that this was a well written and interesting account of a fighter pilots journey through the war.I spoke to a few of the staff there, and a few of the locals, and I struggled to hold back the tears. It reminded me strongly of the Officers’ Mess, the atmosphere of which is so well described in his book. Illustrated with photographs The Second World War memoirs of fighter pilot Geoffrey Wellum (1921-2018).