Spitfire Voices represents an important oral history of the Spitfire, from the pilot’s perspective. The stories of survivors are not simply regurgitated, however, but placed into historical context using contemporary documents – often featuring detailed investigative work, as in the reconstruction of Wing Commander Douglas Bader being brought down over France not by an enemy fighter but by one of his own Spitfire pilots. Deeply moving stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Spitfires are also included, the author drawing upon their personal letters, diaries, contemporary documents and the memories of their families and comrades. The book therefore features a wide-ranging experience, from air combat to ground attack, deck-landings, crashes and bail-outs, victories and defeats. Illustrated with photographs from the albums of the pilots concerned, thereby increasing the originality and atmosphere of this comprehensive work, Spitfire Voices represents exactly what is was like flying to war in a Spitfire – in the words of those who lived to tell their tales.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fascinated by the Battle of Britain since childhood, Since the 1970s he has met and interviewed more Battle of Britain pilots than any other historian. He has written over twenty books including the only authorised biography of Douglas Bader. A retired policeman, in 2003 Dilip was made an MBE for services to aviation history, and elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society in 2006. He lives in Worcester.
248 x 172 mm | hardback | 320 pages | 160 b&w photographs
