Best Battle of Britain Memoirs?

[lasermonkey]

On 9/5/2018 at 1:47 PM, sprue said:

I would recommend Lonely Warrior by Jean Offenberg I think its a classic. It tells the story of a Belgian fighter pilot who escaped to Britain and carried on fighting.

Seconded. I found the story compelling and quite moving.

 

Cheers,

Mark.

[Michael51]

Richard Collier's 'Eagle Day: the Battle of Britain'; very well written, with a deep bibliography and a lengthy list of eyewitness contributors.

 

And for the rest who also were doing things to keep Britain alive, Larry Donnelly's "The Other Few: the Contibution made by Bomber and Coastal Aircrew to the winning of tThe Battle of Britain".

 

Michael

 

[Radpoe Spitfire]

I have a copy of one of the Battle of Britain society's publications which has Hugh "Cocky" Dundas' accounts which were originally printed in a newspaper in the 1960's. Very good reading👍

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117

[Muddyf]

‘First Light’ by Geoffrey Wellum. Fantastic account of his career from acceptance to the RAF, through the Battle of Britain, into 1941 and then his stint on Malta.

[stevej60]

19 hours ago, Muddyf said:

‘First Light’ by Geoffrey Wellum. Fantastic account of his career from acceptance to the RAF, through the Battle of Britain, into 1941 and then his stint on Malta.

Agreed,just finished it great read,Johnny Kent's memoir is a cracking read too the work's have both book's in cheap

[Smithy]

Probably my favourite subject and I have read most of the memoirs from the RAF side and own goodness knows how many but my top 3 would be:

 

1. "First Light" by Geoffrey Wellum. A no brainer really and already a classic. Wellum was also a very good writer.

 

2. "Clouds of Fear" by Roger Hall. This is a remarkable book as Hall suffered from nervous issues so his fight wasn't just against the Luftwaffe but also personal demons. This contains some of the most searingly visceral descriptions of air combat ever written about the BoB. An abridged version called "Spitfire Pilot" was published a few years back which didn't include some of the original book's content such as Hall's army service before joining the RAF.

 

3. "A Fighter in My Sights" by Tom Neil. Wonderfully evocative memoir by the famous Hurricane pilot. Reading this made me feel like I was in the same room as Tom with him telling his story. A slightly abridged version "Gun Button to Fire" was published a few years back.

 

Honourable mentions for:

 

"The Last Enemy" -Richard Hillary 

"Spitfire Pilot" - David Crook

"Shot Down in Flames" - Geoffrey Page

"The Blue Arena" - Spud Spurdle

"Arise to Conquer" - Ian Gleed

 

I enjoy all BoB memoirs but those above are a bit above the others. I should also mention that only the first two or three chapters of Spud's book are during the BoB but it's a cracking book, very similar in tone to Clostermann's "The Big Show".

Edited October 13, 2018 by Smithy

[Putty Animal]

A little late to the party perhaps, but I can recommend Life's Too Short to Cry by Tim Vigors.  Just finished it this evening.

 

 

 

[Oberleutnant]

I've read:

 

Geoffrey Wellum's 'First Light', Paul Brickhill's 'Reach for the Sky' on Douglas Bader and Johnnie Johnson's 'Wing Leader'.

 

All are excellent. 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Oberleutnant

[prosser]

Although it covers the period before the Battle of Britain, Paul Richey's "Fighter Pilot" is an excellent book.  I have a much treasured 1941 edition of this book inherited from my grandfather.  To slightly go off message, he also left me a copy of "Low Attack" by John Wooldridge, which is a brilliant book about the first two squadrons to use the Mosquito as a low level bomber - 105 and 139.

[fightersweep]

Has anyone read Bob Doe's book "Fighter Pilot"? Haven't picked it up yet, but I imagine it's a good read. Very modest chap. Brian Kingcombe's book was a good read too.

 

Steve

[Procopius]

14 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Has anyone read Bob Doe's book "Fighter Pilot"? Haven't picked it up yet, but I imagine it's a good read. Very modest chap. Brian Kingcombe's book was a good read too.

Kingcombe's quite funny -- he was hilarious in his IWM interview, as well. Doe's book is unfortunately quite expensive over here, but I have his daughter's biography of him.

[Biggles87]

There are so many good ones that it's difficult to choose a favourite although 'First Light ' is near the top of the list and 'Fighter Pilot ' by Paul Richey although not covering the exact  period has to be one of the best WWII pilot memoirs.

I have been re-reading a lot of them recently, but still not read the Brian Kingcombe or Bod Doe books, an omission that I hope to rectify soon.

 

 

 

[andyf117]

Content withdrawn - I will NOT be threatened by a moderator, simply because I queried the actions of another...

Edited June 27, 2020 by andyf117