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Spitfire Pilot (Paperback)

A Personal Account of the Battle of Britain

Aviation > Aviation Biography & Memoirs Aviation > WWII > Battle of Britain Military > Greenhill Books > Greenhill: 20th Century Military > Greenhill Books > Greenhill: Aviation Military > Greenhill Books > Greenhill: WWII

By David M Crook, Introduction by Prof Richard Overy
Greenhill Books
Pages: 208
ISBN: 9781784387488
Published: 4th October 2021

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Spitfire Pilot is the exhilarating and moving memoir of D. M. Crook, an airman in the legendary 609 Squadron - one of the most successful RAF units in the Battle of Britain.

Beginning with his fond recollections of his halcyon days in training - acrobatics, night flying and languorous days spent playing sport and nights off visiting Piccadilly Circus - Crook goes on to recount in thrilling detail the dogfights, remarkable victories and tragic losses which formed the daily routine of Britain's heroic aerial defenders in that long summer of 1940.

Often hopelessly outnumbered, the men of 609 Squadron in their state-of-the-art Spitfires committed acts of unimaginable bravery against the Messerschmitts and Junkers of Germany's formidable Luftwaffe. Many of Crook's fellow airmen did not make it back alive, and the absence they leave in the close-knit community of the squadron is described with great poignancy.

Spitfire Pilot offers a unique and personal insight into one of the most critical moments of British history, when a handful of men stood up against the might of the German Air Force in defence of their country.

This definitive edition, the first for more than sixty years, includes a new foreword by David Crook's daughter and Air Vice Marshal Sandy Hunter, Honorary Air Commodore of the 609 Squadron. The book also has an introduction by Professor Richard Overy.

As Featured In

Scramble 1940, Spring/Summer 2022

Video review on Scale Modelling Now

Scale Modelling Now

Hearing how it felt to enjoy flying itself, along with the business of flying in combat, I think this is a valuable record to read if you have any interest in the story of the Battle of Britain.

Read the full review here

Military Model Scene

Read the review here

Battle of Britain Memorial Trust website

About Prof Richard Overy

Professor Richard Overy is a British historian and a Professor of History at the University of Exeter. He has published several books on Nazi Germany and World War II including a biography of Hermann Göring, Goering: Hitler’s Iron Knight. In 2001, he was awarded the Samuel Elliot Morison Prize of the Society of Military History for his contribution to the history of warfare. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the British Academy, and of King’s College London.

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