Fighter Pilot (Cassell Military Paperbacks) - Softcover

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Born in 1916, he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force in 1937. Severely wounded in action in the Battle of France, he returned to combat flying in England in 1941, leading a Spitfire squadron on offensive sweeps over occupied France. In 1942 he was sent to the India/Burma theatre to revise their fighter tactics. Invalided home in early 1944, he was later posted to SHAEF Belgium, and ended the war as a Wing Commander Operations in the War Room of the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany. A dedicated Europhile, he was working on a history of Anglo-French relations when he died in 1969.

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'One of the greatest and most stirring tales a fighting man has ever told' Evening Standard

Paul Richey landed his Hawker Hurricane in France in 1939. He was 23 years old and, like the rest of RAF No 1 Squadron, he believed in the principles of the Great War: mercy and respect. But Richey and his comrades were savagely confronted with the new realities of war. Shocked by the horror of the Luftwaffe's callous attacks on refugees, the skills of the RAF's premier fighter squadron were deployed to devastating effect.

The result was an outstanding combat record. By the time the Squadron was withdrawn it had destroyed a total of 155 enemy aircraft - for the loss of just three pilots. Richey began his journal the day he arrived in France and all the thrills, adrenaline-rushes and sheer terror of dog-fighting are captured by a man discovering for himself the true nature of the deadly combat in which he is engaged.