Something to do while waiting for SoW:BoB

[mazex]

Hi!

If you haven't read it, I can really recommend Richard Hillary's "The Last Enemy". Written by one of the Spitfire pilots that fought the Battle of Britain. It was written in 1941-1942 when Richard Hillary was recovering from the burn injuries he received after getting shot down during the battle. After he recovered he was put back in active duty and died on a mission in early 1943.

The interesting thing is that the book is written during the war, right after the battle. Hillary's memories are therefore very clear - and not colored by the analysis after the war...

Read it to get an exellent glimpse of what it was really like - from the training to the actual battle. In Hillary's division (603) that moved down to southern England from Scotland during the battle 8 out of 24 pilots survived the battle. How many that survived the war is not mentioned in the book as the war was still raging when it was written...

Regards /Mazex

[Vigilant]

Funny you mention this Mazex, I've just finished "Shot down in flames" by Geoffrey Page, who formed the Guinea pig club before returning to duty after 2 1/2 years of burns therapy, he actually mentions Richard Hillary...

I'm now reading John Ray's overview of RAF/Luftwaffe during BoB, it's all about the operational aspect of the battle it's successes and failings, a great read...

[mazex]

Originally Posted by Vigilant

Funny you mention this Mazex, I've just finished "Shot down in flames" by Geoffrey Page, who formed the Guinea pig club before returning to duty after 2 1/2 years of burns therapy, he actually mentions Richard Hillary...

I'm now reading John Ray's overview of RAF/Luftwaffe during BoB, it's all about the operational aspect of the battle it's successes and failings, a great read...

Interesting, gotta read that one too! Hillary was born in Sydney so you got another connection there The Spitfire was notorious for burn wounds having the gasoline tank in front of the pilot so there where many of them. Hillary had problems with his hood the day he got shot down. All morning him and his mechanics had been working on the hood with files and other tools but when the order for take off came the hood was still very hard to operate...

[Vigilant]

Originally Posted by mazex

Interesting, gotta read that one too! Hillary was born in Sydney so you got another connection there The Spitfire was notorious for burn wounds having the gasoline tank in front of the pilot so there where many of them.

Yes I remember this now, although I thought he was from Canberra, but meh...

Dont' forget all the pilots who were burnt from boiling Glycol too, there was quite a few of them...