Couldn’t agree more, Georgie. One stunning account of service in WW2 is First Light by Geoffrey “Boy” Wellum. He was one of the youngest pilots to fight the Battle of Britain, hence the nickname. Recommend his account to anyone, not just aviation fans. He didn’t write it until he was past 70yrs old and what a waste. Wellum was a natural writer. Reading him is like having him sat next to you telling his tale.
Quite aside from the incredibly risky business of driving the fighters of the day, Wellum put his life on the line every day. Often he had to take quite ridiculous risks to do the job. One sortie involved trying to catch a Luftwaffe aircraft which was going to bomb a convoy, the weather was solid cloud down to ground level, no radar assistance, dead reckoning navigation. Couldn’t see a thing. Found the Ju88 and “persuaded” it not to attack ships. All this over the stormy North Sea. Equipment failure meant he had to find his way home with no mechanical or radio aids. You will be stunned by this account – just one of many examples of incredible heroism.
Like Capt Tom, he also reached the century, Died in 2018. No knighthood; Very little recognition of risking his life over and over again. Got a DFC – which seems a bloody insult. Should have been a VC.
Read it and be amazed. Gave my copy to an 86 yr old neighbour. She was so affected by it that she went out and booked, and took, a ride in one of the two-seat Spitfires doing trios round the bay down here! Be warned!