First Light

Product Information

Somehow we wangled it in the end. The owner of the replica was persuaded to bring his baby to stand side-by-side with the real McCoy. In the mid-1980s, with the family business in liquidation and his divorce pending, [15] Wellum retired, as he had promised himself in his youth, to The Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, [15] settling in Mullion. He joined the local choir, and became deputy harbourmaster. [3] GEOFFREY WELLUM, a veteran of the Battle of Britain, was the youngest fighter pilot (at 18) in the Royal Air Force (RAF) to have fought in that battle. In First Light, Geoffrey Wellum tells the inspiring, often terrifying true story of his coming of age amid the roaring, tumbling dogfights of the fiercest air war the world had ever seen. On 11 August 1942, Wellum led 8 Spitfires launched from the carrier HMS Furious to reinforce the RAF fighter complement at Luqa airfield on the island of Malta. Here he joined 1435 Squadron on air defence duties before being rested after a severe bout of sinusitis.

First Light: Original Edition (Audio Download): Geoffrey First Light: Original Edition (Audio Download): Geoffrey

The whole thing feels unreal and I can’t believe this is really happening. I must be getting lightheaded! What a pity, in a way, that an aeroplane that can impart such a glorious feeling of sheer joy and beauty has got to be used to fight somebody.” Two months before the outbreak of the Second World War, eighteen-year-old Geoffrey Wellum becomes a fighter pilot with the RAF . . . The story begins as the dark clouds gather over Europe in the late thirties. Wellum joins the R.A.F. and is selected for fighter pilot training. The whole account is awesome stuff. From gypsy moth novice to that very first night flight and into the seat of a Spit. This is regarded as a classic wartime memoir, and it's easy to see why. Geoffrey Wellum joined the RAF as an 18 year old straight out of school, and on the brink of war. He fought throughout the Battle of Britain and through to the end of 1941 as the RAF started to conduct more operations over France, and after a spell as an instructor took part in Operation Pedestal to relieve Malta. Shortly after this he returned to England out on medical grounds as a completely burnt out 21 year old. This is the point where the book ends, but Wellum went on to serve through the rest of the war as a test pilot and later as a gunnery instructor, and stayed in the RAF until 1960. Remarkably, he wrote his memoir in the 1980's but it remained unpublished for 20 years until he lent the manuscript to James Holland who was researching a book of his own at the time.An intimate account . . . rich in detail James Holland, Wall Street Journal, 'Five Best World War II Memoirs' After the war, Wellum stayed with the RAF, serving first as a staff officer in the Second Tactical Air Force in West Germany, where he flew jet aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor, the de Havilland Vampire and the English Electric Canberra. He was also stationed at RAF Gaydon, and in East Anglia. [3] This was followed by a four-year tour with 192 Squadron. The family settled in Epping, Essex. [3] Meantime, our real Spit took off with the pilot delivering Boy Wellum's point of view (by way of a specially designed camera mounting on his flying helmet).

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum - AbeBooks First Light by Geoffrey Wellum - AbeBooks

If you want an overview of the strategy and tactics of the Battle of Britain read Michael Korda's "With Wings Like Eagles". However, if you want a first-person account of a fighter pilot this is your book. Wellum doesn't give a good sense of how his squadron's work figures in the big picture but DOES give a good sense of what it is to be flying and fighting.This is a fabulous, engrossing book that tells the story of a young Spitfire pilot during World War Two. We follow Geoff Wellum through his application process, through a long and arduous training course and right the way through the war (although, understandably, Wellum places a lot of emphasis on the Battle of Britain). Amazingly fresh and immediate . . . absolutely honest, it is an extraordinarily gripping and powerful story Evening Standard Much later, in an unpublished interview with The Times, Wellum recalled: "After I joined the squadron they went to Dunkirk and by the end of that day we'd lost five people, four of whom I'd met the night before in the officers' mess. I thought, 'Hold on a minute, this is bloody dangerous!’ " [4] Wellum claimed a Heinkel He 111 bomber shot down on 11 September 1940, and a quarter share in a Junkers Ju 88 downed on 27 September. Two (and one shared) Bf 109's were claimed 'damaged' during November 1940. A Bf 109 was claimed shot down [by Wellum] on 9 July 1941 over France.