By: Geoffrey Wellum Publisher: Wiley Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Wiley Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 368 Publication Date: March 14, 2003
Product Description: "Wellum’s First Light deserves to be read for many years to come." –The Times (of London)
High praise for England’s bestselling First Light . . .
"An extraordinarily gripping and powerful story." –The Evening Standard (London)
"A work of exceptional quality . . . a passion and immediacy which make it compelling reading." –Max Hastings, author of Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy
"A remarkable book, amazingly fresh, honest, and modest . . . utterly gripping; it is without question one of the best books I have read in the last few years." –Professor Richard Holmes, author of Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket
"Startlingly vivid recollections . . . this is air war at its most intense . . . his readers get a strong sense of immediacy." –The Spectator (London)
"Geoffrey Wellum’s book is a wonderfully evocative find . . . a book for all ages and generations, a treasure." –Daily Express (London)
A very captivating story of young man's efforts to reach the skies Set in the early days of the war, this is the story of a young man's efforts to join the fight and parttake in what we now know as The Battle of Britain. Geoffrey 'Boy" Wellum managed to join very young as many did just like him, go through training and then be sent to the front where he aquitted himself well. Having myself joined up at the same age but a few generations later, it is not difficult to imagine the challenges laying ahead, nor being one of the youngest, and always the youngest... But unlike our times, in a battle of life and death, where the protection lay in the early anticipation of the other's moves, ability to outfly and the size of the petrol tank of your opponent, proximity to your own base, even sheer luck in fact, was the wand that decideded the cause of events. I recommend this book but even more so recommend you to go to one of the events given in the U.K. each year to meet with the airman in person. That is the best ending to the book. Any book for that matter - given the tumultuous circumstances of when it took place and the subsequent years. I could only wish he would write yet another - of those years fought in Hawker Typhoons - as a test pilot and I am sure...more!
terrific Simply put. I could not put this book down. i felt i was in the cockpit at times with geoffrey.I finished the book wanting more.
Magnificent Story I have read many flying books including many dealing with WWII. First Light is outstanding and one of the best.
The author brings life to an incredible odyssey from a young college student to RAF ace. In a matter of a few months he went from an aviation cadet to reporting to a front line fighter squadron. Wellum brings life to arriving at the Spitfire equipped squadron without ever having seen one up close much less having any flying experience in them.
His arrival occurred at the same time as the desperate struggle to evacuate trapped British and French forces from the beaches at Dunkirk. Within a couple of days of his arrival 25% of his new squadron members lay dead at the bottom of the Channel or on the beach.
What some may find redundant is really the exhausting, terrifying daily routine of continuing aerial combat over England and then the Continent. Wellum's descriptions of aerial combat are fascinating. Some battles are against vastly superior forces of ME 109's while in others weather becomes a deadly enemy.
The author's humble writing style makes all the more impact. For those who fly or are history buffs this is a must read.
A FIGHTER PILOT ACE AT AGE 19 I served in the RCAF durin ww2. I later flew fighters in th USAF, served as captain on USAirways for 28 years.I have written 5 books on aviation.Jeoffrey Wellum's book is a master piece.His breath -taking descriptions of aeral battles puts you right in the cockpit of his BEAUTIFUL Spitfire. " The narrow legs of it 'undercarrage give it a delicate apperance.It has the air of a thoroughbread---It's ellipitical wings and sleder body give it an air above all other fighters,the sound of it'sRR Merline engine produces a sound ,like nothing else in the air.I firmly believe that the Spitfire was the most beautiful fighter of ww2, and I as jeoffery said ,I would also give my arm to fly it. I don't know which was his most dangerous flying conditions were,weather flack, or bullets. He did a yomans job in all these instances. I have read dozens of books by RAF fighter pilots, This book is at the top of my list.Great job " BOY"
Very good but not the best I've read Excellent first person account of the Battle of Britain but not the best I've read. If you're looking for something with a little more of the overall picture, try Fly For Your Life by Robert Stanford Tuck. Tuck's book is definitely the best memoir on the Battle of Britain I've come across and one of the best WW II books I've ever read.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tailipoe
Trevor
