Spitfire Voices represents an important oral history of the Spitfire,
from the pilot’s perspective. The stories of survivors are not simply
regurgitated, however, but placed into historical context using contemporary
documents – often featuring detailed investigative work, as in the
reconstruction of Wing Commander Douglas Bader being brought down over France
not by an enemy fighter but by one of his own Spitfire pilots. Deeply moving
stories of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Spitfires are also included,
the author drawing upon their personal letters, diaries, contemporary documents
and the memories of their families and comrades. The book therefore features a
wide-ranging experience, from air combat to ground attack, deck-landings,
crashes and bail-outs, victories and defeats. Illustrated with photographs from
the albums of the pilots concerned, thereby increasing the originality and
atmosphere of this comprehensive work, Spitfire Voices represents exactly what
is was like flying to war in a Spitfire – in the words of those who lived to
tell their tales.
