Spitfire: A Very British Love Story

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As soon as I saw the cover of this book, I knew I just had to read it. Oddly, it wasn’t until I actually started reading this book that I remembered a time when I was 14 or 15 my Dad took me to an airshow as a father/daughter outing about three hours’ drive from where we lived. I was completely fascinated.

For many British people of a certain age, the Spitfire has the status of a national icon, although I think that’s less the case for younger people. The other main Battle of Britain fighter plane, the Hawker Hurricane, has nothing like the allure of the Spitfire. Early in the book the author poses the question: What is it about the Spitfire? …Why, over eighty years after she first flew, is the Spitfire regarded as the very symbol of Britishness; … Why is this particular aircraft loved so much? While not incredibly clear in the beginning of the book, Nichol’s follows several former Spitfire pilots throughout the book using their experiences and stories to bring life and love to the story as well as connect his chapters. Upon introduction to each of these pilots, there is always the line “and that’s when he knew he wanted to fly fighters,” and sadly by the tenth time it gets monotonous and gives a slow, repetitive start to the book.The book was published in 2018 and is a compilation of stories about the experience in WWII. The stories focus on the heartbreaking tales of those who had to serve and sometimes give up their life for us to be here today. This is a truly fascinating book from so many angles. I suspect that many, like me, would view the Spitfire as being synonymous with the Battle of Britain, but then having a very sketchy picture thereafter. This book inks in that sketch in effect by telling the story of the second world war through the contribution of this one aircraft. John Nichol's book tells the stories of dozens of pilots, both men and women, and the sacrifices they made during the war. It's finely balanced between the technical side and development of the Spit, and the personal accounts of the pilots, many now in their 90s. In parts, it's incredibly moving, especially when you think many of these pilots were under twenty when they first took to the skies.

That's Air Marshal Cliff Spink rounding out John Nichol's love letter to Supermarine's legacy. And what a love letter. Short on development technicalities, but long on the experiences and lives of the men and women who flew and fought in the Spitfire over England, Europe, the Med, North Africa, the Far East and Russia. Their love for the aircraft shines through, and some of the tales will quite literally take your breath away. It intrigued me that the Air Transport Auxiliary had both women and men pilots. Women fought for and received equal pay with the male pilots – most likely the first instance in the 20th Century where equal pay at work occurred between women and men.It helps perhaps that author John Nichol was one of the Tornado pilots shot down over Iraq in the first Gulf War and paraded before the world’s media. He can therefore empathise closely with his fellow pilots, and understand their very mixed emotions. This means the book avoids being gung ho or jingoistic. There is no little Englander nonsense. It is a very quiet tribute to ordinary people forced by circumstances into undertaking extraordinary acts, helped by an extraordinary aircraft. Nichol is also a very skilled writer, giving a real sense of engagement, building tension and excitement when required, but also sensitive where appropriate. I would've wished more some sort of technical analysis or something more tangible than "everyone loved the plane, it was easy to fly". There were some parts where the plane and it's variants were compared to German ME109(variants) and FW190, but I would've liked more and especially to other allied aircraft.

Twenty-three thousand Spitfires were built between 1936-1946. It was flown in all theatres of war, Britain, NW Europe, North Africa, Malta. Italy, USSR, and SE Asia. It rarely disappointed and almost always impressed. Today only 240 are know to exist and of these 60 are airworthy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superma... I would have given, wanted to give, 5 stars, however, the inclusion of the sentence regarding the stray dog stopped me. Whilst pertinent to the character of the individual, I felt it could have been omitted hence why not the full 5.The author follows the careers of a group (fewer than 25?) Spitfire pilots AND mechanics, men AND women, Americans, Aussies, Kiwis, Canadians,; Polish and Indian pilots have brief parts, as does one bomber pilot from Jamaica. In the telling he covers the entire war in which Spits saw action, including Malta, Africa, Italy, Burma and the Soviet Union, and the stories include training, scrambles and dog fights, bail outs, captures, the sudden death of comrades, romances, escapes with the French resistance, and, in one unforgettable tale, an RAF mechanic stealing(!) a Spit to make his first flight ever which is purposely INTO(!) a battle zone. As I approached the end of the book I thought this was a solid treatment of the view of the war from the pilots, and was prepared to be let down by the winding down of the war. But the ending was surprising and not what I expected. Instead of heroic welcomes or happy ever afters, the epilogue describes PSTD, divorces, depression and accidental deaths, but it is surprisingly uplifting rather than melancholic.

It didn’t take long to fall in love with the Spitfire. Pilots, mechanics, land girls, civvies – they all fell under her spell.’ This is an excellent account of many who flew the iconic Spitfire from 1939-45. Many a time when I sat in the garden reading this book, a Spitfire from a nearby airfield would fly over, and even though I was born well after the Second World War, the sound of a Spitfire's engine makes me feel nostalgic for a time I never knew. A love story indeed. It pays homage to the men and women who designed the Spitfire, built her, maintained her and flew her — as well as to the Spitfire herself. The Spitfire was more than an aircraft. It was a symbol of hope, of courage and resilience, and became a legend. With its elliptic wings, it was easily recognisable in the wartime skies and became an icon, giving hope to those Allies civilians watching below. It inspired kids watching to become fighter pilots — on Spitfires. In this book John Nichol is unlike any other book I have read on this airplane. This is not a book for people who want facts, figures and technicalities or strategy. This is about the pilots and mechanics who flew and maintained the Spitfire during WWII. It's their passion for the planes they were flying which makes this such a great read. Many of those interviewed for this book have now left us, and without their experiences would have been lost to posterity. John Nichol's book is not merely a book it is a tribute to the people who flew them. While the Spitfire was in service, there were 20,351 total built. Today there are just 179 left today in various states of decay.The few romantic liaisons really tugged at my heart strings, Joe and Betty more so than they probably should have done. The truth. Humanities history. It is always grim and deadly. This case is no different. Although this book focuses on the dim past, it still can manage to bring a smile to your face. It reads like a fabulously well-written novel, although it is far more than that. The book takes you beyond the deadly dogfights over Kent and Sussex. It takes you around the world with one of the most incredible planes ever made. The author of this book, John Nichol, gained an unwelcome bout of fame during the 1991 Gulf War when a surface-to-air missile shot down the Tornado aircraft where he was the navigator. He was captured and paraded on Iraqi TV. His experiences lend him credibility when writing about military aircraft and probably also when he interviewed the veterans whose experiences are recorded in this book. The ending ends on a note of respect given to the magnificent plane, "...if God said that I could have just one more flight, my last flight before I die, in any aircraft I have ever flown, I would choose to get airborne in a Spitfire.' The story starts with the initial design deriving from racing seaplanes in the 30s, through production difficulties in West Bromwich. With the outbreak of war, spitfires see service over Dunkirk, of course in the Battle of Britain but then in Malta, North Africa, over Occupied Europe, in Malaya, and even as part of the Soviet Air Force.