Mosquito Intruder Pilot

Mosquito Intruder Pilot written by Jeremy Walsh and published by 
Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 248

Ben Walsh lied about his age to join the RAF, determined to play his part in the Second World War. He volunteered to be an intruder pilot, flying low level operations in the dark. Initially flying ops in Douglas Boston Intruder IIs, he then converted to the legendary de Havilland Mosquito FB VI. Ben flew ops for three years, starting in the skies over with Europe with 418 (RCAF) Squadron, then ferrying one of the first Mosquito FB VIs to India before flying in the Burma campaign with 27 Squadron (under Wing Commander Nicolson VC) and finally with 45 Squadron.

The Mosquito developed problems in the severe climate it encountered in the Far East which resulted in the aircraft being temporarily grounded in November 1944. This saw Ben undertaking thirteen operational sorties in venerable Tiger Moths in the Arakan.

Although Ben survived belly landings, crashes, enemy fire and engine failures, the strain of combat operations took its toll on the still-young pilot. He and his navigator asked to be removed from operations, but their request was denied, both being threatened with court martial.

By the end of the war when still only 21 years old, Ben was suffering from a nervous condition known as ‘the twitch’. His confidence and health were restored by the young woman who had been his penfriend through the war, who became his wife and the mother of the man who has compiled this dramatic and moving story – Jeremy Walsh.

Throughout the war, Ben maintained a ‘Roll of Honour’ in his photograph album, memorializing his friends and colleagues who lost their lives. That album forms the backdrop to this important biography, which is based on Ben’s own recollections, his logbook and the notes he kept through the war. Mosquito Intruder Pilot is Ben’s story.

I have to say this book was interesting and in places very moving about a very young pilot in the RAF, Ben Walsh who joined up early because of the excitement of youth and wanting to play his part for his country. Ben was a kind of jack of all pilots, being able to fly quite prolifically a number of planes such as the De Haviland Mosquito, the Douglas Boston Intruder and even such planes as Tiger Moths. As with any young man he had eagerness and strength, but also being young, he was worked hard as a pilot and after a while developed some mental health problems which back in those days weren’t really acknowledged or even recognised properly. 

But the uplifting part of this book is that he eventually got through these with the help of a young woman who later became his wife, and what is even better as a result along came his son who would write this book and tell his father’s stories. Using diaries, chats,  information and logbooks Jeremy has written this book, and I think has done a great job of telling the story and you can tell the research and thought has gone into this book. An excellent read and I love these books where you get the actual story from someone in the know. Excellent adventures, photographs and very well told, I would recommend this book.

Air Power Supremo

Air Power Supremo written by William Pyke and published by

Pen & Sword Books - £25.00 - Hardback - Pages 280

Sir John Slessor was one of the twentieth century’s most distinguished wartime

commanders and incisive military thinkers, and William Pyke’s comprehensive

new biography reveals how he earned this remarkable reputation.

Slessor, a polio victim who always walked with a stick, became a First World War pilot in the Sudan and on the Western Front and a squadron and wing commander in India between the wars. When aerial warfare was still a new concept, he was one of the first to develop practical tactics and strategies in its application. In the Second World War, as the Commander-in-Chief of Coastal Command during the Battle of the Atlantic and the RAF in the Mediterranean during the Italian and Balkan campaigns, he made a remarkable contribution to the success of Allied air power. Then, after the war, as a senior commander, he established himself as one of the foremost experts on strategic bombing and nuclear deterrence. That is why this insightful biography of a great British airman and his achievements is so timely and important as we enter a new era of strategic doubts and deterrence at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

William Pyke follows each stage of Slessor’s brilliant career as a pilot and commander in vivid detail. In particular he concentrates on Slessor’s writings, from his treatise on the application of air power in support of land armies to his thinking on nuclear deterrence and Western strategy.

Well, this was a book that was full of surprises, having not read the info about the book from the back I had just gone by the front cover so I expected something detailed, dry and about an ‘office’ man. But I was quite wrong in that what this book provides us with is a story about a wily, courageous and distinguished fellow. A pilot in the first world war and during the inter-war years, he would eventually fly during the second world war and become an instrumental person in aerial tactics and the introduction of the new heavy planes of the nuclear weapon future. This was an enjoyable read and it was nice how the author took a linear approach to the book, I would certainly recommend this book about a man who had many talents and stories to tell.

A Spitfire Named Connie

A Spitfire Named Connie written by Air Marshall ‘Black’ Robertson and published

by Air World Books - £25.00 - Hardback - Pages 304

A Spitfire Named Connie is an exciting, rollercoaster of a story. A prequel to Fighters in the Blood, it tells how ‘Robbie’ Robertson begins his RAF training during the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. As he learns his trade, he is soon rubbing shoulders with Fighter Command heroes, amongst them Brian Kingcome, ‘Ginger’ Lacey and Bob Stanford Tuck.

Moving from 111 to 72 Squadron, he opens his account against the Luftwaffe in the spring of 1942. Six months later, as he adds further to his score, the action moves to the skies over North Africa. It is there that tragedy strikes. Wounded and shot down by one of the Luftwaffe’s most celebrated Experten, his Spitfire crashes to the ground.

Found lying near the wreckage by an army patrol, Robbie is moved from casualty clearing stations to hospitals across Tunisia and Algeria as doctors try desperately to save his sight. Finally, unable to stand the pain any longer, he reluctantly agrees to the removal of his right eye. A slow recovery and eventual return to the UK is no compensation for the end of his flying career.

Desk-bound for the remainder of the war, the second and more poignant period of his RAF life begins. The young schoolgirl, Connie Freeman, with whom he has been in regular correspondence since her evacuation, becomes his wife.

It is literally hundreds of Robbie’s letters that form the basis of this powerful, moving and emotional story. Together with his own and Connie’s diaries, correspondence from RAF colleagues and his flying logbook, they bring a unique authenticity to this highly-charged tale.

A Spitfire Named Connie reads like a novel, filled with excitement, pathos and compassion. Yet, incredible as it may seem, almost every word is true.

This book is a long series of letters around the life of Robbie Robertson a young pilot who has just qualified to fly in the RAF, as told by his son Air Marshall ‘Black’ Robertson. Through these letters, we learn about the life and happy life of Robbie Robertson as a young spitfire pilot that earned him a promotion to the North Africa theatre of war in the Second World War. This happiness was until he was shot down by the Luftwaffe, thrown from his plane he is found but found seriously wounded and ended up having to lose his right eye. To which he then has to return to England and take up office work, but meets his wife, a young woman he had corresponded with and they then strike up a close relationship and then marriage.

I’m sure I reviewed the author’s previous book, as the writing style reminded me of a

book I read last year. The book is very good and I enjoyed the book as it is very much

written as a story. An excellent book based upon the letters of a pilot in the RAF, and the

book helps that it receives the input of the author son too which adds to the narrative.