Product Description

'An extraordinary, deeply moving and astonishingly evocative story. Reading it, you feel you are in the Spitfire with him, at 20,000 feet, chased by a German Heinkel, with your ammunition gone' INDEPENDENT Two months before the outbreak of WWII, seventeen year old Geoffrey Wellum left school to become a fighter pilot with the RAF. He made it through basic training to become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Thrust into combat almost immediately, Wellum found himselfflying several sorties a day, caught up in terrifying dogfights with German Me 109s. Published more than fifty years afterwards, FIRST LIGHT is Geoffrey Wellum's gripping memoir of his experiences as a fighter pilot during WWII.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57968 in Books
• Published on: 2003-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Customer Reviews

First Light = First Rate!
I am a modern pilot (though only born 10 years after WW2) but like most pilots would give almost anything (within reason) to fly a Spitfire! Geoffrey has made me feel as though I have finally achieved that dream by 'taking me for a cockpit ride in his Spitfire!'

I read a review or two by other readers of 'First Light' and was surprised at the mention of 'class' or 'priviledge' in some reviews. Maybe as a fellow former 'public schoolboy' the language and style seemed quite normal, but from his writings, I think it highly unlikely that Geoffrey would have consciously written with the slightest thought of having been privileged, other than the most obvious one of being allowed to experience the ultimate flying experience.

I like most readers, I suspect, was humbled by reading such a modest account of bravery and incredible airmanship.

Despite the passage of time between Geoffrey's flying training and my own, there are so many similies to draw upon which hold true to the present day. All pilots (of all experience) will be immediately taken back to their own flying training days when reading the early accounts. The description of 'seat of the pants' flying is extremely modestly described in various accounts of flying at night, in very marginal weather conditions and in particular, of chasing a target over the North Sea in weather that under normal conditions, no pilot would normally consider even thinking about removing the chocks!

I loved the book, couldn't put it down, empathised completely with the author - a man whose hand I would very much like to shake!

Claims a place in my heart for Best Autobiographical military history
I have read countless military history books by now and all the autobiographical ones follow a set pattern: young blood doesn't know he'll make the cut, eventually finds he's doing reasonably well, and reaches a certain proficiency, then becomes depressed with the hopelessness of war and loss. Wellum's book follows the same path but more than any other he puts the reader right there. It's hard for our generation to imagine being put in such a situation as a 17 year old school boy but Wellum makes you be that boy. What separates this from the others is the very human self-doubt that the author experiences along the way reminds us the fighter boys weren't just heroes, they were normal people with normal doubts and fears doing heroic things.

K Cowburn (above) feels the book has too much extraneous detail. Not so, the detail places the book firmly in reality and helps create pace. Take the eponymous chapter; it opens with banal descriptions of taking a cup of tea and builds and builds into a life or death crescendo. Better than a Mahler symphony.

This is one book I've turned to again and again. Buy it.

Boy Wonder
Having read countless personal accounts in all WW2 fighting arenas, I was resigned to the fact that I had read the best there was to offer and that further reading would only offer diminishing returns. And then out of nowhere comes the relatively unknown Geoffrey Wellum with a total classic.

First Light is crafted around notes that Wellum made during his basic training and two tours of duty flying Spitfires from 1939 to 1942. The book shines during Wellum's training and first tour of duty, coinciding with the Battle of Britain, but is slightly less rewarding when the battle weary pilot starts to neglect his diary.
The book has a very modern feel to it and I put this down to the fact that Wellum was a teenager when he compiled his notebook and the stiff upper lip is totally absent and a much more vulnerable figure is portrayed. Even his colleagues called him 'Boy'.

This book deserves to become a best seller, I just hope a few more people discover it.