Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #46089 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

Customer Reviews

A Fitting memorial to one of the Few
When I bought A Willingness to Die it was a bit of a gamble for me,usually I opted for books on the American fighter aces of World War II,and had even read books on the German fighter aces of the Great War.The pilots of the Battle of Britain had been overlooked by me,why?,i'm not sure,but strange given the fact I only live a short distance from Biggin Hill,an airfield immediately linked with such an important stage of WWII. Brian Kingcome's book changed all that,his story was put together by Peter Ford using material that Kingcome had been working on right up to his sudden death in 1994. Where this book scores highly is with its content,many wartime fighter pilots memoirs tend to follow the same format,taking the reader from the pilots training right through their many air battles.Consequently,there is a feeling after several such books as,read one,read 'em all.But this book is different,the reader is treated to memories of the authors childhood and education but with a difference,the various anecdotes are only of mundane situations,but he has a way of making them absorbing and soon the reader is hooked and is taken through Kingcomes early memories of Royal Air Force training and combat over Dunkirk and in the Battle of Britain. Eventually Brian is posted to the Desert Air Force and sadly only brief details of his time there are included because of his sudden death when about two-thirds of the way through his story. It is difficult to put my finger on exactly why I found this book so special,but even after finishing the book,I found myself picking it up again and re-reading favourite parts of the book and then reading the book completely all over again!. The book certainly comes at a time when everyone should be appreciating the importance of events 60 years ago,not just aviation fans,but everybody. A moment in history where time and events conspired to place a generation of young men in a position of having the defence of their country resting on their shoulders,Brian is very modest about this and graciously claims that where the young generations may differ in fashion and past-times,given a crisis they would all react the same. I would recommend this book not only to aviation enthusiasts, but to anybody,I guarantee they will find the book an excellent read !

Modest man, Extraordinary Experiences
Having read a few pilots' biographies it is easy to see these fall into a similar vein; namely signing-up, training, combat and the consequences from combat and escaping death (where many others did not).

This is a little different in that Brian Kingcome added more of his personal life as an overlay well before, during and well after his military flying days. The first line typifies this with the statement "Anyone looking for a chronological order of events won't find it here." It is therefore much the better for it, and it is an enjoyable read of a modest man.

Covering from his school days through well into his later business life, it is well presented with many anecdotes. It included his somewhat unlucky scrapes with cars which nearly ended his flying career before it had even started. The subsequent facial reconstruction gives a view into the early world of plastic surgery and Brian was an honorary "guinea pig" as a result.

It is very sad that the text was not fully finished at the time of his death in 1994 and this is noted in the foreword by Geoffrey Wellum and the editor, Peter Ford.

However, the Brian has done an excellent job of bringing his experiences to life - and this doesn't detract from the odd typo in the text. His story as laid out is a reminder of a world and a way of life far removed from today.

Brian Kingcome "A Willingness to Die" by Mark Robinson
Very interesting book. Different from many WW II fighter pilot tales in two ways:

(1) Kingcome does not concentrate on the individual actions/kills that earned him the fighter ace accolades (he is very modest on this subject). Instead he concentrates on the bigger picture of the war and serving his country.

(2) Kingcome wrote to book in later life not immediately after WW II. Consequently when he describes life in the RAF and the 1930's and 40's he is able to describe how different things were then to now - the details are themselves interesting.

I would recommend this book.