Customer Reviews

Spitfire Into Battle

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Of the countless dozen WW2 air combat memoirs I have read, this must be one of the dullest ever. The author manages to take the reader through the entire war without once managing to make the action exciting enough for us to care what happens to him. "I got up, got into the plane, got to fighting altitude, got a German in my sights and got a few shots off at him," is about as thrilling as it gets. This book is just awful -- so much potential and such a pathetic end result.

(Posted from Edinburgh, Scotland) W.G.G. Duncan Smith's writing illustrates all the (stereotypical?) reserve and nonchalance of the World War II RAF fighter pilot. His narratives of aerial battles, close calls, and even being shot down and crashing into the Channel are remarkably underplayed. That one episode alone, when he came close to drowning while waiting in the sea for six hours, never certain if he'd ever be rescued, could have been a book all in itself. And other writers might well have told the story in more descriptive, more colorful language, or provided more emotional insight. Fear? Desperation? Panic? For "Smithy" and his RAF colleagues, it was mostly an occasion for a somewhat morbid joke at his expense upon his safe return.

Some might complain about the emotional reserve displayed in this book, but in fact I think that's one of its special charms. Duncan Smith several times discusses the death of good friends, and hints at the lasting impact such episodes have on survivors. But it seems like creating a carapace of distance, reserve, and even coldness is an essential skill in this line of work. Do we want our fighter pilots to be emoting all over their cockpits?

"Spitfire Into Battle" is a good mix of personal adventure, high strategy, entertaining asides, and even a touch of "techno-thriller" from the days before such a term existed (Duncan Smith clearly considered his various Spitfires as "costars" with him in this book). With the caveat that there's not a lot in these pages about the Battle of Britain - though quite a bit about later campaigns - people interested in personal reminiscences of "The Few" and their brothers in arms in the air will probably find it worthwhile spending some time with this useful book.