Sergeant Pilot (English Edition) [Kindle-editie] beoordelingen het boek quotes

A gripping story of a boy's determination to fly, and of a fighter pilot's valour during the early years of the second world war. Harry Steed is an apprentice aircraft mechanic at a small English flying club as war clouds gather. He joins the RAF Volunteer Reserve as a sergeant pilot, and sees action for the first time in his Hawker Hurricane fighter over the beaches of Dunkirk. The Luftwaffe proves to be a well-equipped and professional force, and the RAF pilots must learn quickly or die. Harry Steed's part in the air fighting continues throughout the Battle of Britain and beyond. Technical detail and the descriptions of aerial combat are interwoven with a strong storyline. A well-researched novel that captures the spirit of the period and the courage of the men that fought in the skies above Britain and France. Example Extract : The aging paddle steamer pulled into Ramsgate harbour at dusk. The small pleasure boat had spent her mediocre working life ferrying day-trippers from London to Southend on Sea, plying her trade across the Thames estuary to Margate, or working her way around the Essex coast to Clacton with her compliment of holidaymakers. Now, in the twilight of her years, she had found true glory. Machine-gun bullets scarred her decks, her hull was peppered with bomb splinters and blood everywhere testified to her suffering and that of her cargo of exhausted soldiers. Here in Ramsgate was sanctuary at last from German bombs and mines. But Steed knew that after disembarking her soldiers she would be going back to the beaches of Dunkirk. He wished her Godspeed.