Audiobook4 hours
Spitfire Pilot
Written by Flight-Lieutentant David M. Crook, DFC and Richard Overy
Narrated by Steven Crossley
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
At the outbreak of the Second World War D. M. Crook, of No. 609 Squadron AAF, was at Yeadon, still undergoing his training; by the winter of 1939-40, he had his wings.
Successfully applying to return to his Squadron, then on defense duties in northern England, Crook began to familiarize himself with their new fighter: the Spitfire.
Soon they were posted to RAF Northolt, and it was at this time that Crook, much to his chagrin, was left grounded, undergoing knee surgery as they flew over Dunkirk.
Following the Allied evacuation from France, Crook returned to the air and found himself facing the relentless sorties as the skies above Britain transformed into a battlefield.
In one particularly frank passage, Crook recounts how he mistakenly shot down a Blenheim, going on to illustrate how easy it was for pilots to misidentify aircraft.
Spitfire Pilot is a remarkable account of one officer's life in 609 Squadron during one of the most famous battles of the Second World War.
Successfully applying to return to his Squadron, then on defense duties in northern England, Crook began to familiarize himself with their new fighter: the Spitfire.
Soon they were posted to RAF Northolt, and it was at this time that Crook, much to his chagrin, was left grounded, undergoing knee surgery as they flew over Dunkirk.
Following the Allied evacuation from France, Crook returned to the air and found himself facing the relentless sorties as the skies above Britain transformed into a battlefield.
In one particularly frank passage, Crook recounts how he mistakenly shot down a Blenheim, going on to illustrate how easy it was for pilots to misidentify aircraft.
Spitfire Pilot is a remarkable account of one officer's life in 609 Squadron during one of the most famous battles of the Second World War.
Related to Spitfire Pilot
Related audiobooks
Pathfinder Pioneer: The Memoir of a Lead Bomber Pilot in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Red Line: The Gripping Story of the RAF’s Bloodiest Raid on Hitler’s Germany Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Crew Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escaping with His Life: From Dunkirk to D-Day & Beyond Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5PT 105 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Never Call Me a Hero: A Legendary American Dive-Bomber Pilot Remembers the Battle of Midway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5‘Young Man - You'll Never Die' Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lightning Sky Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Thursday: The Story of the Schweinfurt Raid Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vietnam Rough Riders: A Convoy Commander's Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stalin's Had It Now! Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5War Amongst the Clouds: My Flying Experiences in World War I and the Follow-On Years 1920-1983 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Airborne: The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bloody Sixteen: The USS Oriskany and Air Wing 16 during the Vietnam War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fighting the Flying Circus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Journal of Major Damon 'Rocky' Gause Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5No Parachute: A Classic Account of War in the Air in WWI Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pegasus Bridge Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The True Story of the Great Escape: Stalag Luft III, March 1944 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escape from Stalag Luft III: The True Story of My Successful Great Escape: The Memoir of Bob Vanderstok Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Regiment: 15 Years in the SAS Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Combat Crew: The Story of 25 Combat Missions Over Europe From the Daily Journal of a B-17 Gunner Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hurricane Squadron Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The German Aces Speak: World War II Through the Eyes of Four of the Luftwaffe's Most Important Commanders Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spitfire Wingman From Tennessee: My Love Affair With Flight Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beaufighter Boys: True Tales From Those Who Flew Bristol's Mighty Twin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spitfire Stories: True Tales from Those Who Designed, Maintained and Flew the Iconic Plane Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strategy Masters: The Prince, The Art of War, and The Gallic Wars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie ten Boom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Templars: The History and the Myth: From Solomon's Temple to the Freemasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dirty Tricks Department: Stanley Lovell, the OSS, and the Masterminds of World War II Secret Warfare Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Punisher: A SEAL Team THREE Sniper's True Account of the Battle of Ramadi Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Operator: Firing the Shots that Killed Osama bin Laden and My Years as a SEAL Team Warrior Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin - Book Summary: How U.S. Navy SEALS Lead And Win Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related categories
Reviews for Spitfire Pilot
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
26 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5It just didn't quite hold my attention span. If you are more into fighter planes then I highly recommend.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Polish 609th Squadron-founded in 1919 by Merian C Cooper as the 7th Koscuiszko Squadron - all US/Canadian WWI aviator volunteers in defense of POLAND during the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1920- was a formidable adversary and outsmarting Nazi fighter planes during the Battle of London in 1940.
This is a cherish testament to their undaunted bravery, an “in the cockpit” realism of Spitfire dog fight strategy that required split second reflexes, and remembering those who gave their lives in fighting back the Nazi aerial onslaught.
I can attest to the sacrifice made: attending a private British school; all my teachers(Latin, English, Math, History and Drama Theater) were Spitfire veterans of WWII. They never talked about it, which I regret. But we knew what price they paid to save Britain from Nazi invasion.
So this story fills in gap if their own stories.
Moreover I deeply appreciated reading this personal account as my headmaster-Mr. Oaks, a decorated Spitfire fighter pilot- had been shot down 7 times; captured twice-only to escape back to Britain from German captivity in occupied France to fight another day.
His badly scared facial burns was a testament to his bravery. He was the kindness man and best methodical math teacher I ever knew.
Not only is the Spitfire a fighter plane legend in its own right, the 609th Pilots are equal in honorary stature in knowing how to maximize the Spitfire’s optimal capabilities-pushing the plane to its limits in dog fight skirmishes.
So this is a must read.