They Spread Their Wings - 6 Courageous Airmen in Combat, WWII

The answer lies in the stories of six teenage volunteers for Second World War Aircrew who exchanged their school uniforms for Air Force Blue and took a giant step into the unknown. 

Based on original research from flying logbooks, diaries and family archives, this collection of true tales describes the men’s training for those coveted ‘Wings’; the nervous excitement of that first sortie over enemy territory; and flying into the hell of an enemy flak barrage and fighters. 

From the skies over Europe to jungles and deserts, all endured hardship, adventure and danger. 

They experienced action under enemy fire, wounds, burns and crash-landings, escape and evasion in occupied territory, and the deprivations of life as a POW. 

Seventy years on and these brushes with death are by any measure hair-raising encounters that turned adolescents into men – some of whom survived the war, while others paid the ultimate price.

Airmen Covered are:

Fighters:

F/O AHM Clark RAF, F/O J Cheney RAF & W/C W Dring RAF. (All Pilots)

Bombers:

F/L JG Crampton RAF, S/L AK Summerson RAF & W/O A Edgley RAF (Pilot, Wireless Operator & Air Gunner).   

Originally Published 2013.