Hands on hips, cigarette in hand, Squadron Leader Brian Lane has a weary look after yet another dance with death in the skies over England.
It is September 1940 – two months into the Battle of Britain, which saw the likes of Lane repel Hitler’s Luftwaffe. With his silk scarf and tousled hair, Lane was dubbed the “finest of The Few”.
Yet few, if you’ll pardon the pun, knew then or now that he was the man behind a war diary which lifted the spirits of morale-sapped Britons.
Lane penned Spitfire! The Experiences of a Fighter Pilot – a tome which took readers into the cockpit, giving a first-hand account of our RAF gladiators and their feats of derring-do.
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