First Light

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First Light is one of those books that is destined to be remembered as a "classic" and rightly so. This is a wonderful book of a young man who joined the Royal Air Force before the start of World War Two and who later fought during the Battle of Britain and survived. Most of the book is taken up with his training as a pilot and the fighting during the Battle of Britain. However the book continues on to cover his role in Operation Pedestal and the fighting over Malta until his return to England as a tired and worn out pilot. This was one film where we had to get not just the emotional thrust right, but also the historical detail. There are a lot of people out there for whom this really matters - and I am one of them. After his return to England, Wellum did not return to combat duties, instead finishing the war as a gunnery instructor. [3] In 1943, he married Grace Neil, his wartime girlfriend, with whom he had three children. [6] Aged eighteen, Wellum signed up on a short-service commission with the Royal Air Force in August 1939. The first aircraft he flew was the Tiger Moth at Desford airfield in Leicestershire. Wellum's first solo flight was on 1 September 1939. Two days later Britain declared war on Germany. [4] After successfully completing the course he then went on to fly the North American Harvard at RAF Little Rissington with 6FTS.

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On Malta, Wellum was diagnosed with severe sinusitis and battle fatigue, after three years of intensive frontline flying. After surgery, he returned from Malta to Britain via Gibraltar, and later became a test pilot for new aircraft, such as the new Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber, based at Gloster Aircraft. [3] 1943 [ edit ] Wellum claimed a Heinkel He 111 bomber shot down on 11 September 1940, and a quarter share in a Junkers Ju 88 downed on 27 September. Two (and one shared) Bf 109's were claimed 'damaged' during November 1940. A Bf 109 was claimed shot down [by Wellum] on 9 July 1941 over France. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 1921 – 18 July 2018) [1] [2] was a British fighter pilot and author, best known for his participation in the Battle of Britain. Born an only child in Walthamstow, Essex, Wellum was educated at Forest School, Snaresbrook before serving in the RAF. After the war he remained in the RAF until 1961, and later ran a haulage business. In the mid-1980s he retired and moved to Mullion, Cornwall, where he wrote down his wartime memoirs. In 2002 these were published as First Light. He tells you about the patrols and dogfights and comrades lost; the escort missions with bombers over France. After the Battle of Britain wound down he was posted to besieged Malta where he ferried in a Spitfire squadron and continued air combat as Flight Commander.Wellum claimed a Heinkel He 111 shot down on 11 September, and a quarter share in a Junkers Ju 88 downed on 27 September 1940. Two (and one shared) Messerschmitt Bf 109s were claimed "damaged" during November 1940. [9] 1941 [ edit ] This was so affecting! That it was true made it all the more poignant to watch. The fact that Wellum was teenager when he entered the RAF makes me realize all over again what the people of England were willing to do to protect their homes and their land. They sent their boys.

First Light - Penguin Books UK

The story was told well. You saw what little training the RAF had. You saw their raw courage. You felt their tension and watched them deal with the losses of each of their own the best they could. You saw them fly exhausted into battle over and over and over again. You saw what it cost them mentally and emotionally. Geoffrey Wellum didn't have time to visit us on set - but before the shoot, as I was scripting, we spent a huge amount of time together. And afterwards, during post-production, Geoff worked very closely with the CGI artists to make sure we got the tracer fire absolutely correct in the air battles. Life for Wellum at the end of his career as a fighter pilot was never be quite the same. "I am certain that my time came with my three years as an operational fighter pilot in our nation's finest hour. My only regret is that it had to happen so early in life". [12] Dates GEOFFREY WELLUM, a veteran of the Battle of Britain, was the youngest fighter pilot (at 18) in the Royal Air Force (RAF) to have fought in that battle.

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This means that it doesn't have the immediacy of some other RAF memoirs, but in some ways is a better book for it. This is a fabulous, engrossing book that tells the story of a young Spitfire pilot during World War Two. We follow Geoff Wellum through his application process, through a long and arduous training course and right the way through the war (although, understandably, Wellum places a lot of emphasis on the Battle of Britain). In the summer of 1941 Wellum participated in more than 50 "sweeps" over occupied France (also known as Circus offensives) flying escort for Blenheim and Stirling bomber formations, taking the war to the enemy. He claimed a Bf 109 shot down on 9 July 1941 over France, [9] and in August 1941, Wellum was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. [3] [10] Soon after his arrival, 92 Squadron moved from Duxford in Cambridgeshire to Pembrey in Carmarthenshire. There, Wellum made his first sorties, pursuing a Junkers Ju 88 German bomber as far as Weymouth, Dorset, and losing it in the clouds; attempting night-fighting around Bristol; and “chasing isolated German aircraft all over the south-west”. But all of this was a prelude to the squadron’s move, on 9 September 1940, to Biggin Hill in Kent, at the centre of that summer’s battle.

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum - Penguin Books New Zealand First Light by Geoffrey Wellum - Penguin Books New Zealand

Wellum's story is simply told and almost belies his heroic stature. He had done more in a few short years in his youth than most people do in a lifetime. The story is awe-inspiring. Subsequently, [Wellum] had written a memoir of his time as a Spitfire pilot but never intended it for publication. However in 2000 he gave it to a young [author/historian] called James Holland, who showed it to friends at Penguin, and they immediately decided to publish it." In May 1940, before his flight training was complete, [4] Wellum was posted to 92 Squadron, which was a combat squadron flying Spitfires. [5] It was at 92 Squadron that he first encountered a Spitfire, and flew the aircraft for the first time. Later, in First Light, he wrote of the experience: "I experienced an exhilaration that I cannot recall ever having felt before. It was like one of those wonderful dreams, a Peter Pan sort of dream". [3]This won't be so much a review as an injunction: read this book. That's right, stop reading this review right now and go and get hold of First Light however you can: buy it, borrow it, steal it if necessary (any writer in his deepest heart wants readers more than anything else, so if you can't afford to buy his work, he'll forgive someone who steals to read). By late September the Battle of Britain was over, and the blitz, the night-time onslaught on the country’s urban centres, was under way. For Wellum and his comrades the intensity eased, as Spitfires were unsatisfactory nightfighters, and the squadron moved into winter quarters at Manston in Kent. During the battle he had shot down a Heinkel He 111 bomber, and claimed a quarter share in a Ju 88. That November there were two damaged Bf 109s, and one shared. Another Bf 109 was claimed in 1941, and there may have been more, as he was not one greatly concerned with recording such things.

First Light by Geoffrey Wellum | Waterstones

At times thrilling, ordinary, self-deprecating, visceral, and tragic. To read the events of WWII through the eyes, ears, and feelings of someone so young, so vulnerable, and brave is something that is rarely found in published histories of war. This is action as it happened, told to you by somebody who was there, with a down-to-earth, matter-of-fact tone. One can't help be moved by his words, and reading it after his death made it all the more poignant. An intimate account . . . rich in detail' James Holland, Wall Street Journal, 'Five Best World War II Memoirs' Vivid, wholly convincing, compelling. One of the best memoirs for years about the experience of flying in war Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph Wellum's close colleagues included Brian Kingcome. [8] Officers and guests celebrating the first anniversary of the arrival of No. 92 Squadron RAF at RAF Biggin Hill, September 1941.Working so closely with Geoffrey has made First Light a unique experience both for me as a director and I think, for the audience. Somehow we wangled it in the end. The owner of the replica was persuaded to bring his baby to stand side-by-side with the real McCoy. Geoff watched these scenes with great interest and said that he felt the film perfectly caught the mood and emotions he felt at the time, both on the ground and in the air.