TEN FIGHTER BOYS

Ten Fighter Boys ~ 66 Squadron RAF

Signed on the title page by

Sergeant Jimmy Corbin
66 + 610 ~ 1940-41
72 ~ 1942-43 N. Africa

Published by Collins.  First edition, first printing 1942 .  176 pages plus photographs.

A Fine condition copy of this hardback book. Clean, bright, tight and square.  The unclipped dustjacket is in Fine condition with a few edge chips but is in excellent condition for its age and looks smart in a protective cover.  A dustjacket for this book is scarce in any condition. NB The image of ‘Last of the Ten Fighter Boys’ is for illustration only.

During the Battle of Britain an RAF Spitfire squadron commander asked some of his pilots to write about their combat experiences. The book was published in 1942 as ‘Ten Fighter Boys’, penned by ten pilots on 66 Squadron, most of whom had seen action in the Battle of Britain and later in fighter sweeps over France in 1941-2. By the time the book was published, three of the original authors were dead; by the end of 1942, only three of the ten were still alive. 

Jimmy Corbin, who contributed Chapter 3, was the last survivor of the ten, living until 2012 and publishing his autobiography ‘Last of the Ten Fighter Boys’ in 2007.

The book and its narrative style are very much of their time: the language is colourful, irreverent and dramatic, but at the same time filled with the pathos and fatalism that is the preserve of the fighter pilot.

A very scarce book in this condition, especially signed; a wartime first edition is an essential volume for the Battle of Britain bookshelf.