Last of the Ten Fighter Boys

by Corbin, Jimmy

• ISBN13: 9780750948050
• ISBN10: 0750948051
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-07-01
• Publisher: The History Press

Summary

"The Last of the Ten Fighter Boys" is intended to be both a prequel and a sequel to the chapter Jimmy wrote for "Ten Fighter Boys", filling in the 'missing pieces'. The book charts: his early life before the outbreak of war in 1939; the decisions he made; and, those that were made for him. He describes how an ordinary working class boy from Maidstone was propelled into the most extraordinary of situations, landing him in the thick of the action in the skies over Kent during the summer and autumn of 1940.

Author Biography

Jimmy Corbin DFC was a school teacher before the Second World War, but volunteered to train as a pilot when war was declared. He joined a frontline Spitfire squadron in the summer of 1940 and flew operationally in the Battle of Britain. He later instructed at an OTU and was then posted to North Africa where he was again in action as a Spitfire pilot. After the war he resumed his career as a schoolteacher in Maidstone.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
Prologue	xiii
Part One The Battle of Britain
1. 1929 — Maidstone, Kent	3
2. 1938 — Rochester Aerodrome, Kent	21
3. 1939 — Burnaston, Derbyshire	43
4. June 1940 — Cranfield, Bedfordshire	57
5. August 1940 — Hawarden, Cheshire	67
6. August 1940 — Kenley, Surrey	79
7. September 1940 — Acklington, Northumberland	91
8. November 1940 — Biggin Hill, Kent	115
9. February 1941 — Devon and Cornwall	129
10. September 1941 — Llandow, South Wales	143
Part Two The Battle for North Africa
11. August 1942 — Gibraltar	151
12. November 1942 — Souk Al Arba, North Africa	165
13. December 1942 — Souk Al Arba	179
14. January 1943 — Souk El Chemis, North Africa	193
15. May 1943 — Tunis, North Africa	211
16. Full Circle	225
Epilogue	231
Appendix	235
Index	238