First Light

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What the book may have benefited from is some more detail on the later career of the author, following on from the Battle of Britain. However, it is realistic to assume that this period is somewhat blurred in the authors memory. 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 mid-1980s, with the family business in liquidation and his divorce pending, [15] Wellum retired, as he had promised himself in his youth, to The Lizard peninsula, Cornwall, [15] settling in Mullion. He joined the local choir, and became deputy harbourmaster. [3] Wellum also appeared in the documentary "Greatest Events of World War II in colour," being interviewed on his experience at the Battle of Britain. The series aired on Netflix in 2019, after his death, and the episode "Battle of Britain" is dedicated in his memory.

First Light (TV Movie 2010) - IMDb First Light (TV Movie 2010) - IMDb

Geoffrey Wellum, who has died aged 96, was the author of one of the most gripping personal accounts of aerial warfare ever written. First Light (2002), which was made into a BBC drama in 2010, was drawn from notes he had made as a teenage flier in the Battle of Britain. This means that it doesn't have the immediacy of some other RAF memoirs, but in some ways is a better book for it. 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. 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 ] The book opens with Wellum's interview for the Royal Air Force and his training. It then shifts to his participation in the Battle of Britain and to his participation in Operation Pedestal, flying planes to Malta off an aircraft carrier. It then closes with him being grounded, recovering from sinusitis and then returning to duty as a test pilot.But at that time, I'm sure, as he reflects in the film, he was desperate to fight on until the bitter end. 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. The conversations started early about getting Spitfires airborne. But what is it they say? Never work with animals, children... or vintage aircraft!

First Light: Original Edition - Geoffrey Wellum - Google Books First Light: Original Edition - Geoffrey Wellum - Google Books

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. There have been countless war memoirs and books about the Battle of Britain. Why another one? This one has some significant differences that make it a compelling read. Surprisingly, “First Light” was first published more than 60 years after the events described within. At just 18 years of age, the author Geoffrey Wellum was the youngest RAF pilot to fight action during the Battle of Britain. He would eventually become the youngest Spitfire pilot in the prestigious 92 Squadron. Unlike most war memoirs, his training takes up more than a third of the book. Despite the delay in publishing the book, Wellum had jotted down notes in an exercise book at the time—something that would give his account unusual depth and quality. Wellum's real achievement is to make the reader experience with him the sheer difficulty of learning to fly along with its many dangers. It took him 35 years to turn his notebooks into a narrative, and the result is a highly personal account of what it is like to face mortal combat, day and night, and what it does to a man who is barely more than a boy Ben Macintyre

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.

First Light (Wellum book) - Wikipedia

First Light: The Story of the Boy Who Became a Man in the War-Torn Skies Above Britain is a 2002 memoir by Geoffrey Wellum, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot in the Second World War. One plane was brown and green, the other brown and grey. And the real one was based at Wycombe air park and our replica was 80 miles away on the drama set outside Dunstable. This is an account that anyone who has an interest in WW2 aviation will be delighted in. It's well told, full of humor, sadness, and death defying flying and combat action. These men, as young as 18, flew one of the fastest and deadliest aircraft at the time and many didn't make it through the campaign or even their first mission. You read with sadness the loss of many good pilots and friends but still the men continue flying day after day facing terrible odds.Aged seventeen, he 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, After successfully completing the course, he then went on to fly the North American Harvard advanced trainer at RAF Little Rissington with 6FTS. To mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the BBC commissioned a one-off drama for TV called First Light, based on Wellum's book of the same name. The film was first shown by the BBC on 14 September 2010 starring Sam Heughan. [20] After the war, Wellum remained in the RAF until 1961. Among his appointments he was with the Second Tactical Air Force in Germany, converted to jets – flying Gloster Meteors, de Havilland Vampires and English Electric Canberra bombers on reconnaissance sorties – served at RAF Gaydon, and finally, in East Anglia, with a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile unit.

First Light: Original Edition (Audio Download): Geoffrey First Light: Original Edition (Audio Download): Geoffrey

In February 1942, Wellum was transferred to 65 Squadron based at Debden, being appointed to Flight Commander in March 1942. This is a great story and in finishing I would like to add the following comment from a great historian about this book: "A work of exceptional quality.....his prose has a passion and immediacy which make it compelling reading" - Max Hastings. This was the truth for many soldiers - the feeling that they had been taken off the line before the 'job was done' and now were to be left to watch others die whom they could no longer help or protect.In 1943 he married Grace Neil and they had three children. After Wellum left the RAF the family settled in Epping, Essex. He worked for a family haulage business and, after that went under, spent time working as a commodity broker in the City. The couple divorced in 1975, and six years later he relocated to Mullion on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. He joined the local choir, and eventually became deputy harbourmaster. A daughter, Deborah, died last year. He is survived by two children, Anna and Neil. 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.