From 1 to 1000 Horsepower an RAF fighter pilots story

RAF World War II
ISBN 1-903953-52-9
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by Fergus Davidson
Experiences of a fighter pilot with 534, 91 and 229 Squadrons of the RAF during World War II.

One of the best memoirs of its kind you will ever read. Fergus Davidson saw a great deal of action as an RAF fighter pilot during World War II flying iconic Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft in the UK and overseas. His detailed and unexaggerated account of his remarkable experiences make for entertaining and educational reading.

Newsflash 2018: Italian aeronautical engineer, Salvo Fagone, has discovered personal items from the cabin of Mr Davidson’s Spitfire aircraft which crashed in Sicily in 1943. 

For the full story follow the link below:

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1397717/exclusive-italian-historian-discovers-aberdeen-war-heros-spitfire-parts-in-sicily/

In this forthright and entertaining memoir, Aberdonian Fergus Davidson looks back on his experiences during World War II.

He enlisted at the outbreak of war in 1939 with a cavalry regiment, The Scottish Horse, in which he served as a cavalryman until the opportunity presented itself for him to volunteer for transfer to the RAF.

He was soon training to become a pilot – a boyhood dream come true – although a daunting prospect at that time. After earning his wings he was posted to 534 Squadron at RAF Tangmere, where he flew a 1000-horsepower Hawker Hurricane, a very different steed from his previous one-horse-power mount.

He flew numerous night missions from Tangmere before being transferred to 91 Squadron, based at RAF Hawkinge on the Kent coast, from where he flew photoreconnaissance missions over the Channel.

He was soon on the move again, having volunteered for overseas service and in 1943 found himself on a ship bound for Algiers and thence to Malta, where he was to join 229 Squadron, equipped with Supermarine Spitfires and charged with protecting the island from enemy attack. Here Fergus took part in many aerial escapades before his luck ran out and he was forced to bale out of his stricken aircraft over enemy territory.*

He was captured, interrogated and transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Germany – Stalag Luft 6 – where he was to spend all but the final months of the war, when he and his fellow POWs would be faced with a final marathon of endurance as they were force-marched hundreds of miles in atrocious winter conditions by their captors to prevent the POWs from being liberated by the advancing Allied forces. Fergus suffered 26 bayonet wounds during this time but miraculously survived and eventually returned to his home in Aberdeen where, after the war, he joined the police force and became a prominent police officer in Aberdeenshire.

Fergus is a natural storyteller and his recollections of his truly remarkable wartime experiences are delivered with a dry wit and an eye for detail which will be enjoyed by readers of all ages.

Newsflash 2018: Italian aeronautical engineer, Salvo Fagone, has discovered personal items from the cabin of Mr Davidson’s Spitfire aircraft which crashed in Sicily in 1943. 

For the full story follow the link below:

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen/1397717/exclusive-italian-historian-discovers-aberdeen-war-heros-spitfire-parts-in-sicily/

 

details Softback | 200 pages | 50,000 words plus a number of historical photographs
subject Personal memoir/war memoir | Second World War
keywords Aberdeen | Scotland | Royal Air Force | Supermarine Spitfire | Hawker Hurricane | Italian campaign during World War II