THE ROAD TO BIGGIN HILL — A LIFE OF Wing Commander JOHNNY CHECKETTS
Prix régulier 20,00 € TTC 6%
Characteristics
| ISBN-10 | 0906393736 |
| Book cover finish(es) | Hardcover ( round back binding ) |
| Special Features | • Dust jacket |
| Condition | Like NEW |
| Author(s) | Vincent Orange |
| Publisher | Airlife Publishing Ltd. |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Published date | 1986 |
| Language(s) | English |
| Size | 14.5 x 22 x 1.5 cm |
| Categorie(s) | • BIOGRAPHIES • AVIATION MILITAIRE • SECONDE GUERRE MONDIALE |
Description
JOHNNY CHECKETTS, one of the great fighter pilots of World War II, was born and brought up in Invercargill. In his youth he was considered by the local inhabitants to be a dare-devil motorcycle rider. It was natural, therefore, that in 1939 he should join the RNZAF, then in the throes of its rapid expansion to its wartime strength of 33,000 men.
Although his New Zealand instructors did not rate him very highly, and in spite of being well over the average age for a fighter pilot, he turned out to be a great airman, tactician, and leader in battle. He achieved one of the highest scores of enemy aircraft destroyed during the air war over the English Channel. He was shot down in September 1943 and avoided capture by the Germans with the help of the French Resistance. He subsequently rose to the rank of Wing Commander and was personally decorated by the King, George VI.
After the end of the war, Johnny returned to New Zealand to continue his service with the RNZAF, and when he finally left the service in 1955 he founded an aerial topdressing company in the South Island.
VINCENT ORANGE tells this story in his relaxed and elegant style, carrying the reader along with Johnny's exploits through a unique period of human history never likely to be repeated in the future.
