Shot Down in Flames by Geoffrey Page

by Geoffrey Page

Paperback

About the author

Wing Commander Alan Geoffrey Page, OBE, DSO, DFC*.

WWII Royal Air Force fighter pilot and post-war founder of the Battle of Britain Trust.

Recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) in 1943 and a bar to his DFC in 1944, appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1944, and appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1995.

Reviews

[Erich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at some of the beautiful metaphor and symbolic language Page used to describe his experiences. They really helped to place the reader in each situation but more importantly to feel the emotions and thoughts of not only Page but probably all his Battle of Britain brethren at one point or another throughout their combat experience. The initial 20 or so chapters are quite simply a masterpiece of first person recounting of flying in combat. Obvious is Page’s love affair with flying, specifically combat flying and painfully clear is what non stop combat operations, being dcsfiguringly wounded in battle, and convalescing away from your brethren does to the human mind. Equally clear throughout the book are accounts of healing those mind-wounds with what combat aviators are known for: debauchery. It’s a release of tension that while often cringe worthy to a peacetime civilian, makes sense contrasted with the authors daily proximity to death and the deaths of his friends and so many countrymen. The last few chapters give interesting insight into postwar peacetime sales of airliners but otherwise left something to be desired. Overall incredible account of fighting and healing.