Fighter Boy: Life as a Battle of Britain Pilot

by Barry Sutton

The Battle of Britain memoir of Hurricane pilot Barry Sutton, DFC. At 23 years of age, Barry Sutton had experienced more than the average person experiences in a lifetime. This book, based on a diary he kept during the Battle of Britain, covers September 1939 to September 1940 during which time based at North Weald one of Fighter Command's most important fighter stations, he shot down 3 German fighters and was shot down twice himself. It is also the story of his family, his wife whom he married in the midst of the epic air battle and who helped him survive the horrific injuries he sustained after bailing out of his burning Hurricane fighter plane.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2010

Reviews

[KOMET]

This book perfectly captures the thoughts and feelings of a young British fighter pilot as he reflects upon his pre-war training and his combat experiences in France (May 1940) and during the early phases of the Battle of Britain (July - August 1940).

I was particularly struck by the following recollection made by Sutton of his participation in a combat with German dive bombers above the English Channel: "...Two in front of me turned steeply and headed for home. Their fighter escort was of no use to them now.

"I overshoot the first too quickly to observe the effect of my short burst, but I was able to fasten on to the tail of the second. Twisting and turning, he was now only a few feet above the water. I pressed the firing button as he tried a sudden steep turn to the right which brought him right across my gun-sights. The worst shot in the world could not have missed.

"The Junkers tightened its turn but skidded violently towards the water as its nose dropped. In less than a second it was all over. It had hit the water with the full momentum of its three tons travelling at 200 miles per hour, but it plunged in like a stone and made little splash.

"As I watched, something wound up in my stomach. It was my first Hun but there was no immediate feeling of elation.

"For a moment I was conscious of a sickly, nauseating wave of sympathy for the wretched men I had sent to their doom.

"It was a sensation which, thank God, I never had again."


Within a month, the author was shot down, sustaining severe burns and a yearlong hospitalization. Sutton's story, written while the Second World War was going on, is unflinchingly honest and shows how people in wartime see their lives as forfeit, likely to be snatched away in the twinkling of an eye.

[Jerry Wall]

The Author, with help, tells about his experience flying Hurricane fighters in the Battle of Britain.
stories of dogs, cars, and being a fighter pilot.
He was an ace in downing German planes and he was shot down with serious injuries in
the burning crash.
Interesting long poem as postlude in back of book.