First Light

Product Information

If England had fallen to Germany, the country could not have been used as the launching point for the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was the first, first-person account I'd ever read of the Battle of Britain, and my heart ached for the author (the youngest pilot to take part in the Battle). This was one film where we had to get not just the emotional thrust right, but also the historical detail. There are a lot of people out there for whom this really matters - and I am one of them. Wellum left the Royal Air Force in 1960 [13] and took over the family haulage business. Later he became a commodities broker.

Geoffrey Wellum - Wikipedia

As Wellum starts to fly on operations there is a definite change in the tone of his writing. His recollections of time on the ground with his fellow pilots are still lighthearted and amusing, but this is in stark contrast to time spent in the air fighting over Southern England and later over Northern France. His descriptions of aerial combat are vivid and gripping, written with an immediacy that is terrifying. Tragedy strikes again and again as a steady stream of his friends are killed and badly wounded, and the pressure on these pilots to keep flying is relentless. No wonder that after 2 years of operational flying he is completely worn out, and he and the reader can finally pause for breath. Wellum's close colleagues included Brian Kingcome. [8] Officers and guests celebrating the first anniversary of the arrival of No. 92 Squadron RAF at RAF Biggin Hill, September 1941.In a way this was a dream come true - getting the chance to dramatise for BBC Two Geoffrey Wellum's stunning First Light on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. 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. For more on the making of the film see: bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2010/09/first-light-dramatising-the-re.shtml

First Light on Vimeo First Light on Vimeo

By late September the Battle of Britain was over, and the blitz, the night-time onslaught on the country’s urban centres, was under way. For Wellum and his comrades the intensity eased, as Spitfires were unsatisfactory nightfighters, and the squadron moved into winter quarters at Manston in Kent. During the battle he had shot down a Heinkel He 111 bomber, and claimed a quarter share in a Ju 88. That November there were two damaged Bf 109s, and one shared. Another Bf 109 was claimed in 1941, and there may have been more, as he was not one greatly concerned with recording such things. The cast was wonderful. Sam Heughan did an amazing job as Wellum. You saw him change from boy to man. You could see and feel his emotions. He fully embodies the character. That summer Wellum was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. By September his time with 92 Squadron had come to an end, and he was tired. He was posted to an operational training unit and did not return to squadron service until February 1942, when he became a flight commander with 65 Squadron, at Great Sampford in Essex. An intimate account . . . rich in detail' James Holland, Wall Street Journal, 'Five Best World War II Memoirs'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. The conversations started early about getting Spitfires airborne. But what is it they say? Never work with animals, children... or vintage aircraft! In the summer of 1941 Wellum participated in more than 50 "sweeps" over occupied France (also known as Circus offensives) flying escort for Blenheim and Stirling bomber formations, taking the war to the enemy. He claimed a Bf 109 shot down on 9 July 1941 over France, [9] and in August 1941, Wellum was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. [3] [10]