FIGHTER PILOT

FEBRUARY & MARCH     ~    *BOOK OF THE MONTH*

There are some aviation books that are so rare and highly sought after by collectors
from all over the world that it would be unfair to sell such a book on a ‘first come’ basis. 

Therefore, each calendar month, Spitfire Books is offering a rare book for sale
and invites collectors to submit a ‘best offer’ during the month by email or telephone

Inscribed & double signed by

Wing Commander Paul Richey DFC*

Presentation to the children of Group Captain P.R. ‘Johnnie’ Walker DSO DFC on the front end paper ~
‘…..in memory of their father and my very old friend and Flight Commander in 1 Squadron,
Group Captain P.R. Walker (Johnnie) – the best that Fighter Command ever produced.
Paul Richey
London, 1982′

Jane’s Publishing Company. Revised edition 1980.  142 pages and well illustrated with photographs. An author’s note to this edition says ‘The pictures which enlarge and supplement this new edition of ‘Fighter Pilot’ were carefully selected by me from unpublished and genuinely contemporary photographs from national archives as well as from some of my friends’ collections and my own’.

Fine condition hardback book in a Fine condition unclipped dustjacket.  The book is clean and bright with a very solid square binding.  It looks very smart in its protective cover. The book comes with some pictures taken from an earlier edition of the book showing Richey, Walker and other 1 Squadron pilots in France. 

‘Fighter Pilot’ started life as a personal journal kept by Paul Richey from the outbreak of war when he went to France with 1 Squadron in September 1939.  It provided a diversion during the eight months of the ‘Sitzkrieg’ and was kept up in note form during the ‘Blitzkrieg’ until Richey’s evacuation from France on 13 June 1940.

On his return, he was persuaded to publish it but as his editor recalls “…I had to cajole Paul from his fighter station near London to come up and work with me on the book.  He would meet enemy aircraft in combat during the day and hurry up to London to work on his proofs by night.  I came across the restless spirit of the fighter pilot for the first time, and also, in him to realise the selfless gallantry and sense of adventure that impelled those men.  ‘Fighter Pilot’ sold 75,000 copies as quickly as we could print them and we could have sold twice as many if it were not for paper restrictions.”

 “The first and finest story of a fighter pilot in World War II”
Group Captain Peter Townsend

‘Johnnie’ Walker joined the RAF in 1935. Posted to 1 Squadron, he was in the Fury aerobatic team for the 1937 Hendon Air Pagent. When the squadron moved to France in September 1939 he was already A Flight Commander and in March shot down the first Bf110 to fall to an RAF fighter.  After the evacuation, he instructed for a few months ‘rest’ and then became CO of 253 Squadron in November 1940. In the summer of 1942 he was appointed Tangmere Wing Leader. Remaining in the RAF after the war, he died in 1972.  See here for more information: ‘Johnnie’ Walker

Reprinted many times over the years, this is an excellent signed copy of one of the best-selling aviation memoirs to come out of the WWII. The personal dedication and full double signature make this a very attractive book for any collection.