Spitfire Singh
I have only recently bought this book by Mike Edwards and have only read the first few chapters so far. I really only bought it because I knew Mikes's father many years ago. However, I am amazed and delighted at what a good read it is. His attention to detail is quite exceptional but he manages to cover it all in an interesting way and I am learning the most amazing things. For example, I never knew that Indian pilots flew in WW1, one of them shooting down 6 German aircraft in two weeks before being shot down himself.
It is the biography of AVM Harjinder Singh, an orphan who joined the fledgling Indian Airforce as a sepoy, trained to become an engineer and pilot. Through battles against the Japanese and Germans into the jet age he became a "pillar of the IAF.
Mike Edwards MBE became involved with the IAF when, as a BA pilot he visited India and helped to restore their vintage aircraft collection to flying status. His book starts with 50th Birthday Celebrations of the IAF with Mike flying their Tiger Moth to close the air display.