Biography of David Beaty MBE DFC* Winged Life
I have just read "Winged Life" the biography of David Beaty by his wife Betty Campbell Beaty and published in 2001. I discovered this marvellous book only a few weeks ago in a little old second hand book shop in Melbourne and bought the book for two dollars. It turned out to be one of the greatest books I have ever read. In years gone by I have read many of his previous books where he flew in the the RAF during WW2 and where he flew a great variety of aircraft including Wellingtons and Liberators on anti U-Boat operations over the Atlantic. His exploits against Axis aircraft and shipping during the Battle of Malta are the stuff of legends.
Beaty was a prolific writer on flying safety subjects - both wartime and peacetime. He flew for BOAC after the war. I recall reading his book The Naked Pilot where he interviewed many senior BOAC pilots asking them to describe the mistakes they had made during their flying careers. It was from those interviews - often granted reluctantly - that formed the basis of The Naked Pilot.
By chance I was visting relatives in Kent during the 1980's when someone said Beaty lived nearby. My wife and I drove to his cottage (in Sussex?) and found im tending his garden. I introduced myself as an Australian airline pilot as well as a former RAAF anti-submarine Lincoln pilot of the 1950's era and that we were visiting UK where I was on contract as a flight simulator instructor on the 737. He immediately invited us in for a cup of tea. I said I flew 737's with a South Pacific operator called Air Nauru. In that airline I had flown into many of the Pacific battle grounds of Guadalcanal, Guam, Tarawa and others. Often we carried veterans of those wars returning to old haunts. He was intrigued at my stories -more so because in those days the big battles of the Pacific and the Atlantic were so far removed from each other.
He wrote a book called Call me Captain about his time in BOAC as a copilot after the war where he flew with the classic white gloved snob captains of that era before being promoted to a command himself. It was when interviewing those personalities for his planned book The Naked Pilot that he discovered their marked reluctance to talk about their own "pilot errors."
That was understandable I said to him. I suggested to him that should he write a sequel to The Naked Pilot, perhaps he should also interview their copilots who would have seen various cock-up's by their captains.
To my surprise Beaty terminated our conversation rather abruptly and that was that. I had crossed a certain line obviously. Notwithstanding that strange incident I found Beaty to be a wonderful character in every respect and it wasn't until long after meeting him in his rose garden and having tea and a chat that I discovered his biography a few weeks ago and read of his of his wartime exploits.
I will leave it at that. But if nothing else I strongly recommend to anyone interested in WW2 aviation history to keep an eye open for The Winged Life. An absolutely enthralling read.
Last edited by Centaurus; 24th Sep 2021 at 11:45.