Originally Posted by
Danny42C
Somewhere, on PPRuNe, I read a reference to an article by Wg Cdr Stanford-Tuck, to the effect that many of the Battle of Britain pilots were not the extrovert Rugby Club hearties of public imagination, but often quieter, introverted types. Google cannot find it for me: can anyone here please trace it for me ?
More in hope than any expectation,
Danny.
After a bit more browsing directed by Buitenzorg's thoughts, I think that it's the introduction to Alfred Price's
Spitfire at War (Ian Allen, 1974)
I'll type it up fully later, but the key bit is:
'I think the average member of the public during the war thought of Spitfire pilots as being gay, carefree, beer-swilling types, rather like the rugger club members one could see being very noisy in any pub on a Saturday night. Indeed, with a very few exceptions, nothing could have been further from the truth. Wartime flying and especially air combat in Spitfires, was a very cold calculating 'cat and mouse' affair. Woe betide any fighter pilot who was casual or who daydreamed - he would soon 'cop it up the back end', or one of his pals would.'