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Spitfire Singh: A True Life Of Relentless AdventureStock informationGeneral Fields
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DescriptionTheir willingness to pay any price to uphold the honour and integrity of their Air Force meant an uphill battle against bigotry, difficult conditions of work and outdated equipment. However, showing tremendous fortitude, Harjinder and his men took the fight to the enemy and rose splendidly to the occasion. Be it the formidable Japanese, the mighty Germans or the resolute tribal warriors none could break the spirit of these airborne Indians. Promotion infoThe first lines of the preface is a 1934 quote from the British Head of the Air Force in India to all 200 Indians of the fledgling IAF: `Indians will not be able to fly and maintain military aeroplanes. It's a man's job; and all you have done is bring the greatest disgrace on yourselves.' Author descriptionAir Marshal Harjinder Singh would have been proud of Mike Edwards when, in 2007, he `entered' a military hangar in Delhi and discovered a forgotten, Aladdin's cave of historic aircraft. The Indian Air Force (IAF) took his ideas and appointed him Chief Adviser to the IAF Vintage Flight that he had resurrected. Five years later, live on TV, he was flying a newly restored biplane at the Indian Air Force Day parade. Two months after that event, he was awarded the MBE for Anglo-Indian relations and services to aviation by HM Queen Elizabeth II. Mike was born into aviation; his father, Marcus, was a Royal Navy fighter pilot. When Marcus went on to lead the Rothmans aerobatic team, the world's first full time civilian team, Mike virtually grew up in an aircraft cockpit. In 1986, Mike joined the RAF after A-levels at Brynteg Comprehensive School in South Wales. Post RAF, he lived and worked in Germany, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before joining British Airways in 1995.Mike lives 100 paces away from Winston Churchill's grave in Bladon, Oxfordshire, with his wife and two daughters. Table of contentsRebellious beginnings Training to be a Sepoy Eating off the floor Death comes to visit. Death comes to stay The North West Frontier Province The World is at War New Aircraft but old prejudices Into Burma The fighting retreat To India: To England: To Jail? Spreading Wings. Clipping Wings Independence! But at what cost? Command! Kindred spirit or dangerous Liaison? Reuniting old friends Epilogue: The Greatest Disgrace? |