The book details the career of an RAF fighter pilot during world war two, from training to demob, flying a variety of aircraft from Tiger Moth to Vampire jets.
Whilst the book details the authors career, it doesn't really cover in any detail any of the flights, nor any real detail in the aerial combat and tends to focus on the authors social life, excess drinking and travelling.
The book is interesting in that it covers the authors perspective on his war, but lacks in real depth and real excitement.

Extremely interesting reading with information I never knew before.
If you are fans of military history then you can’t go wrong with adding this to your reading list.
I purchased this book when it was published for my stepdad and he thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

An interesting biography of one of the aces from Britain during WW2. The story is a recounting of personal events and little retelling of any actual dogfights he participated in. The first hand stories are good, but I did miss out on the telling of flying and dog fighting.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Pen & Sword for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Author John Greenwood published the book One of Churchill’s Own: The Memoirs of Battle of Britain Ace John Greenwood today. He wrote it for his family in the 90s and they have allowed it to be published.

I categorize this book as ‘PG’. This book is the autobiography of WWII RAF pilot John Greenwood. The first three chapters follow Greenwood’s early life. It then covers his pilot training and participation in the Battle of Britain. An unusual part of his career is the six months he served as a Hurricane catapult pilot with Atlantic convoys. After serving in the European Theater, Greenwood was transferred to India/Burma. He finally returned to England in December of 1947. After a brief stay, he immigrated to Australia.

I enjoyed the 3.5+ hours I spent reading this 186-page WWII autobiography and history. Memoirs like this written during or shortly after the war are very informative. They usually do not contain the political spin often found in later works. As was the case with many of the young men serving in the military, much of Greenwood’s spare time was spent drinking and chasing women. He also talks quite a lot about the various shenanigans that he and his comrades were involved in. I like the chosen cover art. I rate this book as a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4) out of 5

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

If you have an interest in WW2 or specifically the Battle of Britain then, like myself, you will find this a fascinating and enlightening perspective on what it was like being a member of “the few”. John Greenwood’s story is written in a very “matter of fact” style, telling the story of a 19 year old newly trained Hurricane pilot fighting first in France, then in the defense of Britain and later on in India. There is no sense of glory or heroism in his recollections despite the risks and high fatality rate, particularly in his first squadron. He does not hold back in his criticism of leadership and the mistakes that were made and it was interesting to hear his view on the difference in performance and survivability depending on whether you had a good or bad Squadron Leader.
You get a strong sense that Greenwood had an ability to survive not just the Luftwaffe but also his transgressions of RAF rules of which there were many. His capacity to consume alcohol seems endless though it does impair his judgement and leads to the many breaches of discipline and no doubt his frequent transfers between assignments. Then you remember this is just a young kid who was still only 24 when the war ended.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Pen and Sword for allowing me to review this book.