Historian's new book tells the tales of forgotten fighter pilots

Paul Beaver, of Goodworth Clatford, has written a volume on the story of 57 naval airmen, told through their individual biographies, who were missing from the official accounts for more than 20 years and completely side-lined in the popular memory of the Battle of Britain.

The book and the research came about after Paul’s years of writing about the Spitfire and its pilots.

He said: “The rationale behind it is that I have an interest in heritage and an interest in the Spitfire and it came from writing books looking at some of the Spitfire pilots named and thought we don’t really know that 57 naval airman took part in the Battle of Britain.

“I started to go into it and they were amazing people with quite remarkable lives, some of them short, but they did remarkable things.”

Some of the naval pilots flew in Fighter Command squadrons, others in naval squadrons defending the Scapa Flow naval anchorage in Scotland; somehow missed off the fighter cover plot for 1940.

Paul, who has been writing about aviation and naval affairs for 40 years, said: “I have found their stories compelling. Take 23-year-old Dickie Cork for example. He was so rated by Royal Air Force legend Douglas Bader that he wanted Cork as his wingman.

“He was right to do so, Cork became an ace within days.”

Not all the pilots were as old as Cork. Midshipman Peter Patterson, who also flew with Bader’s No 242 Squadron and was not even 20-years-old when he crashed into the sea without apparent reason.

Paul, who has now published 67 books, has been able to draw on private letters from the pilots, previously untapped primary sources and contemporary accounts of air combat.

Paul has researched their stories with the help of key organisations such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust and the London Memorial.

With two leading specialist historians, Geoff Simpson and Matt Wills, Paul has worked through each biography to add detail and iron out ambiguities.