William ‘Bill’ Wilkinson enlisted with the RAF as soon as he was old enough after the start of World War 2, and in 1942, still only 17, he found himself firing machine gun rounds at enemy fighter planes in a skirmish on the Sussex coast, an action for which he was commended.
 
His courage, bravery and keen intelligence carried him steadily through the ranks, and he finally retired in 1978 with the rank of Wing Commander. He completed these memoirs in handwritten form in 2013 and died in 2015, aged 91. They have been compiled and typed up by his granddaughter, Hayley Houghton, née Wilkinson.