I even began to enjoy [teaching] pupils". He died on 18 July 2018 in the UK. I'll never know how I got away with it.". God, is there no end to them? In May 1940 eighteen-year old Geoffrey Wellum joins the 92 squadron of the Royal Air Force and is taken to the pub,where pilots who have seen action sign their names on a blackboard. Within eight months he was flying with No92 Squadron. Your account has been locked for 30 minutes due to too many failed sign in attempts. He was awarded the FreedomoftheCityofLondon.[15]. There are no volunteers for this cemetery. First Light: Directed by Matthew Whiteman. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. "That at some point in my life I had been of use.". Drama-documentary telling the story of Geoffrey Wellum who, at the age of just 18, was one of the youngest Spitfire pilots to go into . The dangers were huge. Oops, something didn't work. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 1921 18 July 2018)[1][2] was a British fighter pilot and author, best known for his participation in the Battle of Britain. Its like one of those wonderful dreams, a Peter Pan sort of dream. I watched this because I wanted to see some of Heughan and Lewis's earlier works. Wellum led a flight of eight Spitfires to be carried on aircraft carrier HMSFurious, sailing from the Clyde to the Mediterranean, and then land them on the island. The comradeship in a fighter squadron that has survived the Battle of Britain is something that you will never be able to understand, he observed, and I will never experience again. In 1943 Wellum married Dorothy Grace Neil. [11], In February 1942, he was reassigned to combat duties, being transferred to 65 Squadron based at Debden, where he was appointed a Flight Commander in March 1942. In May 1940 eighteen-year old Geoffrey Wellum joins the 92 squadron of the Royal Air Force and is taken to the pub,where pilots who have seen action sign their names on a blackboard. The film was first shown by the BBC on 14 September 2010 starring Sam Heughan.[19]. He saw extensive combat flying Spitfires during the Battle and shot down an HE-111 on 11 September 1940. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 1921 - 18 July 2018) was a British fighter pilot and author, best known for his participation in the Battle of Britain. An email has been sent to the person who requested the photo informing them that you have fulfilled their request, There is an open photo request for this memorial. To add a flower, click the Leave a Flower button. Never stay still, never fly straight and level, chuck it around. '", 'First Light' is published by Viking, 16.99, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Of the numerous Bf 109 fighters which escorted the German bombers, Wellum wrote "God, is there no end to them? Their son and daughter survive him and a second daughter predeceased him. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 192118 July 2018) was a British Battle of Britain fighter pilot and author. He and his wife were divorced in 1975. Which memorial do you think is a duplicate of Geoffrey Wellum (219366673)? [3], In the mid-1980s, with the family business in liquidation and his divorce pending,[14] Wellum retired, as he had promised himself in his youth, to The Lizard peninsula, Cornwall,[14] settling in Mullion. Wellum eventually became the deputy harbourmaster. He left the service in 1960 with the rank of Squadron Leader. That summer Wellum was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Trout streams, water meadows, waders, fast-flowing water, the pretty barmaid at the inn. based on information from your browser. Are you sure that you want to report this flower to administrators as offensive or abusive? This browser does not support getting your location. Although just 18, he was not the youngest pilot to fight in the battle, an honour which is currently held by Martyn Aurel King, born 15 October 1921 - [7]) despite being nicknamed "Boy" by his colleagues. Their son and daughter survive him and a second daughter predeceased him. Born an only child in Walthamstow, Essex, Wellum was educated at Forest School, Snaresbrook before serving in the RAF. He then became a commodity broker in the City . He and his wife were divorced in 1975. He was also stationed at RAFGaydon, and in East Anglia. Please complete the captcha to let us know you are a real person. Try again later. In 1940, when he was 18, Wellum had, as the youngest Spitfire pilot in the RAF, flown in the Battle of Britain. . It would be a good film for a hight school history class. Next day,with no flying experience,he is expected to pilot a Spitfire;he is nervous but exhilarated. I like the voice-over inserted into the film of the actually pilot Heughan played. After a spell as adjutant at RAF Gaydon, a V bomber base, his final posting was to North Luffenham. "It wasn't going to happen to you," he says, looking me firmly in the eye. To install click the Add extension button. "I'd never seen a Spitfire before, let alone flown one, but there was a war on and they needed pilots. In his combat narration Wellum conveys something of the texture of battle, the imminence of death, aircraft straining for kills yards apart, the exhilaration, the surrealism, the terror, the speed and the Messerschmitt Bf 109s. A 1941 photograph taken at Biggin Hill, Kent, of Geoffrey Wellum, right, and Brian Kingcome, another fighter pilot, in front of a Spitfire. In this film Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC, a veteran of the Battle of Britain, narrates the Airman's Grace. Trout streams, water meadows, waders, fast-flowing water, the pretty barmaid at the inn. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. Did this woman die because her genitals were cut? Id gone over the top. Later he became a commodities broker. Nothing else mattered after that, nothing was worth recording." He was posted to an operational training unit and did not return to squadron service until February 1942, when he became a flight commander with 65 Squadron, at Great Sampford in Essex. [3][10], By this time most of Wellum's original colleagues at 92 squadron had been killed or captured; he survived owing to a combination of luck and skill. Geoffrey Wellum, who was just 18 when he joined the RAF in August 1939, died on Wednesday evening, the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said. A system error has occurred. [4], Much later, in an unpublished interview with TheTimes, Wellum recalled: "After I joined the squadron they went to Dunkirk and by the end of that day we'd lost five people, four of whom I'd met the night before in the officers' mess. He is jovial, charming and lucid, even after three lagers, but his long-suppressed emotions occasionally threaten to overwhelm him. The Germans were flying a formidable new fighter, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, and Wellum was beginning to suffer from persistent headaches. Simon Morris. First Light (2002), which was made into a BBC drama in 2010, was drawn from notes he had made as a teenage flier in the Battle of Britain. This officer has been with his squadron since the evacuation of Dunkirk. Their son and daughter survive him and a second daughter predeceased him. "I just wanted to sit quietly and convince myself" He takes a deep breath. . The movie wasn't so much about Spitfires as it was on the affects the fighting had on the pilots. Surprised and gratified by the book's success, he's eager to step down from the publicity bandwagon and return to the Cornish village where he lives. After surgery, he returned from Malta to Britain via Gibraltar, and later became a test pilot for new aircraft, such as the new Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber, based at Gloster Aircraft. Recalling his survival technique, he said: You make yourself a difficult target. Dear Jesus why this? "The family business was going into liquidation," he recalls, voice quavering. Having learnt to fly in Tiger Moths, he first went solo on September 1, 1939. The first aircraft he flew was the Tiger Moth at Desford . These are Huns attacking England, our small country, our island, intent upon invasion and eventual occupation. TheHistoryof92SquadronRAF, "YoungestBattleofBritainRAFpilotdies", 5 August 1941 - Flying Officer Geoffrey Harry Augustus Wellum (42925) of. Dear Jesus why this?. A few weeks later Wellum was in his local in Cornwall when the landlady handed him the phone. Geoffrey Wellum married Grace Christian in September 1943. "It was always the other chap. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. He had a second victory in the summer of 1941, claiming a BF-109 over occupied France. In May 1940, before his flight training was complete,[4] Wellum was posted to 92Squadron, which was a combat squadron flying Spitfires. 2023 BBC. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC (born 4 August 1921), is a British Battle of Britain fighter pilot and author. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. His marriage ended in divorce in 1975 and six years later he retired to Mullion, on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. ", His first Commanding Officer was Roger Bushell, (later immortalised in The Great Escape), shot down with two others the day after Wellum's arrival, covering the evacuation of Dunkirk. Born in Walthamstow, on the eastern edge of London, Geoffrey was the only child of Percy, who managed an off-licence, and his wife, Edith. Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile unit. I lived near North Weald and saw the pilots in white overalls. Patrick Tootal, secretary of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, said members of the charity's staff and volunteers had been "much saddened by the news". He was also stationed at RAF Gaydon, and in East Anglia. James Holland, now a well-known historian, was struck by their emotional punch rare in first-hand accounts of the Battle of Britain and showed them to colleagues. Eventually, Wellum relaxed: "I found a new peace andgradually I seemed to unwind. Failed to report flower. Please enter your email and password to sign in. The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said it was "saddened by the news". It was the crucial point of the Second World War. "Only this week Sqn Ldr Wellum had been talking enthusiastically about attending the Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey on 16 September," he said. [18], To mark the 70th anniversary of the BattleofBritain, the BBC commissioned a one-off drama for TV called First Light, based on Wellum's book of the same name. ", "Looking at my life now, I had peaked at about 21 or 22. Some of them men, mostly elderly, take off their hats and the womenfolk in their black hoods and cloaks cross themselves. Aged eighteen, he signed up on a short-service commission with the Royal Air Force in August 1939. Nothing can possibly quite rise to such heights.. Geoffrey Wellum dead - youngest WWII Spitfire pilot to fly in the Battle of Britain who was just 18 when war broke out dies aged 96 The veteran, who was just 18 when he joined the RAF in August. Family members linked to this person will appear here. My poor parents, they must have been very brave. Wellum had done his Royal Air Force training on de Havilland Tiger Moth biplanes and North American Harvard monoplanes. "I see you, you sod," reads one passage as he dives on an enemy bomber. Soon he is seeing action against the Luftwaffe,his sense of duty dispelling fear,and,h See production, box office & company info, Men in Kilts: A Roadtrip with Sam and Graham. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. It was well produced for a TV movie. After the war he remained in the RAF until 1961, and later ran a haulage business. Now 80, he was just 18 and straight out of school when he began flying Spitfires, the youngest fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. This officer has been with his squadron since the evacuation of Dunkirk. It is 40mph faster, has very good armament and a very high rate of roll". It was the German you didn't see who shot you down. Today, less than 300 of "the chaps" are still alive. He was subsequently involved in the testing of Hawker Typhoon fighter-cum-ground-attack aircraft, but did not return to combat duties. Make sure that the file is a photo. English And I say, 'I quite agree with you, but can you tell me how? Wellum recovered from his breakdown, married "Grace", his girlfriend in the book, had three children and stayed in the RAF for another 20 years. Next day,with no flying experience,he is expected to pilot a Spitfire;he is nervous but exhilarated. In 1943 he married Grace Neill and the couple had three children. As Wellum put it, Id shot my bolt. He was evacuated to England: Something inside me gave way and I broke down. We will review the memorials and decide if they should be merged. But all of this was a prelude to the squadrons move, on 9 September 1940, to Biggin Hill in Kent, at the centre of that summers battle. Within days, he had his first flight in a Spitfire, which he described as absolutely wonderful, you didnt get into it, you strapped it on. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. "Well, it has been," he says without pity. Max Hastings in The Sunday Telegraph rated it one of the best memoirs for years about the experience of flying in war. Two (and one shared) Messerschmitt Bf109s were claimed "damaged" during November 1940. In 1943 he married Grace Neil and they had three children. He wrote: Will I ever know quite the feeling and trust and comradeship in a front line Spitfire squadron, and in such a period of our countrys history, ever again? Later, in First Light, he wrote of the experience: "I experienced an exhilaration that I cannot recall ever having felt before. Among his appointments he was with the Second Tactical Air Force in Germany, converted to jets flying Gloster Meteors, de Havilland Vampires and English Electric Canberra bombers on reconnaissance sorties served at RAF Gaydon, and finally, in East Anglia, with a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile unit. . [12], After the war, Wellum stayed with the RAF, serving first as a staff officer in the Second Tactical Air Force in West Germany, where he flew jet aircraft such as the Gloster Meteor, the de Havilland Vampire and the English Electric Canberra. From early 1941, Fighter Command went on the offensive, flying sweeps over northern France, sometimes escorting small bomber formations, all with the intention of drawing the Luftwaffe into combat. Dogged by despair, he began to write a memoir about his youth: I just wanted to convince myself that at some point in my life I had been of use.. In the early 1970s Geoffrey Wellum was at a very low ebb. Sqn Ldr Wellum, speaking in 2013, said: "Somebody said: 'Here's a Spitfire - fly it, and if you break it there will be bloody hell to pay'. By September his time with 92 Squadron had come to an end, and he was tired. How did he cope? Read about our approach to external linking. Include gps location with grave photos where possible. What a pity, in a way, that an aeroplane that can impart such a glorious feeling of sheer joy and beauty has got to be used to fight somebody.. The thought of occupation horrified him: These are the Kings enemies, he wrote. Wellum was a great supporter of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust. Yes, and he currently resides in Mullion, Cornwall, England. Squadron Leader Geoffrey Harris Augustus Wellum DFC (4 August 192118 July 2018) was a British Battle of Britain fighter pilot and author.. Wellum suffered severe sinusitis and battle fatigue after three years' intensive frontline flying. My only regret is that it had to happen so early in life". Everyone who read the manuscript of Wellum's journey from confident 17-year-old schoolboy to his emotional and physical breakdown on Malta three years later, was engrossed.
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