Review ~ ... And Parents Pointed and Whispered to Children ~ Spitfire
Review
SPITFIRE
by
Flight Lieutenant Adrian John Nichol RAF
And Parents Pointed and Whispered to Children ~ Spitfire
“And Parents Pointed and Whispered to Children ~ Spitfire.”
Setting the Scene
A favourite aeroplane is the Supermarine Spitfire. It often appears in articles around this website.
Spitfire by John Nichol is one of the many currently read, privately reviewed, and sometimes publicly reviewed books on the website.
I’ve read it several times, but there is one short piece of writing I always return to.
It sums up what millions of us have felt as kids growing up in the long shadow of the Second World War when we were very aware that something terrifying had happened just before we were born, and somehow, we’d won what everyone said we were bound to lose.
I felt special, emphasised by the two Bomber Command crews, one each on the mantelpiece of my Mum-and-Dads’ parents’ homes. I knew a lot about them all, and I knew they weren’t around.
On the piano in 25 Windsor Street, there was also a small framed quotation, and if I remember correctly, I earned a sixpenny bit (two and a half pence today) the first time I was able to read its title, the actual quotation itself, and if I could read the name of the person who spoke the words, I’d get another thruppence, which I duly did, whereupon Grandad added to Grandma’s nine pennies in old coinage another thruppence which gave me a whole imperial shilling!
Engine Idling… awaiting take-off
In one short line - a whisper - many will most certainly have experienced hearing and feeling with their mum and dad that which John Nichol so eloquently describes.
Flight Lieutenant John Nichol perfectly finds the cadence and rhythm of a million thoughts of a million people over the years enjoying that same experience …
When you brain your copy of his title SPITFIRE published in 2018 you’ll find this short extract on Page Five.
“As I stood on the airfield, away from the public areas on grass that had once seen scores of Spitfires to take to the skies during WWII, I watched in amazement as an astonishing phenomenon unfolded. For a moment, the cough and splutter of an engine went unnoticed – like the preliminary chords of an orchestra – and people carried on their conversations.
Then the stammer turned into a roar as soothing as anything philharmonic.
Chatter stopped, cameras pointed away from the domineering aircraft – even from the majestic Concorde – and towards the sound humming from the runway.
People began to pour out of the exhibition halls and moved, some even running, struggling to release cameras from the bags, towards the barriers at the edge of the airfield.
The aircraft they sought out was small, one of the smallest on the Duxford track.
They had recognised the distinctive notes of a Merlin engine and, yet to actually see the aircraft itself, they still knew what was to come.”
“A few heads nodded in recognition; enthusiasts squinted, trying to identify the variant.
Parents pointed and whispered to children...
Spitfire.”
“The harm turned to the glorious crescendo of the Merlin engine at full power as the fighter raced straight down the grass the wrong way mere yards away from the admiring crowd.
In seconds it curved, leaflike wings were outlined above as the wheels tucked neatly into its lean belly.
Cameras tracked skywards.
It was a wonderful treat to see a Spitfire in flight. Something to show those back home. As the fighter disappeared into the Cambridgeshire sky, the visitors turned back to the other displays with broad grins, happy that they had seen a legend, no, the legend, take to the air.
Some had found a slight deviation in the Spitfire’s usual elegance.
A second, cockpit sat behind the first, for this was one of the few two-seater versions which carried passengers. What they couldn’t have known – the reason I was there, the reason this book came about – was that a 90-year-old veteran, who had not flown a Spitfire for nearly 70 years, sat in the rear cockpit, grinning like a schoolboy.”
End of Quote
10 July 1940 ~ You Dare to Threaten Us with Invasion?
Battle of Britain
A Sergeant Pilot with his Ground Crew. They work together. One in the air, two on the ground. A formidable team.
Pause. This is July 1940. Observe the calm. Note the concentration. The Mae West is very weathered. Consider.
I did not want war. But you have dared to threaten me and my family with invasion. What right do you think you have? All of you! Any of you! You have subjugated Europe but you will not subjugate these islands no matter what terror you unleash. No matter how many of us you kill.
Remember this when you find we fly straight at you head-on. You dare to kill us? We WILL kill you. And we will show no mercy. You have met your match in us and in the Polish and Czech Squadrons.
1
Royal Air Force Senior NCOs (Sergeants) Summer 1940 enjoying a brief rest and a laugh. 2
I love this photograph not only because the pilot is a sergeant-pilot, the rank Kenneth Ernest Webb held in Bomber Command, but because we see the head of one of two men - the pilot’s groundcrew - upon whom every pilot, every aircrew, was totally dependent. In my twenty-one years of service in the RAF Volunteer Reserve, whenever I was asked to remember The Few, I did most surely, but adding quietly and firmly, and The Many and with a playful glint in the eye … which always, to this day, prompts the reply in all manner of words, all of which can be nicely paraphrased, Oh, yes, of course. Absolutely.
Children taking shelter in the summer of 1940 during a heavy daylight raid on the Capital, LONDON. 3
I wrote to a friend in Liverpool that this image always gives me hope when I see what Ukraine is being subjected to. And this week, we have seen the heaviest aerial bombardments on Ukraine by Russia.
I've always been moved by this photograph ... it's as if I'm looking at my own family... the little boy, mouth wide open, shielded by his elder brothers... and their sister opposite sitting quietly with that calm and determination that on the All Clear she'd get them all back home safely.
Somewhere, their dad was doing his bit, and mum was doing her bit, and their dogs and cats will be on yet another truce sharing the garden shed together...
4
11 July 2025
All Rights Reserved
Liverpool and Gloucestershire
© 2025 Kenneth Thomas Webb
First written 3 January 2023
Citations and References
1. RAF Battle of Britain Sergeant-Pilot ~ image is by courtesy of the Imperial War Museum (IWM)
2. RAF NCOs … enjoying a brief rest ~ image is from the IWM (ibid) Archive
3. LONDON, The Capital … Children watching a dogfight over London Summer 1940 is freely available. This photograph is accredited to Shorpy, and the photograph is also in my collection from the Imperial War Museum.
4. Confrontation at Beachy Head by William S. Phillips is a framed limited edition print No. 940 of 1,000 purchased and owned by Kenneth Thomas Webb
Ken Webb is a writer and proofreader. His website, kennwebb.com, showcases his work as a writer, blogger and podcaster, resting on his successive careers as a police officer, progressing to a junior lawyer in succession and trusts as a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, a retired officer with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and latterly, for three years, the owner and editor of two lifestyle magazines in Liverpool.
He also just handed over a successful two year chairmanship in Gloucestershire with Cheltenham Regency Probus.
Pandemic aside, he spends his time equally between his city, Liverpool, and the county of his birth, Gloucestershire.
In this fast-paced present age, proof-reading is essential. And this skill also occasionally leads to copy-editing writers’ manuscripts for submission to publishers and also student and post graduate dissertations.
