Winkle – The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot by Paul Beaver, 516 pages HB, 106 B&W, 32 colour illustrations, Penguin/Michael Joseph £25, ISBN 978-0-718-18670-8
I had the good fortune of meeting Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown CBE, DSC, AFC a number of years ago, following this advert:
‘On Tuesday 23rd October 2007, the Ulster Aviation Society, the Royal Aeronautical Society (Belfast Branch) and the Royal Navy are hosting a visit by Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown. Captain Brown, who is one of the most renowned naval aviators of the 20th century will be giving a talk about his flying experiences. This will be held on board HMS Caroline starting at 8pm. Afterwards Captain Brown will be signing copies of this book Wings on my Sleeve.’
As I had made the arrangements, I hosted Winkle and his companion during the course of their stay. He was very easy and pleasant company, being both relaxed and charming. It was without a doubt, one of the most personally satisfying and rewarding bookings, of the many I had made for the Ulster Aviation Society.
Afterwards Winkle gave me a signed copy of Wings on my Sleeve, with a very thoughtful inscription.
My late friend, Graham Mehaffy, in his subsequent review of the talk, noted, ‘Captain Brown spoke for at least one and a quarter hours, without notes, to an audience of around one hundred and twenty, at a very agreeable venue, the drill hall of the old light cruiser, HMS Caroline, and I don’t think anybody left disappointed. I recently read his book and would recommend that you do the same, you won’t regret it, the man is without doubt a legend among legends in aviation circles.’
It is therefore with the greatest of interest that I read this biography, by Paul Beaver, who was, as he states at the outset, a close friend of Winkle’s for many years. It is greatly to his credit that this is a ‘warts and all’ story and does not shrink from describing the more difficult and challenging sides of Winkle’s character, writing with undoubted affection but also with candour. In this he (Brown not Beaver) reminded me of a Scottish version of the cricketer, Geoff Boycott; immensely talented and dedicated to his craft but rather light on empathy and leadership skills.
Part 1 of the book fully matches up to the quote on its cover from the renowned military historian, James Holland, ‘Compelling, fascinating and frequently jaw-dropping.’ I could not agree more and the ensuing chapters fully support his contention that this is, ‘A brilliant and revelatory biography.’
I have recently read and reviewed a biography of another prominent British airman, Wing Commander Bob Tuck, and was struck that both he and Winkle Brown effectively made up the story of their early life, with the whole truth not being revealed by biographers until after they had died. The same to an extent is true of Guy Gibson and Douglas Bader, whose equally difficult characters were not fully explored for many years. What is it that makes distinguished airmen such singular personalities?
But back to the book in question, Winkle Brown had a truly remarkable career in aviation:
Northern Ireland makes an early and entry in the book, as he completed his early RN flying training at No 24 EFTS, Sydenham (though not yet HMS Gadwall and certainly not on ‘Belfast Island’) and meeting his future wife Lynn, who was from Belfast. By that time, he had already visited Germany several times and experienced aerobatics with the Great War fighter ace, Ernst Udet and had also witnessed one of Hanna Reitsch’s indoor helicopter flying demonstrations. Later he would by fortunate chance be present at Cranwell when the jet-powered Gloster E28/39 took to the air.
His active service began in 1941 with convoy work aboard the escort carrier, HMS Audacity, flying the Grumman Martlet (which remained one of his favourite aircraft). After the carrier was sunk, there is another local connection, as the two Liberators sent out to assist were from No 120 Squadron at RAF Nutts Corner, one of which was flown by Squadron Leader Terry Bulloch, late of Campbell College, which establishment was later attended by Winkle’s son Glenn.)
This is just the start of a quite astounding flying career. His test flying began in 1942 with service trials which resulted in the accumulation of some 1500 deck-landings by the end of 1943. There followed six years of the most intensive and varied test piloting experiences. The range of work he undertook at Farnborough, at sea and in Germany included the first deck landings of a twin-engine aircraft, a Mosquito and of a jet, a Vampire; he was the CO of the flight which examined captured German aircraft which afforded him the opportunity to fly and evaluate the Me 262 (another favourite), Me 163B, Arado 234b, He 162, Dornier 335 and BV 222, amongst many others. He also carried out much early developmental work on helicopters. Much of the work was very dangerous and it is another reflection of Winkle’s great skill is that he has survived to a ripe old age to tell the tale.
In the 1950s he returned to regular squadron duties, which though busy, must almost have seemed like a rest cure – therefore he formed and led two aerobatic display teams, firstly with Sea Furies and then Sea Hawks. Later postings included an exchange tour test flying with the US Navy, earning his watchkeeping certificate in a JASS frigate out of Londonderry, Commander (Air) at Brawdy, giving considerable assistance to the rebirth of the German Naval Air Service, policy work in Whitehall and a posting as Naval Attaché in Bonn and a final tour as CO of RNAS Lossiemouth. He did not reach Flag rank, which he coveted, for a number of reasons, one of which was crossing swords with the Defence Secretary, Denis Healey.
The final chapter of his career was concerned almost exclusively with rotary-wing aviation, with the British Helicopter Advisory Board.
The text is enhanced by an excellent selection of photographs and some very useful maps. I have absolutely no hesitation in thoroughly recommending this excellent book.
