Cyril Babbage's story is at the printers - official launch Wed 3 Sep. 85 years ago, the night of 31 Jul 40, Sqn Ldr Sandy Johnstone, the new OC 602 at Drem, loses two Spitfires: Flt Lt Dunlop Urie and Plt Off Harry crash land in visibility of about 50 yards. Some start boss!

Much looking forward to 'Wallop and Wings' this Saturday. Catch this ex-Honorary Colonel Royal Engineers at the Writers' Tent, 1130 @grub_street @armyflying

Tempted to take a leaf out of others’ books and say, goodnight all.

Memories evoked by a recent post prompted a look back to this month 41 years ago. Serving, and flying, with 92 Sqn was not only enormous fun, it was one of the two greatest privileges the RAF accorded a very fortunate individual - fortunate in this case to be supported by

The night of 10/11 June 1944 brought 464 Sqn's Cyril Babbage another reminder of the dangers of the Mosquito night intruder role: the loss of a second flight commander just five days after OC A Flight's demise. Capt Andy Wakeman USAAF and his navigator Fg Off Geoffrey Holmes were

81 years ago to the day, late evening 5 June 1944 found Battle of Britain Spitfire ace Cyril Babbage in the cockpit of his 464 Sqn RAAF Mosquito at Gravesend. The almost incessant sound of bombers passing overhead indicated the immense scale of the D-Day operation in which he was

RT @SpitfireFilly: The best host I could ask for - thank you so much, @blackrauthor! And, everyone, please keep your eyes peeled for Black'….

Can't believe this was over 40 years ago - refreshing on the Hunter with 79 Sqn at Brawdy after back-to-back MoD tours. It brought back memories of a first tour on the most beautiful of aircraft: Fred Trowern's 'Manta Ray' formation arriving at Sharjah in April 1968.

For Sgt Cyril Babbage (below as a u/t pilot in 1939), operating from Dyce in early May 1940 was simply more of the same: the Phoney War - Sitzkrieg as the Germans aptly termed it. On 2 May came instructions to modify the markings on 602 Sqn's Spitfires: yellow rings were added

After a week celebrating the VE Day anniversary, and the loss of the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, Gp Capt John Hemingway, returning to the @Memorial_theFew this Sunday promises to be a poignant experience. Much look forward to telling the fascinating stories of those

For Sgt Cyril Babbage of 602 Sqn the Phoney War lived up to it's name during April 1940. A temporary move from Drem, first to Dyce, deemed treacherous, and then Montrose, temporarily unfit due to heavy rain, didn't help. He flew just nine operational patrols. For the new CO, Sqn

Delighted by commissioning editor's reaction to first draft of the new book: '. terrific . really enjoyed editing such a great story . congratulations!' Could ask for no more. @grub_street @AcesHighGallery @spirit_spitfire @SpitfireFilly @Waterstones

RT @penandpaper1989: Self storage is boring, you say? Not at Vanguard's new Bath store, with this lovingly restored T.11 deH Vampire hangin….

RT @SpitfireFilly: Please do visit the amazing @AcesHighGallery on 1 June to join myself & the fantastic @blackrauthor for a live conversat….