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Description of  Three in Thirteen: The Story of a Mosquito Night Fighter Ace

This incredibly engaging and deeply personal story of World War II pilot Joe Singleton draws the reader into the dangerous world of night fighting (Manhattan Book Review). Joe Singleton was an unlikely hero. A junior manager at a paints and varnish company at the outbreak of war, he was surprised to discover he had a hidden talent for flying. Despite RAF Fighter Squadrons crying out for replacements after the carnage of the Battle of Britain, Joe was posted to the rapidly developing world of night fighting. He flew first Defiants, then Beaufighters, finding himself in the thick of the very earliest stages of ground-controlled interception and airborne radar engagements. His skills finally began to bear fruit when piloting a Mosquito, and he took part in several successful missions. But the pinnacle came on the night of March 19, 1944: scrambling to intercept a big German raid on Hull, he located and shot down a Junkers 188, then went on to shoot down two more, all in the space of thirteen dramatic minutes. He and his navigator survived the crash-landing that ensued, and he went on to be feted as a national hero. Three in Thirteen is a unique sortie-by-sortie account of his journey from bewildered recruit to celebrated expert, illustrated with extracts from Joes RAF logbook and unpublished photographs and illustrations. Roger Dunsfords extensive experience as an RAF pilot brings a vivid immediacy to Joes experiences, combined with astute analysis of the planes, the tactics, and the events of that fateful night. Inspirational and thoroughly engaginga true heros story. Books Monthly