A Soldier in the Cockpit

In this WWII memoir, a British rifleman turned fighter pilot recounts his frontline experiences, both on ground and in the skies.

Ron Pottinger served his country through the entirety of the Second World War. Assigned to the infantry in 1939, he soon became a rifleman in the Royal Fusiliers. Later, he was able to transfer to the Royal Air Force, where he began flying the 7.5-ton Hawker Typhoon.

In A Soldier in the Cockpit, Pottinger recounts dozens of dangerous ground attack missions, flying over occupied Europe through bad weather, heavy flak, and enemy fighters. Though he was eventually shot down and taken prisoner, he survived to tell his tale.