Spitfire!

Brian Lane came from Pinner in Middlesex. A former pupil of St Paul's who, having been sacked from his job in a light bulb producing factory, was accepted for a Short Service Commission in the RAF in 1936. He joined his first fighter squadron, No 66, flying Gauntlet biplanes at Duxford, in 1937. He fought over Dunkirk and throughout the Battle of Britain and at its peak he was made squadron leader of 19 Squadron after his CO was shot down and killed. He wrote his memoir in 1941 and published it under the pseudonym, 'B. J. Ellan' as Spitfire! The Experiences of a Fighter Pilot. It was a short-lived bestseller, the publisher at the time couldn't get enough paper from the War Ministry. He made his last combat flight on 13th December 1942, and was shot down over the cold and inhospitable North Sea, which became Brian Lane's only shroud and last resting place.