Geoffrey Harry Augustus Wellum
Squadron Leader · 42925 · United Kingdom
- Born
- 4 August 1921
- Died
- 18 July 2018
- Fate
- Served and survived
Biography
Geoffrey Harry Augustus Wellum was born on 4 August 1921 at Walthamstow in Essex. He took a short-service commission in the Royal Air Force in August 1939 and, while still under training, was posted to No. 92 Squadron in May 1940 — flying a Spitfire for the first time only after he arrived. Aged eighteen, he was among the youngest pilots to fight in the Battle of Britain, flying from RAF Biggin Hill, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in August 1941.
In August 1942 he flew a Spitfire off the deck of the carrier HMS Furious to reinforce the besieged island of Malta during Operation Pedestal, serving there with No. 145 Squadron; he also flew with No. 65 Squadron. Long after the war he wrote First Light, a vivid memoir of his time as a young fighter pilot, published in 2002 to wide acclaim and later adapted for television. He died in Cornwall on 18 July 2018, aged 96.
Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Penguin Books — First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, The Scale Model Hangar — Flying Officer Geoffrey Wellum DFC and Wikipedia — Geoffrey Wellum. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.
Timeline
- 4 August 1921 Born
-
5 August 1941
Gazetted: DFC
Distinguished Flying Cross - 18 July 2018 Died
Service
Awards
-
Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) — gazetted 5 August 1941
Distinguished Flying Cross, gazetted 5 August 1941, for service with No. 92 Squadron in the Battle of Britain and the 1941 fighter offensive.