I Wish I Had Your Wings: A Spitfire Pilot and Operation Pedestal, Malta 1942

Description

In August 1942, the British launched Operation Pedestal in an attempt to deliver supplies to the stricken island of Malta, an Allied base which had been under Axis blockade for months. From August 9 to August 15, a convoy of some 50 ships ran the gauntlet of Axis bombers, submarines, E-boats, and minefields. Of the original 14 merchant vessels, only five reached Malta Grand Harbour. In 'I Wish I Had Your Wings', Angus Mansfield relates the experiences of two men involved in Pedestal, Captain David Macfarlane of MV Melbourne Star and his nephew David Mejor, one of the Spitfire pilots who fought to protect the convoy. Told using their log books, letters, and papers, this is the story of one family's contribution to a relief operation that cost of over 400 Allied lives, but which has gone down in history as one of the most important British strategic victories of World War II.