Spitfires Rampant: In Italy in WW2

South Africa and Bill, had one thing in common - they had no right or obligation in the first place, to get involved in that remote British war at all! South Africa was unprepared for war, it had no army, no guns, no armour - only an embryo Air Force flying a few obsolete aeroplanes. After the Boer War ended in 1902, General Smuts worked with great determination towards reconciliation with the British Nation. In September 1939, even though South Africa had no military equipment, he led South Africa into the turmoil knowing that he was supported by the spirit of free people. Together, Boer and Briton strode forward on the path of unity and honour . . .
Bill had to find out the hard way about his inappropriate physique and psychological attributes, as well as his lack of the tough maturity needed for fighting. His ordeal earned him the wonderful privilege of flying as a Spitfire fighter/dive-bomber pilot with 4 Squadron, South African Air Force in Italy in 1944 and 1945 - and the proudly accepted nickname of ‘Little Tat’. After he had survived 110 sorties against the Germans in Italy, he knew only too well about all his weaknesses and his shortcomings . . . but he laughed about them when he celebrated his twenty-first birthday back in South Africa, in November 1945 - six months after VE Day. 

This autobiographical wartime adventure story is based with precise accuracy on actual live-action facts and incidents. It is an evocative portrayal of a teenager’s traumatic development from boyhood to aggressive maturity; from innocent adolescence to his role as a high-speed perpetrator of death and destruction.