Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot

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Brown began his active war service in 1941, flying Martlets off the carrier HMS Audacity until its sinking in December. In 1943, he switched to test-pilot duties, an activity as dangerous as combat. None of this put the slightest dent in Brown’s determination to accept every risk on offer. They included flying the experimental Messerschmitt Me 163, which could climb to 30,000 feet in two-and-a-half minutes, and whose hugely combustible fuel had accounted for several deaths. Harris’s exciting and suspenseful novel takes its cue from a little-known historical development. In 1660, when King Charles II was restored to the throne, he passed the Indemnity and Oblivion Act, forgiving his enemies save those who had been complicit in his father’s execution, who were duly hunted down and (in most cases) killed. Harris follows two, equally compelling, narratives: that of the regicides Edward Whalley and William Goffe, fleeing across the world, and the vengeful royalist Richard Nayler, intent on pursuing them. If only all historical thrillers could be this entertaining.

If you look at his life, he had a scholarship to the Royal High School in Edinburgh, studied at Edinburgh University and commanded a squadron and an air station at Lossiemouth. He is a Scot, sounded like a Scot and played rugby for Scotland as an adolescent. Eric said the only thing that got him was when it came to being rescued. As he climbed up the side of the warship, he banged his legs because of the swell and took the skin off.”

Beaver recounts the story of a man he regarded as a mentor in unshowy but fascinating detail, and restores a British hero to his rightful place OBSERVER He remembers he had bought a silk nightdress in Tangier for his fiancée, Lynn. So, he stuffs that inside his tunic to save it, which, of course, adds another layer of insulation. Then he gets into the water and starts helping other people. Brown seemed a shoo-in to join the Royal Air Force during the Second World War but there was a hitch – when the 19-year-old aspiring pilot reported to the recruiting office in Edinburgh, he was told sign-ups were at capacity and there was a three-month wait. In his book, Winkle: The Extraordinary Life of Britain’s Greatest Pilot – our Book of the Month for June 2023 – author Paul Beaver draws on Brown’s own papers and fascinating new research to uncover surprising new information, creating a definitive account of this globally revered, legendary pilot. Here we explore 10 interesting facts about Brown’s extraordinary life and flying career. 1. He was at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, leading to a meeting with a German fighter ace

Brown’s beginnings are charted here, in detail, for the first time. His being a foster child was previously private, but foster parents, previously considered his natural parents, brought stability and love to the growing lad. His father’s ‘colourful’ past, cited by Beaver, provides amusing counterpoint.During his flying career, Brown flew 487 different types of aircraft– many of them as a test pilot, when the designs were still mostly experimental and thus potentially very dangerous. (For comparison, today’s test pilots average fewer than 100 flights – any number over 50 is considered substantial). Of course, Winkle decides that flying the right way up is boring and so he leads inverted past the Prime Minister’s aeroplane, not realising that the Prime Minister’s private secretary has a camera and takes a snap.” Eric must have looked a bit forlorn, so Glenn asked him, ‘Can you play an instrument?’ Of course, Eric couldn’t, but he said, ‘I can play the drums’, which is actually not true. So, he became the second drummer and just drummed away.” The Winkle biography has its gestation in 2009 at what we all thought was Captain Eric Brown’s 90th birthday. We discussed a biography, and I followed it up a little later to get a typical Eric response: ‘of course, dear boy but start work after I have passed on.’ By the way, he was only 89. Eric 'Winkle' Brown was Britain's greatest pilot. His extraordinary flying career saw him fight in the Battle of Britain, narrowly escape death on a torpedoed aircraft carrier, achieve a litany of new records and firsts as a test pilot, and fly more kinds of aircraft than any other pilot in history.

Brown rubbed shoulders with myriad people throughout his life, from “the Royal family to Shirley Bassey to astronauts to German war criminals”. He even performed on stage with the legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra in late 1944. Brown went on to study modern languages at Edinburgh University, with German as his primary subject. “The whole Germany thing is fascinating because despite being sunk and almost shot down and wounded by Germans [during the Second World War], he still liked the Germans.The end product is ‘compelling, fascinating and frequently jaw-dropping’ says James Holland and who am I to argue? The book does a pretty fair job of portraying Brown's personality. Highly competent, more than a little arrogant professionally, more at home abroad than at home. Not all that unusual for test pilots from the Golden Age of Flight Test (~1943-58). Riveting ... one of those must-read books, compelling and full of incidents that leave you gasping with surprise ... an incredible story' FLYER Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Admiralty Official Collection - IWM / Public Domain 2. He rode in a ‘wall of death’ stunt – with a real lion In the 40 years that I knew our greatest pilot, I always called him Eric, by the way, but of course the world knows him as Winkle, the shortest pilot in the Fleet Air Arm. When Eric was taken ill in 2016, I was the first outside the immediate family he called and so I feel the bond between us was strong.

An incredible life ... Brown took a secret to the grave that makes his story all the more remarkable The Sun The big revelation is that Brown's origins were far more humble than he ever admitted. And in the class-conscious Royal Navy, that was not a career-enhancing situation. Especially when you are a Naval Aviator, the sort of person who had limited career prospects to begin with in the RN. (I will state categorically that had Brown flown for the USN, he would have made Rear Admiral. The only question is whether he would have retired as Commander, Naval Air Test Center - or as Commander, Naval Air Systems Command.)

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Brown’s excellent German language skills saw him briefly pressed into action as a translator. “That 12-to-18-hour period shaped his life,” adds Beaver. “He said the smell of Belsen and the sheer horror of Belsen never escapes you.” Since finishing the book it has become clear to me that he doctored his birth certificate to be eligible to play rugby for Scotland. In the 1930s, you had to be born a Scot.” That immediately called into question Eric’s autobiography and our perceived knowledge. It also led to six years of research, writing, re-writing and editing. There were searching questions and my aim of writing about the man not the machines came sharply into focus. Having read Wings On My Sleeve, Brown’s autobiography, I was intrigued by the man who wrote it. He focused so much on the aircraft he flew that the were huge question marks in my mind about what formed the man himself. This book (fortunately published not long after I’d read the former) largely answers all my questions and others I hadn’t thought to ask.