‘Written by the historian, Flight Lieutenant Martin Wade who serves on 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron RAuxAF, this recently published book tells the story of the pre-war part-time pilots who, through their skill and bravery, became “Aces” with Auxiliary Air Force squadrons during the Battle of Britain. It is a well-researched, informative and very readable book, and will undoubtedly be of great interest to serving and retired members of RAuxAF Squadrons. Released in November 2025, the book is available from Amazon .
Press Release
The story of the Battle of Britain, fought 85 years ago, is well known. But a new book sheds light on the less well known, but pivotal role played by part-time pilots who served in the squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force in that victory.
‘Volunteer Aces of Churchill’s Few – The Part-Time pilots and their Auxiliary Squadrons which helped win the Battle of Britain’ by Martin Wade tells how the Auxiliary Air Force units provided 14 of the 60 RAF fighter squadrons involved in the battle. Their pilots, who also came from the RAF Volunteer Reserve, trained in their spare time before the war and provided some of the highest scoring RAF aces in the battle and helped these Auxiliary squadrons achieve 30 per cent of the enemy ‘kills’.
Drawing on primary sources – squadron diaries, combat reports, memoirs, logbooks and interviews, the book covers the formation of the AAF and RAFVR and the build-up to war. It then tells the story the ‘Aces’ in the Auxiliary squadrons that took part in the Battle of Britain.
It shines a light on the distinctive ethos and spirit of the Auxiliary squadrons, forged as part-timers before the war and bolstered by their regional identities.
The book captures the sense of adventure these young weekend flyers showed. This was typified by an early achievement of the Auxiliary squadrons – the staging of the first flight over Mount Everest in 1933 by OC No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Squadron.
Among the Aces featuring in the book is Archie McKellar – a plasterer who honed his flying skills at weekends with this squadron. Nicknamed ‘Shrimp’ because of his short stature, his record towers over many others in the battle and later while flying with No. 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron, he became an ‘Ace in a Day’ after shooting down five Me 109s in 24 hours.
No. 601 (County of London) Squadron was one of the first Auxiliary units to form in 1925 and the so-called ‘Millionaire’s Squadron’ developed a distinctive ethos which helped produce aces like Raymond Davis, John McGrath and William ‘Billy’ Clyde.
Such were the endeavours of these pilots in the Battle of Britain that the then Air Vice Marshal Keith Park, AOC 11 Group, summed up their vital contribution, stating that, ‘Without the Auxiliaries we would not have defeated the Luftwaffe in 1940’.
Martin Wade said, ‘I’m pleased that I’ve been able to publish this account of the part-time Aces of the Auxiliary Air Force squadrons in the Battle of Britain. I hope the book fills a gap in our understanding and appreciation of the achievements of these remarkable reservist pilots and reminds us of their commitment, skill and bravery.’
He added, ‘As someone who is proud to serve in today’s RAuxAF, I believe that through all the many achievements of the former part-timers – those in the Battle of Britain stand out because of their importance in saving Britain in its moment of utmost peril – making this perhaps their ‘Finest Hour’. However, in giving up their spare time to serve their country and the RAF today, members of the RAuxAF remain, in another of Churchill’s enduring phrases ‘twice the citizen’.
Martin Wade is a journalist with over 20 years’ experience of writing for newspapers and magazines, often covering historical, particularly military, subjects, especially during his long career at the daily South Wales Argus. He now works in communications for the Welsh Government and serves in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, working as a Media Operations Officer for No. 614 (County of Glamorgan) Squadron in Cardiff. He has been deployed across the UK and the world in support of RAF operations since joining the squadron in 2014 and is the unit’s historian. He is the author of the squadron’s official history, ‘On Dragons’ Wings’, published in 2024.
The book is available from Amazon via this link: bit.ly/VolunteerAces
