To Burma and Back: The War Diaries of Colin Dunford Wood, 1939–46

Edited by James Dunford Wood

All three volumes of the war diaries in one hardback edition.

A fascinating eyewitness account of some of the lesser-known episodes of the Second World War, written by an Indian Army officer turned RAF pilot.

Full of self-deprecating humour, Dunford Wood's war diaries record adventure, boredom, terror, love and more. Accompanied by photographs and maps, his adventures began on the North-West Frontier of British India in early 1939 and continued through operations in Iraq, Burma, China, Holland and Germany. During this time he flew more than 100 aircraft types, including Audaxes, Lysanders, Hurricanes and Spitfires.

He was one of 39 pupil pilots who fought at Habbaniya in May 1941. He was shot down by friendly fire in Burma in 1942, and flew the last Hurricane out in the face of the advancing Japanese, before returning to Burma for the Arakan campaign in 1943. And in 1945 he flew Spitfires in support of the Allied crossing of the Rhine.

Of the 60 Indian Army officers who volunteered to transfer to the RAF when war broke out, he was one of just two survivors. It's an incredible tale.