Thomas Percy Gleave was a Hurricane pilot and Squadron Leader during the Battle of Britain when his aircraft was hit and he suffered horrific burns. He then underwent months of treatment at East Grinstead under Mr (later Sir) Archibald McIndoe who was known to his patients as "The Maestro". Gleave eventually returned to duty and rose to be a Group Captain. The book was published in December 1941 and the original edition gave the author simply as "RAF Casualty". It describes his time in the RAF from ten years before the outbreak of WW2 and the seven years of the "Great Expansion" up until the war's beginning. The aircraft he flew in earlier years were mostly outdated museum pieces by September 1939. His good humour and sense of duty shine through every page. The book is of particular relevance to me, as my uncle Ray's name and the year 1942, are written on the first blank page. Uncle Ray was born in 1928 and joined the Air Training Corps in WW2. Had the war lasted long enough he would no doubt have joined one of the armed services. In July 1946 he was trying out a friend's motorbike when his cap blew off. He reached to catch it, lost control of the motorbike, and suffered fatal head injuries when he collided with a telegraph pole.