Researched many years ago by the author for a project which did not come to fruition, Beaufighter air and ground crew gave freely of their stories which ranged from complete memoirs to brief anecdotes.

Air Commodore Graham Pitchfork spent 36 years in the RAF, as a navigator. He was director of Air Warfare and, before retiring in 1995, was a director of Military Intelligence at the MoD. Now living in Gloucestershire, Graham is the author of several aviation books, including 'Buccaneer Boys' (Grub Street). In 2012, Graham received both the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Award for Aviation Journalism and the Air Power Association Award of the CP Robertson Memorial Trophy for his services to aviation writing. He has written over 600 air force obituaries for the Daily Telegraph in the last 16 years.