Geoffrey Page

Wing Commander Alan Geoffrey Page, (16 May 1920 – 3 August 2000), known as Geoffrey Page, was an officer in the Royal Air Force who served during the Second World War.

He participated in the Battle of Britain, and was shot down.

He was badly burned when his aircraft was destroyed, and was lucky to survive.

He underwent many surgeries on his way to recovery, and was a founding member of the Guinea Pig Club.

He eventually passed a medical exam and returned to active service, becoming one of Britain's most successful fighter pilots.

Page was born on 16 May 1920 in Boxmoor, England.

His parents divorced while he was very young.

He had developed an interest in aviation by age 5, which intensified as he grew into a young man.

Page was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham.

For his college studies, his desire was to go to the RAF college at Cranwell and make a career of the RAF.

His father strongly opposed a career in the air force, and pressed him to pursue a career in engineering instead.

His father's brother, the engineer and aircraft manufacturer, Sir Frederick Handley Page, aided in discouraging him, telling him that pilots were plentiful but engineers were not.

Thinking of it later in life, Page suspected they discouraged him because they had suffered the loss of their brother, who had been a fighter pilot in the Great War.

Complying with his father's wishes, he went to London to pursue engineering at the Imperial College.

While there, he joined the University Air Squadron, which flew training aircraft out of Northolt.

By the end of his second year of studies he had become a competent pilot.

Two weeks after the outbreak of the Second World War, Page received his call-up papers and joined the RAF with the rank of acting pilot officer.

He received his Initial and Advanced flight training at Cranwell, where he earned a rating of "exceptional".

He had always wanted to be a fighter pilot, and chose Fighter Command as the air service he desired to be assigned to, while declining to indicate a secondary choice.

To his great disappointment, he was assigned to be an instructor at a flight training school.

However, with the German invasion of the Low Countries in May 1940 the Air Ministry changed its mind and he was posted to No. 66 Squadron RAF, flying Spitfires.

With no training on advanced fighters, he and another young pilot were worked up on Spitfires and gained operational status while at 66 Squadron.

Before he could fly combat with 66 Squadron, it was discovered that there had been a typo in orders.

Page and the other new pilot were supposed to be at 56 Squadron, flying Hurricanes.

The two pilots traveled to RAF North Weald in southern England to join 56 Squadron.

The squadron had been in France and suffered losses there.

When Page arrived the squadron was away training at RAF Digby.

He checked out on the Hurricane and was made operational by the time the squadron returned.

The squadron ended the campaign by covering the Dunkirk evacuation.

Initially disappointed to be transferred from a squadron flying Spitfires to one flying Hurricanes, his misgivings were soon dispelled.

Describing his first flight, Page offered "The Hurricane rose gracefully and easily into the air, and I had the immediate sensation that here was a lady with very few vices."

He found the cockpit layout similar, and it was easier to see over the nose of the aircraft, making taxiing and takeoffs less troublesome.

In addition, the Merlin engine in the Hurricane was cooled more reliably while on the ground, which meant he no longer had to worry about overheating the glycol when taxiing and preparing to take off.

Retracting the wheels was far easier, as in the Hurricane the function was motorized, whereas in the Spitfire the pilot had to work a hand screw.

The Hurricane did not have the speed of the Spitfire, but handled very well, was more rugged and could tolerate more battle damage.

Page found himself happy to fly either aircraft.

He looked upon the Hurricane as akin to a bulldog, whereas the Spitfire he viewed more as a greyhound.

Late summer found the squadron heavily involved in the Battle of Britain.

The short notice scrambles and constant flying made for an exhausting existence.

It was a life lived day to day, marked by occasional victories, the loss of comrades and evening trips to the local public house.