In the early hours of 10 May 1940, Hitler's armed forces launched their invasion of France and the Low Countries. Shattering the tense peace of the Phoney War, German troops poured west over the borders of France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, supported throughout by the Luftwaffe. Having been deployed to the Continent on the outbreak of war in 1939, the aircrew of the RAF's Advanced Air Striking Force had long trained and planned for, as well as anticipated, such a moment. Consequently, at 17.15 hours on that fateful Friday Flight Lieutenant William Simpson took off at the controls of his 12 Squadron Fairey Battle having been ordered to attack enemy transport advancing near the town of Junglinster, some ten miles from Luxembourg. It would prove to be Simpson's only offensive sortie of the Second World War. As they rained their bombs down on the German column, Simpson and his crew were met by a ferocious hail of anti-aircraft fire. They pressed home the attack, scoring four direct hits on the enemy. Their Battle, however, was badly damaged and owing to a leak in the petrol tank Simpson was forced to make an emergency landing. As the Battle slewed to a halt, the cockpit quickly became enveloped in flames. Initially trapped in his seat, Simpson was rescued from the inferno by his two crew, his hands and face severely burnt. Initially helped to a nearby convent by Belgian peasants, Simpson was taken by ambulance back into France and handed over to French Army doctors at a casualty clearing station. At first it was not expected that Simpson would survive his wounds. Both of his eyelids had been burnt off, his nose was virtually destroyed, his eyes swollen and battered, and those of his fingers that remained had been reduced to charred talons. But against all odds, Simpson refused to give in to his shocking injuries. Over the next year-and-a-half, he endured treatment in no less seven French hospitals in both the Occupied and Unoccupied zones of France. Eventually the German and Vichy French authorities agreed to Simpson's repatriation on medical grounds. His passage home, which involved him travelling through France, Spain and Portugal, finally began on 10 October 1941. Back in Britain, Simpson soon found himself in the hands of the renowned plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe. The operations that followed over the next two years helped rebuild his shattered body. In One of Our Pilot's Is Safe, Simpson graphically reveals his moving journey from operational pilot in the Battle of France to membership of the famous Guinea Pig Club. AUTHOR: Born in Glasgow in 1914, and educated at Kings School, Canterbury, William Simpson joined an advertising agency in London after leaving school. He later applied for a short?service commission in the RAF. He was posted to 12 Squadron, which, then equipped with the Hawker Hart, was based in Aden. After being shot down and grievously wounded on 10 May 1940, William eventually returned to the UK where he came under the care of the famous surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe ? from which point he also became a member of the Guinea Pig Club. He returned to RAF service at the Air Ministry in 1944. After leaving the service with the rank of Squadron Leader in 1948, various press and public relations roles followed. William appeared on the BBC's famous biographical television documentary This is Your Life after being surprised by Eamonn Andrews on 9 January 1961. He was appointed OBE for his work as a member of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Disabled People for more than thirty years. William Simpson passed away on 15 November 2005, aged 91. 16 b/w illustrations
