{"product_id":"hurricane-combat-the-nine-lives-of-a-fighter-pilot-by-wing-commander-k-w-mackenzie","title":"Hurricane combat: the nine lives of a fighter pilot by Wing Commander K.W. Mackenzie","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the rear cover:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'On many, many days it was hectic, nerve-racking, physically and mentally exhausting, but at the same time exhilarating, and stimulating. No heroics and but little, if any, sentiment... a job to be done to the best of our ability.'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThus Ken Mackenzie writes of his Battle of Britain days based at Kenley flying Hurricanes with 501 Squadron. From Kenley, he went on to 247 Squadron at Predannack, flying Hurricane night-fighters. During the course of a year he shot down ten German aircraft, had a half share in four more and damaged a further four.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMackenzie writes vividly and plainly of his operational experiences, including his encounter with a Messerschmitt 109 in which, having run out of ammunition, he managed to knock off its tail, sending it crashing into the English Channel.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA year later, Mackenzie was shot down at night in the Channel near the French coast and was taken to a POW camp - where he again became active, this time by involving himself in escape projects, until being repatriated in 1944 to take up operational instruction duties.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMackenzie remained in the RAF postwar, retiring in 1967. He then went to Africa as deputy commander of the Zambian Air Force, was later in charge of Air Kenya Ltd., and after that an aviation consultant.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is the memoir of a fighter pilot that grips the reader throughout with its unvarnished sincerity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43489623769162,"sku":"6499x","price":8.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/6499x.jpg?v=1775710349","url":"https:\/\/www.bookexpress.nz\/products\/hurricane-combat-the-nine-lives-of-a-fighter-pilot-by-wing-commander-k-w-mackenzie","provider":"Book Express","version":"1.0","type":"link"}