Clostermann and the Victory FlyPast 12 May 1945.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by keith A

p.s. let's not answer that it's Clostermann's old malarkey. I am a veteran of his stories, especially those proved to be false. But his record as a pilot is worth admiration.

I'm probably posting here because The Big Show's account of his time on Tempests got 14-year-old me interested in the late-war period but I now recognise that Clostermann was as gifted a journalist/author as he was a fighter pilot.

[keith A]

I was a bit older (nineteen), it was 1976 and I found a copy of "The Big Show" in a second-hand bookshop in Tollcross, Edinburgh. I have just bought a copy of "Leo25...." out of nostalgia. I sold my original copy when I went to live in India in 1988. Since then I have been put off by the prices commanded for this novella but I found a cheap copy on E-Bay. As we know the hero flies Spitfires, Mistrals and Thunderstreaks before becoming a light aircraft recon pilot.