DARK AND SECRET DUTIES

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33442, 25 January 1974, Page 13

DARK AND SECRET DUTIES

Black Lysander. By John NesbittDu fort. Jarrolds. 184 pp. Commissioned in 1930, John NesbittDufort served for five years as a member of one of the most celebrated Royal Air Force fighter squadrons, No. 25. Five years later he completed his short service commission and opted not to renew, but rather to join the de Havilland Flying School. The reason for leaving the R.A.F. would seem laughable today. He wanted to get. married, but at 24 would not qualify for a marriage allowance for a further six years. On the. outbreak of war he rejoined the R.A.F., only to find, to his intense chagrin, that his talents as an instructor took precedence over those as a fighter pilot. It took five attempts to gain an operational posting, first to a night fighter squadron and then, not long after, to a special duties unit engaged in flying agents in and out of occupied France. It was while flying the black Lysander of the title that Wing Commander Nesbitt-Dufort had some of his most hair-raising adventures, one of them involving a crash landing in France and a period in hiding before a return to England could be arranged. It is also the period of his life to which he devotes the most space. To some others, in fact, he devotes virtually none at all: his command of No. 488 (New Zealand) Night Fighter Squadron, for example. But then in a note prefacing his book Wing Commander Nesbitt-Dufort disclaims the title autobiography, since the book deals only with "selected portions of his life. In the same note he remarks that if this book is well received, he will “Pitch into a second book”. The phrase sums up nicely the virtues' and limitations of “Black Lysander”. It is an interesting tale, plainly told by one who is obviously a better and "more experienced pilot than writer. The style would worry a purist, but then it is the enthusiast who will read this book, and he will forgive' the odd strung-out sentence, tied together with

ands and buts, because he is caught up in the wing commander’s experiences. On its merits, “Black Lysander” seems likely to generate enough interest to cause the author to pitch into that second book.