In a unique period in the history of the RAF, boys as young as fifteen went through a rigorous and demanding training programme that lasted eighteen long months.

‘WHEELS UP!’ recounts the story of one of these boys and the comrades he served with during his Boy Entrant service. It is, at times, both extremely funny and poignant as it follows the fortunes and misfortunes of ‘A’ Flight as they attempt to battle through the rigours of basic training to the eventual goal of successfully passing their final exams.

If you’re an ex ‘Boy,’ this book will rekindle long lost memories of times gone by, bringing smiles of nostalgia as you relive those first attempts at marching and the agonies of your first ‘kick-back’ from a lee Enfield .303 rifle.

Even if you’re just an interested reader with no knowledge of a proud  tradition that ended in 1965, you’ll find this book offers a surprising insight into the type of training endured by lads who were little more than schoolboys at the time they joined the Royal Air Force.

The laughs are plenty but the author’s pride in his own achievements and those of his mates of No. 3 squadron, shine through every page.

Illustrated by photographs of the time and rib-tickling cartoons created by an ex-boy, ‘WHEELS UP!’ is a book that will brush aside the years and put you firmly back in a time many still regard as the best in their lives.