During the Battle of Britain an RAF Spitfire squadron commander asked some of his pilots to write about their combat experiences. The book was published in 1942 as Ten Fighter Boys, penned by ten pilots on 66 Squadron, most of whom had seen action in the Battle of Britain and in fighter sweeps over France in 1941-2. By the time the book was published, three of the original authors were dead; by the end of 1942, only three of the ten were still alive. The book and its narrative style are very much of their time: the language is colorful, irreverent and dramatic, but at the same time filled with the pathos and fatalism that is the preserve of the fighter pilot.