''DESERVES TO JOIN REACH FOR THE SKY AND THE LAST ENEMY AS ONE OF THE GREAT RAF BOOKS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR'' - ANDREW ROBERTSAs I write, I can clearly recall the stinging heat of aburning Blenheim, smells, tastes, expressions, sounds of voices and, most ofall, fear gripping deep in me.Flying Officer Alastair Panton was just twenty-three when his squadron deployed across the Channel in the defence of France They were desparate days.Pushed back to the beaches as the German blitzkrieg rolled through the Low Countries and into France, by June 4th 1940 the evacuation ofthe Allies from Dunkirk was complete. A little over two weeks later France surrendered.Flying vital, dangerous, low-level missions throughout the campaign in support of the troops on the ground, Panton''s beloved but unarmed Bristol Blenheim was easy meat for the marauding Messerschmitts At the height of fighting he was losing two of his small squadron''s crews to the enemy every day.Discovered in a box by his grandchildre