Before the war, Mike Stallard had fought as a pilot in China, Spain and South America. He hired out his skills to the highest bidder and always ended up where the dogfights were the fiercest.

Then he went to France with the RAF, fighting strictly to order in clumsy Fairey Battles against sleek, deadly Me109s. And unless the top brass listened to fighting men like Mike and let them fight in their own way, this was going to be the last war that Mike and his mates would ever fly in.

STORY: Brunt

ART: Jose Maria Jorge

COVER: Ian Kennedy