Born in 1916, after learning to fly as a civilian, Ian Richard Gleed was
granted a RAF commission in 1936. He completed training on Christmas Day
that year, being posted to 46 Squadron which was equipped with the
Gloster Gauntlet.
Through much of his RAF service the diminutive Gleed was known as
'Widge', short for 'Wizard Midget' on account of his excessive use of
the word 'wizard' to describe something 'topper', and his short stature.
Rising from Flight to Squadron Commander in short order, and later
taking over the Ibsley Spitfire Wing in 1941, Gleed was enormously
popular with his peers. Indeed, Wing Commander 'Bunny' Currant once
described Gleed as a 'pocket-sized man with care for others and courage
beyond compare'.
Having been decorated with the coveted 'double' of both DSO and DFC,
Wing Commander Gleed went out to lead a wing in Tunisia. It was there
that he was shot down and killed on 16 April 1943. By this time, he had
achieved the status of being a fighter Ace, having been credited with
the destruction of thirteen enemy aircraft.
The previous year, Gleed's wartime memoir, Arise to Conquer, was
published by Victor Gollancz. Eloquently written and detailed, this book
is a superb first-hand account of one man's life and times as a fighter
pilot - mainly flying the Hawker Hurricane - during the Fall of France,
the Battle of Britain and beyond into the night Blitz.
Reprinted here in its entirety, and extensively introduced by the
renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar MBE, FRHistS, this edition of
Arise to Conquer is supported by a remarkable set of wartime images.
Among Gleed's Hurricane pilots on 87 Squadron during the Battle of
Britain and beyond was Sergeant Laurence 'Rubber' Thorogood, a keen
photographer who is often mentioned in this book. Along with his
Commanding Officer's words, Rubber's unique personal photograph album,
containing as it does a number of images of Gleed, provides a rare
glimpse of a fighter squadron at war during our Darkest - yet Finest -
Hour.
