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About Dilip Sarkar
“History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, These inspirational words perfectly describe how Dilip Sarkar feels about his life-long love of history. As a young boy, his imagination was captured by the stories of a neighbour, the now late John Anthony, who told of derring-do on the high seas during the Age of Fighting Sail, and World War Two. Dilip’s mother, Janet, often showed her young son the knights’ tombs in Worcester’s magnificent Cathedral, those noble effigies captivating him. An aero-modeller uncle introduced Dilip to the Spitfire aircraft, which has fascinated him ever since. In 1969, when eight years old, he was mesmerised by the epic film Battle of Britain and 10 years later – deeply moved by the stories of casualties - began researching the real Battle of Britain in earnest.
Educated at Sibford School, Oxon, after completing ‘A’ Levels at Worcester Technical College Dilip first worked as a Civil Servant before responding to pressure from his now late father, Trid, a Magistrate, and joined the police in 1983. During the next 22 years he worked in various roles, being commended several times for personal courage, detective ability and integrity. Concurrently with his demanding policing duties, however, Dilip pursued his passion for history with remarkable results.
In 1986 Dilip co-founded the Malvern Spitfire Team to research the history of this magnificent aeroplane, undertaking recoveries and presenting exhibitions in a most professional manner. The standard achieved gained Dilip and the Team widespread respect. By this time Dilip was heavily involved with interviewing surviving Battle of Britain and fighter pilots from later in the war, bringing him into regular contact with household names like Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson, the RAF’s top scoring fighter pilot in World War Two. All of these extraordinary veterans enthusiastically supported his work, contributing their experiences and photographs to his ever growing and unique archive.
In 1990, the Battle of Britain’s 50th anniversary, Dilip’s first book was published – ‘Spitfire Squadron: 19 Squadron at War 1939-41’. This milestone work included a re-print of the first-hand account ‘Spitfire!’ by Squadron Leader Brian Lane DFC, whose story had so fascinated and inspired Dilip Sarkar. Well received, the book, like many of the author’s subsequent title’s, is now highly sought after by collectors.
Between 1992 and 2002 Dilip owned and ran Ramrod Publications, which published many of his books in addition to the best-selling ‘Battle of Britain: The Movie’ by the late Robert Rudhall. Ramrod was extremely pro-active and innovative, building a reputation described by FlyPast Editor Ken Ellis as ‘First class’. A principal theme of Ramrod’s operations were high profile book signings – the first of their kind – at such venues as the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, and Worcester Guildhall. Attended by numerous Battle of Britain pilots, veterans from later in the war and various associated personalities, these events provided the public with unique opportunities to actually meet characters from the pages of history. Years later, however, surviving veterans are in extremely advanced age and are few in number. Dilip is concerned that they must not be used by commercial concerns, as he believes is now often the case. For that reason he will not personally be staging any further large-scale book signings. He reflects with pride, however, on the events staged by Ramrod Publications, when survivors were younger, fitter and more numerous.
In 1996, Haynes published Dilip’s highly regarded ‘Bader’s Tangmere Spitfires: The Untold Story 1941’. This best-seller was launched in spectacular style at an event attended by such Tangmere Wing personalities as Johnnie Johnson, Sir Alan Smith and Sir Archie Winskill, and brought the author together with Lady Bader – with whom he still shares a close friendship in spite of her Ladyship’s now advanced years. The following year Ramrod produced his ‘Bader’s Duxford Fighters: The Big Wing Controversy’, which offered a ground-breaking interpretation of the controversial ‘Big Wing’ tactics operated by 12 Group. All royalties from a photo-biography commissioned by Lady Bader in 2000, ‘Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader: An Inspiration in Photographs’, Dilip donated to the Douglas Bader Foundation, a charitable cause with which he maintains strong links. That year also saw publication of his highly acclaimed ‘Battle of Britain: The Photographic Kaleidoscope’ series.
Working closely with Air Vice-Marshal Johnson, Dilip recorded the great man’s memories, adding to these the recollections of Spitfire pilots who flew with Johnnie – many of them Canadian. This research was published in two books, ‘Johnnie Johnson: Spitfire Top Gun’ Parts One and Two; the third remains in preparation, although sadly Johnnie himself died before these works were published. The initiative retains, however, the Johnson’s family’s support. In 2003, Dilip’s work was recognised when he was made an MBE for services to aviation history, having been recommended for the award by Lady Bader and Sir Alan Smith, the late Group Captain Sir Douglas Bader’s wingman. This accolade was followed shortly afterwards with his election to the Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society, in recognition of his ‘unique contribution to the scholarship’. Sponsored by long-time Fellow and veteran aviation author Dr Alfred Price, Dilip is one of the very few Fellows who are not distinguished postgraduate scholars – speaking volumes of the high esteem in which his work is held.
In 2005, Dilip retired early from the police and set up a new publishing company, Victory Books, which he ran on a full-time basis. Further titles by various authors were produced, in addition to Dilip’s own ‘Spitfire! Courage and Sacrifice’ and ‘Spitfire Voices: Heroes Remember’. Divorce, however, dictated that the business unfortunately had to be wound up in 2007 – the less said about which the better! Although now a single-parent, in September 2008 Dilip began a full-time History degree at University Worcester. Due to his previous experience and extensive published list, it was agreed that his course would be completed in two instead of the usual three years. He has thoroughly enjoyed his time at Worcester and has learned to write an empirical academic argument in addition to his existing and widely recognised talents as a skilled narrative historian. His course now complete, Dilip begins his PhD in September 2010 at the University of Birmingham's new Centre for Air Power Studies under the supervision of Professor Gary Sheffield and Air Commodore Peter Gray. Since 2008, Dilip has written exclusively for Amberley PLC, owned by Alan Sutton, and having been invited to do so by senior publisher Jonathan Reeve. April 2009 saw release of ‘Duxford 1940: A Battle of Britain Base at War’, soon followed by a re-print of Brian Lane’s original classic, with a new foreword from Dilip; most importantly, however, October 2009 saw publication of ‘The Few: The Battle of Britain in the Words of the Pilots’. As Dilip says, “This encapsulates everything I have ever done on the Battle of Britain between two covers, drawing upon interviews with over 100 pilots and those in supporting roles. Given the march of time, I do not believe that there will ever be another book featuring the first-hand accounts of so many veterans and for which reason this is an important work”. Full details of all these titles can be found elsewhere on this site. Early in 2010, Amberley are releasing Dilip’s ‘The Last of the Few’ and ‘The Spitfire Manual’, and have commissioned him to write a number of other titles, details of which will be released in due course.
Described by the late Dr Gordon Mitchell, son of the Spitfire’s designer Reginald Joseph Mitchell, as an ‘aviation detective’, Dilip’s original and often ground-breaking research has won him many accolades and international acclaim. He has appeared on various TV documentaries and was formal consultant to both Channel 4’s ‘Secret Life of Douglas Bader’ and ‘Friendly Fire’, concerning the fact that Wing Commander Bader was actually shot down by another Spitfire over France in 1941. It was Dilip who first realised this, back in 1995, but to protect the pilot concerned, who was still alive at that time, he decided against publishing the story – in spite of the substantial financial rewards offered by various sources in 1996. Dilip’s carefully researched interpretation and description of the expedition he led to France searching for the crash site of Bader’s Spitfire is comprehensively told in ‘Spitfire! Courage and Sacrifice’. In 2005, he was also interviewed by Yorkshire Television for Channel 4’s ‘100 Greatest War Films’ and is an experienced radio broadcaster. Dilip has also worked with a number of aviation artist, most notably with Mark Postlethwaite GAvA, with whom he collaborated on a number of major and successful projects throughout the 1990s. For many years Dilip has been a most popular speaker on his researches, giving presentations or holding symposiums at such significant venues as Oxford University and The Imperial War Museum. Details of Dilip’s talks and how to book this fascinating speaker can be found elsewhere on this site.
Dilip’s enthusiasm for history is boundless, it seems! In 1999 he learned to scuba dive, over the next few years achieving advanced qualifications in deep mixed gas diving and completing 300 dives at home and abroad. His objective was to dive certain shipwrecks, most notably the scuttled German High Seas Fleet at Orkney’s Scapa Flow, which he did three times with Seastyle Dive Club. Dilip’s son, James, qualified as an adult diver in the UK on his 12th birthday – the youngest possible age to do so – and the intrepid pair subsequently bumped into a shark in the Egyptian Red Sea! Whilst at Scapa Flow in 2003, however, Dilip was extremely moved to see the buoy marking the wreck of HMS Royal Oak – torpedoed at anchor in 1939 by U-47 at a cost of 832 lives. Returning home he traced numerous families who sadly lost relatives in the disaster, their moving stories being representative of the entire crew and being published by Amberley in Dilip’s ‘Hearts of Oak: The Human Tragedy of HMS Royal Oak’.
In 2006 Dilip co-founded the Battle of Worcester Society to promote research into and awareness of the decisive 1651 battle, in addition to providing a fitting monument. His initiative also created the Battle of Worcester Partnership, an umbrella organisation representing all stakeholders; although no longer actively involved with either organisation due to other commitments, he retains an interest in the project and is particular pleased that annually a drumhead service now takes place on Worcester’s Fort Royal to mark the September 3rd anniversary. Dilip also extensively researched, through primary sources, the first battle of the English Civil War, producing a completely new interpretation at odds with the hitherto accepted version of events. ‘The Battle of Powick Bridge: Ambush a Fore-thought’ (Fort Royal, 2007) therefore represents original historiography on a noteworthy incident occurring in 1642.
The Wars of the Roses is another passion of Dilip’s, who is a member of the Richard III and Battle of Tewkesbury Societies. For several years Dilip and James Sarkar have been members of Sunne yn Splendorre, a re-enactment group portraying the Royal Household of Edward IV at the annual Tewkesbury Medieval Festival. A superb event attracting medieval re-enactors from all over Europe, Dilip and James are honoured to guard the King against his Lancastrian foes! In 2010, even Dilip’s new wife, Karen, will be taking to the field – as an essential water carrier.
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