I wish to pay tribute to Mike Hodgson, who sadly passed away in October 2018. Mike, the founder of Thorpe Camp Visitor Centre at Tattershall Thorpe in Lincolnshire, acted as a guide on our coach trip to Belgium in 2016. His depth of knowledge about both world wars was remarkable and he generously shared his expertise with us all and continued to answer my many questions even after the trip. I am honoured to have known him and am sincerely grateful for all his help.
As always, this is a work of fiction; the characters and plot line are all created from my imagination and any resemblance to real people is coincidental.
I am very grateful to James and Claire Birch, of Doddington Hall near Lincoln, for allowing me to use their beautiful home as the setting and inspiration for this story, and also to the members of their team, who have been so helpful with my research over the last three years whilst I have been writing the Maitland Trilogy.
My love and grateful thanks to the members of my family who have helped in various ways: Charles, Hilary, Alex and Matthew for taking us to Brooklands Museum and to Kew Gardens and for their help with my research there; and to Helen for reading the first draft.
Once again, my special thanks to my fantastic agent, Darley Anderson, and his team, to my wonderful editor, Trisha Jackson, and to everyone at Pan Macmillan.
Several sources have been valuable for research, most notably: Brooklands: The Official Centenary History by David Venables (Haynes, 2007); A Spitfire Girl by Mary Ellis, as told to Melody Foreman (Frontline Books, 2016); Spitfire Girl by Jackie Moggridge (Head of Zeus, 2014); Spreading My Wings by Diana Barnato Walker (Grub Street, 2003) and the Imperial War Museum at Duxford.