The dramatic ordeal of a wartime airman who almost perished in the desert after being shot down on his first mission has been recounted in a posthumous autobiography.

Bill Bailey died two years ago at the age of 86, but now his WW2 story, which he first published himself, has been reprinted by mainstream military history chroniclers Pen and Sword Books.

Alone I Fly tells how Wellington bomber pilot Bill was the only survivor when his aircraft crashed after a raid on Tobruk in Libya.

The plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire which caused carnage.

Bill, who lived in Barfield Park, Lancing, after getting married to Worthing girl Gwen at St Mary's Church, Broadwater, Worthing, in 1946, went back to check on the damage.

He wrote: “The shell had passed through the bomb hole to explode inside the aircraft a few feet from Roy and Aussie.

“The shrapnel had scattered, cutting like a scythe through the flesh of the two now-dead airmen.

“There was blood everywhere. Aussie's body sat there, strapped in, and decapitated. I bent over and vomited.”

Bill returned to the cockpit to find his co-pilot, who was seemingly unhurt after the ack-ack impact, slumped over the controls.

A piece of metal had ripped through the back of his seat, missing the armour-plated pad by a fraction.

There was no hope of baling out as one of the gunners, still alive, was trapped in his turret by the damage.

Bill took the controls, but one of the engines was ablaze and the Wellington crashed, killing the remaining crew.

He found himself alone in the featureless desert, under a blazing sun, wrapped in a parachute to keep off the killer glare.

Bill's life was saved by an abandoned German lorry buried in the sand which contained tins of sardines and distilled water.

He rigged up a heliograph and was saved by a Long Range Desert Patrol which spotted the mirror flashing.

After the war Bill married Gwen, a WAAF who lived in South Farm Road, Worthing.

He became a teacher at Boundstone School, Lancing, and they had a daughter, Nicolette.

Alone I Fly costs £19.99 from good local bookshops.