Books For Odd Bods and Friends

 

Many of us are restricted in our activities because of Covid lockdown and amongst the recommended alternative activities is good old-fashioned book reading. For Odd Bods and Friends of Odd Bods there are plenty of book choices and a big shout out to those who responded to our last article and sent in their recommendations.

A special thank you to Secretary and Vice-President, Peter Randell, who has an amazing collection of books.

The stories about WW2 aviators cover a fascinating range of personalities, locations, and challenges. We are confident you will find something of interest in the lists we will publish over coming days. You may even find connections to your own war service or the war service of a relative (in fact there is a good chance of that).

Of course, if you have a recommendation we would love to hear of it, and if you read one of the books in this list, we would love to have your thoughts and perhaps a brief summary. 

Availability of these books is unknown, but perhaps start with a google search. If you have trouble locating a book, please mention it in the comments or email us and we may be able to help.

Let’s get the book list started – 

In the previous article we mentioned three books- 

1. The Reich Intruders – RAF Light Bomber Raids In WW II – by Martin W. Bowman

2. Recollections – A Lancaster Bomber Crew 55 Years On – by Ron Fitch (past Odd Bod)

3. A Blue Orchid Cook’s Tour – The War Memories of John Ireland – (Odd Bod)

Two of those books were supplied by our President, Bruce Waxman, and he has also referenced this one 

“Chadwick – A Man of Many Parts” – by Nick Richardson - a must for all Melbourne fans and a good read, with a touch of early military aviation history in Australia, and WWII RAAF at the MCG .Available from the MCG shop on line: https://mcgshop.com.au/

From Peter Randell’s list –

 “No Moon Tonight” by our Odd Bod Don Charlewood is his personal account of his time in Bomber Command, including his trip over to the UK via Canada as many of our guys did.

“Chased by the Sun” by Hank Nelson gives a great account of RAAF aircrew in the UK in Bomber Command - it even has Halifaxes on the front cover!

 “Flak”, “Fly” and “Heroes of the Skies” (three books) by Michael Veitch - featuring many of our Odd Bods, including George Smith, Walter Eacott, and Gerald McPherson.

“Rear Gunner” by John Beede gives a personal account of surviving the war in this role in a variety of aircraft and squadrons. Gives enormous insight to what Gerald McPherson and Joe Shuttleworth went through.

“Reach for the Sky” by Paul Brickhill is the biography of Douglas Bader, fighter ace who lost both legs pre war but still became one of the top scoring aces before ending up in Colditz as a POW.

“The Great Escape” also by Paul Brickhill tells the story of mainly RAF and RAAF aircrew organising the mass escape via an amazing scheme from their POW camp and the aftermath in which the Gestapo made an example of 50 of these brave souls.

  “Escape or Die” also by Paul Brickhill is a compilation of RAF and RAAF POW escapes from all theatres of war.

“The Dambusters” by Paul Brickhill is the full story of 617 Sqn from inception to the end of the war.

 “Enemy Coast Ahead” by Guy Gibson who led the Dambusters raid is his personal account of the whole raid and he talks a lot about Les Knight - Melbourne born pilot - in this.

“Bomber Boys” by Patrick Bishop gives many personalised accounts from mainly RAF aircrew if their experiences in Bomber Command throughout the war.

“Flames in the Sky” and “The Big Show” by Pierre Closterman are brilliant renditions of his time as a free French fighter pilot with the RAF throughout the war , including his time in Typhoons and Tempests on ground ops support.

“Bomber Command” by Max Hastings gives a concise but excellent overview of the ops, organisation, aircraft, and strategy of this major component of the RAF in WW2.

And believe it or not these books are just a start – we will have more to list in coming days.

WW2 Medium Bombers – Not a Book Review

I don’t read a lot of books and it would be impertinent for me to call this a book review but as a member of Friends of the Odd Bods, and the Son of a WW2 Aviator veteran, I can make some observations that hopefully will be relevant

The book in question is titled The Reich Intruders – RAF Light Bomber Raids In World War II. It concentrates on the Blenheim, Boston, Mitchell and Mosquito aircraft. I can see you Lancaster, Halifax and Wellington enthusiasts getting glazed eyes about now, but hold on because there are some fascinating stories coming from the hedge-hoppers (or wave-skimmers) as they attempted to use surprise rather than brute force to achieve their aims.

Flying low had its dangers. Over the sea there was fog to contend with and many aircraft were lost as they became disoriented, a dangerous experience when you are so close to the surface. And over land there were church spires, telegraph lines, and trees to contend with. In fact a disappointingly high number of casualties came from accidents. 

We know from statements by people like our Patron, AVM Peter Scully AO RAAF (Rtd), that bombing raids in WW2 had horrendously high casualty rates. This book, by Aviation Historian Martin W. Bowman details individual aviators as they progressed through specific raids. In Blenheim squadrons, just making it half a dozen sorties was an achievement, particularly if you were engaged in the dreaded SAP (semi-armour piercing) low level shipping attacks. Flak was a major obstacle with up to 12 flak vessels protecting just one merchant ship. 

Bristol Blenheim - photo by John Dibbs

"..you could not survive more than seven to ten ops.."

The following account by aviator Charles Patterson is chilling – “In the summer of 1941 the casualty rate on Blenheims in 2 Group was such that statistically you could not survive more than seven to ten ops but you had to do thirty. Anyone who did seven trips was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and on average anyone who’d done about fifteen was a Squadron Leader. Due to the fact that I’d survived for so long, I suddenly found myself made a Squadron Leader, when only six or seven weeks before I’d been a Pilot Officer, and I had a flight to command. The tremendous privilege of commanding these men when I was only 21 seemed to me to be the most wonderful, worthwhile job in the world.”

I am only half way through this book and there are some fascinating accounts from aviators – the first time flying over German soil – the first encounter with flack – returning to the squadron room after an op knowing half the aircraft didn’t make it – and so on.

Books have a lot to offer as we attempt to understand the rigors of WW2 for our Odd Bods, and a covid lock-down is a great opportunity to read. The next book on my list was written by an Odd Bod (Ron Fitch – Recollections, A Lancaster Bomber Crew 55 Years On). Then I am looking forward to tackling, Odd Bod John Ireland’s, A Blue Orchid Cook’s Tour.

You might like to refer other books to the membership, particularly if written by an Odd Bod. Just comment below or email me at gregandsuesmith@iinet.net.au

A big thank you to our President, Bruce Waxman, for passing on The Reich Intruders.

By Greg Smith