Aircrew Book Review: On Wings Of Fortune - Richard Pinkham and Steve Darlow

20 March 2010

On Wings Of Fortune - Richard Pinkham and Steve Darlow

Following his confronting Flightpath To Murder (reviewed below) Steve Darlow is due to publish On Wings Of Fortune written with W/C Richard Pinkham DFC - a pilot of commensurate skill. Here's the blurb from Steve's website:

RAF veteran Wing Commander Richard Pinkham DFC presents the extraordinary and graphic account of his experiences flying 62 World War Two bombing operations. He tells his story with candour and without pulling punches although the occasional humorous anecdote lightens proceedings. The reader joins Richard in the cockpit of his bomber as he dares the bursting flak, dives to avoid penetrating searchlights and wrestles his damaged aircraft home.

Richard served with the RAF through the entire war embarking on his operational career amid the desperate fight for survival that was the Battle of Britain. He went on to take part in some of the largest bombing raids ever carried out against Germany. With odds of 5 to 1 against him, Richard, unlike so many of his fellow airmen, lived to tell his story. He was then posted to North Africa to blast the Axis forces from Tunisia and, finally, spent the last year of the war in the Far East taking up fascinating accident investigation duties.

On Wings of Fortune is an exceptional story by a distinguished and decorated RAF veteran who flew and fought in the World War Two aerial front line. Acclaimed author Steve Darlow provides the general context of the bomber war. Richard Pinkham relives his terrifying, gripping and fascinating story.

As you can see from the above, and the details on the cover, this is flying and service over and on three continents so certainly something of interest for everyone, I reckon. Due for release in April - as Steve said "the books are in some container on some ocean" - this looks like it will be a fascinating read and, at 17.99 GBP, a readily affordable one. A limited, signed edition will also be available. For further details, please visit Steve Darlow's Fighting High - On Wings Of Fortune.

2 comments:

AnonymousDecember 29, 2010 1:31 pm
Please give a detailed review of this book, it looks so interesting. keep up the good work!
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Andy WrightDecember 30, 2010 9:41 pm
Thanks for taking the time to comment and for your kind words. I am very keen to read OWOF but currently have four books ('official' reviews) to knock over before I have the chance to get into it. It is the most enticing book as it is beautifully produced and really looks the part. Certainly a great start for Steve Darlow's publishing house, Fighting High. Keep an eye on ABR as I will get to it. Hopefully in 2011 ... honest!

All the best

Andy
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Welcome

Welcome to one of my silly ideas. I have been an avid reader of aircrew memoirs from the Second World War for as long as I can remember (not counting the various other interests that I have flitted to over time). I started collecting titles as found on Amazon but in the past few years have concentrated on books about the members of the RAF, FAA and Commonwealth air forces. I still maintain an interest in the operations of the USAAF, USN, Luftwaffe and Japanese forces but, as an Australian, you can probably understand where my heart lies!

Around about 2000, when I started collecting in earnest, I stuggled to find vast amounts of books on the subject. For those of you in the know this is a ridiculous thing to say as there are thousands of titles on the RAF alone.

In the past four or five years I have been fortunate to make some excellent friends in the UK and Australia who have helped broaden my knowledge of what's available and, in some cases, spend my money for me. In doing so, I have also corresponded with and met several authors and gained some insight into what it takes to put a well-researched book together. One of these days I hope to do the same but for the time being writing reviews and the occasional article will see me through as I gather what I need.

I have worked as a journalist in the past and run my own online magazine which was very time consuming and eventually led to another blog which is much easier to maintain. My interest in the aviation of the Second World War began with a school library book on The Battle of Britain when I was nine. Numerous plastic models, museum visits, magazine subscriptions, movies and Commando comics later I branched out into books like Squadron Signal's 'In Action' series (cheap for a teenager) and generalist titles covering certain aircraft. My first memory of a memoir (ha) was an oldish, secondhand copy of Alex Henshaw's superlative Sigh for a Merlin bought at a primary school market - incidentally, still the best Spitfire book I have ever read. I devoured it and although I haven't read it since (early 1990s) I can still vividly remember many of Alex's adventures testing this greatest of aircraft. One of these days I'll read it again.

My time as a journalist proper was short-lived as I had to make some decent money but it followed time as an accountant, truck driver and recruitment researcher. As of March 2010, I have stepped into commercial accounting which is a different kettle of fish and certainly not all spreadsheets and numbers (to be honest, the best job I have ever had).

Throughout my various incarnations I have maintained a fascination for what aircrew experienced during the war. I have been fortunate enough to meet several veterans and have even worked alongside some on a couple of major aircraft restorations down here in Australia. To a man I have found them friendly, modest and, at times, wondering what all the fuss is about. A gross generalisation perhaps but any variance would be understandable considering what they lived through. I know I could certainly not have done what they did in their late teens/early 20s. Fortunately, I have not had the opportunity to prove this otherwise and that's largely because of what these men (and women) sacrificed for what we have today.

Each book is a pleasure to read (even the not-so-great ones) and I try to convey what each is like to read without giving the game away too much. I also endeavour to let you know when or where I bought my copy and where it is available now as I try to review a mix of old and new titles (basically whatever takes my fancy at the time although when review copies come in, these take precedence). Honesty is at the core of everything I write on here so if something doesn't sit right with me or I feel it affects the 'experience' of the book, I will mention it.

Please feel free to recommend titles I may not be aware of or that you think would complement a reviewed title.

Cheers

Andy Wright