Blood, Sweat And Courage - Steve Brew

The inspiration for writing this review, besides the book itself, stems from deciding I would attempt to publish the world’s first book review of 2015.  There’s a good chance I will have achieved this assuming no Samoans, Kiwis or Norfolk Islanders have had the same idea and usurp me in the three hours from the first seconds of 2015 to midnight here in Melbourne.  Thinking of this little record attempt for ABR got me reflecting on 2014, a year that has gone a bit downhill in the past month, and one word came to mind.  Legacy.  

As a very amateur writer on old things that fly, and the people that made them do so, I have written relatively little for ABR but have contributed elsewhere this year.  This has been the best year, however, for the website’s traffic so, with luck, the goal of increasing the audience for these books has been achieved.  I think about the authors I have ‘worked’ with and met this year and their contribution to the collective memory of the aircrew and their experiences.  Staring at the SAAF Bisley profile artwork that hangs above my desk, and thinking “legacy”, brings one author to mind ahead of the others - Steve Brew.  Many of you will know of his work with No. 41 Squadron’s history and his magnificently enormous Blood, Sweat And Valour.  Well, after 11 years of work, and no doubt a fair bit of blood and sweat of his own, Steve has completed his wartime history of the unit with Blood, Sweat And Courage.  The two volumes comprise almost 2,000 pages of history.  That is some legacy.

Two Battle of Britain books in the same year for ABR!  The first, of course, was the intimate Australia’s Few And The Battle Of Britain by Kristen Alexander.  It’s perhaps a bit generalist (and lazy), however, to call BSC a Battle of Britain book.  It is so much more but certainly the longest section of the book is the summer of 1940.  Blood, Sweat And Courage is the history of the squadron from the declaration of war through to July 1942. 

You would expect the Phoney War period to be quite dull especially as the squadron was equipped with Spitfires and therefore ‘quarantined’ from operating in France with the British Expeditionary Force.  To some extent this is true, and the diary entries support this at times, but the war was only six weeks old when the squadron scored its first victory and, incidentally, the first German airmen were captured on British soil.  As celebratory as this is (as by the now the reader is heavily invested in the fortunes of the squadron), it is the events of the following day, October 18 1939, that put things in perspective and sets a tone, an emotion, for the book.  One of the three pilots who shared the previous day’s victory, Sergeant Albert Harris, was a passenger on the grossly overloaded Whitley that was being used as a transport for the squadron’s move to RAF Wick.  He was killed when the aircraft stalled and crashed on take-off.  Reading this passage results in an incredulous “Hang on, wasn’t he…” moment.  It was the moment the book went from squadron history, with its staccato diary entries, to squadron memoir.  It became personal.

The rapid-fire diary entries, early on in the war when, relatively, not a lot is going on, are increasingly interspersed, as the war heats up, with contextual ‘elaborations’ that provide considerably more detail as individual memories from squadron members illustrate events or the author expands on noteworthy items.  The language used in the diary entries also helps to draw the reader in.  The author particularly uses “today” extensively.  It is a simple but clever use of the word as it fosters a feeling of currency and involvement.

Diary entries and expertly collated and assembled combat narratives, and personal recollections to support them, are great but what is particularly telling with regard to the Battle of Britain period are the tables detailing the flights made in a day by pilots and aircraft.  The take-off and landing times are very good at communicating the frequency and urgency.  It is easy, in conjunction with the narrative, therefore, to imagine the sheer exhaustion the pilots felt after days and days of such frenetic activity.

The post-Battle of Britain period was a time of change for both sides.  Fighter Command went on the offensive and the Spitfire units eventually converted to the Mk V while the Germans moved on to the Me109F and, in time, the Fw190.  The squadron, however, spent six months of 1941 on rest (defensive duties with not much ‘rest’) before returning to the fray.  Their lot for the next 12 months was one of Circuses and sweeps, taking the fight to the enemy.  The combat actions for the Circuses in particular are, as you’d imagine with the squadron flying with several others, confusing to say the least but the author makes sense of it all and produces entertaining, informative and very readable accounts.  Here, the diary entries are quite a bit longer (!) and each operation is headed by a table summarising the RAF involvement.  Happily, Brew analyses the losses and claims and does not accept the ORB as gospel.  He even corrects previous research and conclusions he made as the squadron historian.

The narrative ends not with the squadron being pulled from ops for a rest, although this ultimately happened, but with it being stood-down in preparation for transportation to Russia following the success of the Hurricanes that made up Force Benedict.  This, of course, did not eventuate but it is a fascinating little conclusion for the time period covered by BSC. 

This is a huge book.  Despite being very well written, it does require dedication to get through.  The main section, obviously and necessarily, contains a lot of names and numbers but they do not overpower the reader.  As is common with works of this ilk, the reader will develop ‘favourite’ pilots as they pop up time and time again.  All men, where possible, are introduced by way of their career to the date of joining the squadron.  On being posted out their subsequent service is included in the narrative in surprising detail and the author regularly refers to pilots flying with other squadrons as being previous or future 41 Squadron members.  Even the captions for the many photos provide as much biographical detail as space allows.  It is the most comprehensive personnel history, with the benefit of being told and presented exceedingly well, I have come across.  The author has achieved his aim to “give every man his place in history”.

The appendices are, as expected, massive and provide a lot of information with the largest detailing each pilot’s service record.  The format is the same as that used in the previous volume Blood, Sweat And Valour and, for the pilots’ records, requires a lot of understanding of abbreviations and acronyms but all are listed in a later appendix.  There’s even appendices dedicated to surviving gun camera films shot by the squadron, a ground victory listing and the aircraft used as squadron hacks!  This is the type of book you consult to corroborate everything.  As is the norm for the Fonthill books I have encountered there is, maddeningly, no index although, once again, the author provides one on his website.  This book would be absolute perfection with an index but it does not suffer from not having one.  It’s just that it deserves one.

If you’ve read BSV then you know what follows where BSC closes and how the squadron built on its already enviable reputation.  Upon finishing BSC, there is a desire to re-visit the first volume to continue and conclude the squadron’s wartime story.  Preparing for this review required a week of very late nights coupled to several very early mornings.  It was a pleasure and a privilege to go through the advance copy and be in the presence of something remarkable.  Blood, Sweat And Courage had a lot to live up to after the release of BSV and it was eagerly awaited because of the quality of the first volume.  It had to be superb.  It had to be readable.  It is both and so much more.

Australia's Few and the Battle Of Britain - Kristen Alexander

For as long as books are written about aviation there will always be books about the Battle of Britain.  It is perhaps the one enduring ‘household name’ from the war.  Indeed, even its ‘stars’ – The Few, Churchill, Dowding, Bader, Spitfire, Hurricane – still roll off the tongue.  It must be considerably difficult, given so much has been written about this period of the war already, for an author to come up with a new angle that will be of sufficient interest to publishers and, of course, the target audience.  The key, however, is “The Few”.  The aircrew.  Every single one deserves to have his story told.  Many have.  Many haven’t.

Such was the impact of the RAF’s victory against the odds that the campaign still resonates with astounding clarity.  It is a popularity that has seen myths and tales repeated until they are accepted as fact before, thankfully, being debunked through good old-fashioned historical research.  This research, and the continuing interest in the subject matter, has ensured documents are re-discovered, or re-interpreted, and crash sites continue to be found.

The household names are such because, for the most part, they endured.  They added to their achievements beyond that summer of 1940 and provided future biographers and researchers with enough material to generate countless volumes of work.  Those who survived had a life after the Battle.  They had a voice with which to tell their own story.  What, then, of those who did not make it?  How can their voice be heard when, perhaps, it is hidden safely away in a shoebox in the cupboard of a still grieving widow or relative?  For many they are simply a name on a plaque or on a headstone.  A pilot of the Battle of Britain.

What was he like?  Why did he fly?  Was he married?  Who and what did he love?  Where did he come from?  Someone always remembers and that is how the lost are heard.  In the case of this book, realisation came before remembrance.  The author became inquisitive about the Australian involvement in the Battle after reading one of H.E. Bates’ classic works.  There followed a journey of discovery that produced astounding access to the personal papers and records of eight men who flew in the Battle of Britain and who are certainly not household names.  The result is a perfect blend of military and personal biography.  Now these young men have a voice again.

Crossman, Glyde, Holland, Hughes, Kennedy, Millington, Sheen and Walch.  All were Australians in the RAF.  Some learned to fly at Point Cook.  Others in England.  Some became aces.  Some earned the DFC.  One survived.

As expected, there is a lot of combat but these sequences are, as much as possible, told in the pilot’s words through snippets from logbooks and combat reports and judiciously selected comments from diaries and other musings.  This is, of course, what we expect of a book about the Battle of Britain.  What is expertly woven into the narrative, however, is exquisite detail of the personal lives of the men – their thoughts when on station, the evident tension experienced as time passed and fatigue grew and, most importantly, their experiences when not on duty.  Here we really learn who these men were. 

The most valuable material is, however, in the pre-war/pre-Battle narrative.  Logbooks and diaries are expected sources when writing about pilots in combat.  Discovering their lives before their greatest achievements requires a much more personal approach and a desire to tell the whole story and not just the exciting stuff.  The result of such in-depth research and analysis, lovingly so in each respect, is an understanding beyond anything official records will ever provide.  There is a reason why Kennedy never smiled in photographs, for example.  Yes, there is some reading between the lines but, given the extent of the source material at hand, it is very much an educated, informed and perceptive interpretation.

All eight men come to life as their lives are laid bare. The reader develops an affinity with each to the point where the losses are keenly felt.  Hughes, a phenomenally aggressive (Point Cook might still bear the scars!) and successful pilot and flight leader, particularly got under my skin as he built the foundation of a loving relationship and potential future family (he was, of course, not the only one to find love while overseas). The progressive losses set-up the final chapters as the stories do not end as seven men are shot down.  They leave behind families and friends who struggle to accept their shining light has gone.  This is where the writing really benefits from the author’s unsurpassed ‘eye for the personal’, as I like to call it, developed in her earlier works (Clive Caldwell Air Ace and Jack Davenport Beaufighter Leader).  While the entire book is written with emotion and caring, the closing chapters are almost heartbreaking as each family unit comes to terms, more or less, with their loss over the decades that followed the war.  The immediate reaction by colleagues and loved ones to each death is recorded in the main ‘action’ chapters but the Battle moves on and, of course, so must the narrative.  The last few chapters, however, are a delicately and expertly assembled section of the book that serves to remind us that these men left so much behind.

Such sublime content deserves an equally well-crafted package to be presented in. As much as this is the author’s coming of age as an aviation history writer, the publisher has gone above and beyond in ensuring this book is well presented. Indeed, the sheer presence of this beautiful hardback demands attention on the shelf.  The hardcovers replicate the dust cover artwork and prove there is more to life than dark cloth and gold-embossed text.  The pages are clean and crisp, the text is (justified!) the perfect size for easy reading and the photo section, cut down from a large number of images the author had collected, happily focuses on personal and intimate images of the men rather than stock photos of Spitfires and Hurricanes etc.  The effort put in to the design and layout is evident.  Someone at NewSouth really understood what the book is all about.  Add the professional notes and index and we have an example from the very pinnacle of book design.

If I’m honest, and that’s what ABR is all about, I tend to steer away from books on the Battle and prefer to hunt down those from lesser known campaigns, battles, squadrons and theatres.  That summer of 1940, however, is what I cut my teeth on when I first ‘discovered’ the world of Second World War aviation.  It’s always there, in various forms, on my shelves, online or, most of the time, at a local bookshop.  Why then, in this world of a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Battle of Britain books, and with the 75^th anniversary just around the corner, would you buy this book over the others?  The question really should be “why wouldn’t you?”  From cover to cover it is the perfect tribute to eight Australian pilots and, hands down, the best-presented ‘package’ I have seen in a while.  It can be tricky, as the narrative changes to another ‘character’, to keep abreast with who’s who but this is really only experienced early on before the reader gets to ‘know’ each budding pilot.  The timelines of all eight are well managed and I hate to think of the headaches weaving them all together must have caused.  At a little over 400 pages of narrative, notes, bibliography and index, you’d think this would be a longish read but it flows so nicely, and there is always something to discover on the next page, that progress is swift.

Eight men have finally had their stories told.  It couldn’t have been done better.  I am bloody glad to have read Australia’s Few and the Battle of Britain.  I am bloody glad to have it on my shelf.

NewSouth Publishing 2014

ISBN 9-781742-234151

April 30, 2015 - Now available through Pen & Sword in the UK!

Chocks away, release brakes

Hi everyone, it's been a while!

For those of you who don't know, since my last post we've moved back to Melbourne and I am in my third week of Daddy day care! We're still unpacking and the modem took five days to find hence why things have taken some time to get back to something resembling normality.  The books are unpacked and on the shelves!

There's lots of books to talk about, and I'll get there, but, in the meantime, if you read Flightpath magazine there will be, at most, six of my short reviews in the next issue that is due out in time for Christmas.  With luck the reviews might help in the Christmas present decision-making process ... or just add more titles to wish lists.

Self-publishers have been a bit of a focus on ABR of late. I have a lot of respect for all authors but those who self-publish really strike a chord with me so I'll take this opportunity to give another tip of the hat to new friends Chris Keltie (Riding In The Shadow Of Death), Andrew Porrelli and Simon Hepworth (Striking Through Clouds, the No. 514 Sqn war diary available in the UK and Australia, ask me about Australian sales) and John Hooton (One Life Left). It is always exciting when a new book arrives but these guys have gone above and beyond to get these stories out there.  The books themselves are very attractive items too.

Speaking of new books, the kids and I visited the RAAF Museum at Point Cook a couple of weeks ago. The museum shop sells some good titles and I managed to pick up three (and then another four five days later...). I had been after two of the first three (Air-To-Air by Chris Rudge and Kittyhawk Pilots by Cyril Ayris) for close to a decade and, happily, they were priced affordably (and realistically). It's a good reminder that your local museum can have some gems for sale ... and your money certainly goes to a good cause (I had a similar experience when Paul Sortehaug's The Wild Winds jumped in to my hands at the RNZAF Museum in 2010!). That said, I still regret not buying Kittyhawk Pilots from Cyril Ayris (and not to mention his cohort's, Stan Watt, Wing Over And Dive) in 2006!

Some of our favourite publishers are already announcing new books for 2015. Fighting High is leading the way with the covers of Into The Dark and Thunder Bird In Bomber Command (the new Sean Feast title) already released (check out the new charity book too - Coming Home, One Hundred Years of Housing Heroes) and Pen & Sword will be releasing the UK edition of Kristen Alexander's latest, and very welcome, Australia's Few and the Battle of Britain. I'll be surprised if they produce as good a book as New South did for the Australian edition. It is a superb work from cover to cover.  Norwegian Tor Idar Larsen will also have his new solo effort, Mosquito Attack!, published by Fonthill early next year. Norwegian Mossie pilot anyone?

Still to come in 2014 is Steve Brew's second volume of his No. 41 Sqdn history (Blood, Sweat And Courage) that will also come out through Fonthill. Work on strength building now as it'll be a massive book as Steve covers the squadron's history from the start of the war through to July 1942.  Go to your local hardware store, or remove some cross-members from your bed, as you will need something to shore up your bookshelf when this one arrives!

I recently 'discovered' a new book in the latest Allen & Unwin military newsletter.  While the expected WW1 titles ruled the roost I was surprised to see several WW2 PoW-based books due for release shortly.  Already available in the UK, Peter Tunstall's The Last Escaper has only just been released in Australia.  I fear it may get lost in the Christmas rush, and the general focus on WW1, but this must surely be one of the last books to be penned by an aircrew veteran and that lifts it above the accolades it is already receiving for being a quality read.

Stepping forward in time again to 2015 and we have the re-release of a giant.  The third edition of Kenneth Wynn's legendary Men of the Battle of Britain will issue forth to a grateful world on June 30 and will be one of the aircrew book highlights of the year as the 75th anniversary of the Battle is commemorated.  What other books shall we see on this important anniversary? 

I've probably forgotten some other news but keep an eye on ABR and be sure to let me know of anything I have missed so we can get news of these stories and books out to as many people as possible.

Andy

They Gave Me A Seafire - new edition

Every book I read stays with me in one way or the other.  Some, of course, really strike a chord and give more than just a good reading experience.  These are the books that just keep giving and even the mere sight of them on the shelf makes me smile (and cause me to wax lyrical...).  Regular readers will know how special 'Mike' Crosley's They Gave Me A Seafire is to me so it is with great pleasure that I can report on Pen & Sword's new edition of this marvellous book.

'Mike' Crosley signed up for the Fleet Air Arm at the height of the Battle of Britain because the 'wait list' for the RAF was too long.  Joining a service that was struggling with its own identity, a lack of modern aircraft and components of the leadership team who vehemently questioned the very existence of the aviation branch, he makes it through intensive - albeit occasionally archaic and amusing - training before flying operationally.  He survives the sinking of HMS Eagle, the North African landings, Arctic convoys and so much more before taking command of a Seafire squadron prior to its deployment to the war against Japan as part of the British Pacific Fleet.  He is frank about the service's failings, particularly the mis-use of the Seafire and fighter force in general, but highlights the phenomenal job everyone did despite them.  The Fleet Air Arm, by the end of the war, was a very effective fighting force and was perfectly placed to take advantage of the massive advances in naval aviation, many developed by the service itself, that were to come in the years immediately following the war.  Crosley was there for all of it. 

As I've said before, the review for TGMAS generated a wonderful response from the author's wife who, pleasingly, has written a beautiful postscript, using excerpts from letters, about her husband.  While the main body of the book, because it is so well written, allows the reader to build the perfect picture of Crosley the man, this postscript looks at him through the eyes of his wife of more than 40 years.  She is an absolute saint of a woman, having nursed 'Mike' in his final years as he struggled with an aggressive form of dementia, and writes, understandably, with heart and passion remembering a committed family man, a talented woodworker who built many a boat and a fine pilot who contributed so much to naval aviation.

The book itself is a typically well put-together hardback from this publisher.  A first look through the text didn't reveal any particular changes from the edition I first read other than the postscript mentioned above of course.  Indeed, the text is a perfect copy of the 2001 Wrens Park edition to the point of page count and word placement.  The only difference, due to the slightly larger dimensions of the Pen & Sword edition, is a slightly larger font (great considering it was originally bloody small).  The author's wife did ask me about the 'Nat' Gould timeline error I mentioned in the original review and it is pleasing to see this has been corrected.

What really adds to what I guarantee to be a brilliant read is the two sections of now glossy photographs.  The collection of photos used, with some exceptions, are the same as the earlier edition.  The additional images do add to what has already been published but they are placed at the end of the second section and, in some cases, are out of order chronologically.  It's a bit odd to see photos from 1945 and then see the author as a trainee naval aviator in 1940.  It's in these 'new' photos that a clanger is encountered and something, given the plethora of Seafire photos in the book to this point, that even the lay reader will notice.  A photo captioned as Seafires in 1945 is actually of Hawker Sea Hawks (jets!) and Westland Wyverns!  Both types entered operational service in the early 1950s so this is obviously a photo more suited to Crosley's second book, Up In Harm's Way.  It is a surprising error that should have been picked up but, I hasten to add, takes nothing away from the book as a whole.  It is only mentioned here to hopefully lessen the blow when new readers to TGMAS discover it (and hopefully prevents any potential angst!).

If you have not already read this superb book, this is the perfect opportunity to right a wrong.  If you've read it, introduce a friend or younger type who has not yet had the pleasure!  It remains one of the most honest, candid and truly delightful memoirs I have read.  This new edition, with the postscript, is the perfect memorial to one of the Fleet Air Arm's greats.

Win something different ... in hardback!

There are a lot of aircrew stories out there these days and they all have their merits.  Every now and then one really surprises me.  With One Life Left this was partly due to discovering it had been around for a few years before I stumbled upon it recently.  I'm certainly not going to claim to knowing about everything that is published but sometimes I wonder just what I have missed and have still to discover.  It's rather an exciting thought!

Discovering something like One Life Left, Hugh Garlick DFC's memoir of his 10 years' flying in the RAF and FAA, is why I love doing what I do.  It just asks to be read.  While there's nothing unfamiliar about a pre-war RAF pilot seconded to the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (it was a common occurrence in the mishmash of Fleet Air Arm management between the wars), the images reproduced in the book, and on the book's photo website, conjure up all that is wonderful about British wartime flying in the 1930s.  Gloster Gauntlets compete with Hawker Nimrods and Fairey Swordfish.  It doesn't get much better.  Anyone interested in the aviation of World War 2 holds a distinct soft spot in his or her heart for the aircraft of the 1930s.  Some of these aircraft did what they were designed to do albeit in a war that their designers, working with the technology of their time, may have struggled to imagine.

What has me particularly excited about this book is reading the few pages available on Google Books.  I don't often do this but while trying to find what I could on the book (after speaking with Garlick's nephew, John Hooton), I started reading the first chapter.  Long story short - Malta, 1938, recovering in the sun after some heavy drinking ... enough said! The writing is nothing short of delightful and the author has a wonderful ability to capture the atmosphere of the time.  His honesty and self-deprecating humour instantly reminded me of 'Mike' Crosley and They Gave Me A Seafire and Charles Lamb doing his thing in War In A Stringbag (funnily enough, these chaps were Fleet Air Arm types too of course).  This first chapter, while I was already interested in the book, has me hooked.  Skimming through the remaining pages online only reinforced this.

I first found One Life Left on Facebook.  John Hooton runs this page and has a small competition running for those who 'like' it.  The prize?  A hardback copy of the book.  While there are many e-book formats available for One Life Left (I am particularly keen to try the new 'fully loaded with extras' iPad version), it's fair to say the hardback is certainly going to be the prettiest!  A 'like' on Facebook doesn't take much, and sometimes doesn't mean a hell of a lot, but perhaps helping a relatively little-known book get 'out there' a bit more, in whatever format, will help a good man's incredible tale be remembered by many ... as it should be.

And now more than 4,000 for the month!

Thank you!  The website has ticked over 4,200 pageviews for the month.  Indeed, it has romped past the previous record month which, incidentally, was last month!

I still reckon half of the visits are mine - ha ha - but I still hope more and more people (or bots) are looking into these books.

I'm currently enjoying Anthony Cooper's Kokoda Air Strikes which looks at the 1942 Allied air operations in the Pacific theatre as one campaign and their effect on the Japanese advance along, and the Australian defence of, the Kokoda Track.  The book contains a surprising amount of personal details despite being very much a big picture work.  What really stands out is the insistence of the USAAF to persevere with largely ineffectual high altitude bombing against pinpoint targets, the inability of the stretched Japanese bomber and fighter force to maintain pressure on the Moresby airfields complex when they it was at its most disorganised (or any time for that matter) and, regarding that disorganisation, the sheer determination of the air and ground crews of both sides to persevere when supply lines were poor, equipment struggling and the weather frustrating.  It is certainly a study of men and machines up against it (with a bit of unrealistic expectation from headquarters thrown in for good measure).  As always, the author's style of writing, that which served him so well in Darwin Spitfires, means you make a lot of progress through this large paperback in short order ... and it's an education despite the familiarity.

New South have certainly done well with this genre as one of their latest signings, Kristen Alexander, has released photos of an advance copy of her new book Australia's Few And The Battle Of Britain.  The design from cover to cover is the best I have seen for some time and certainly looks like it was put together by someone who completely understands the subject matter.  This will be a special addition to any collection.

On top of all of this Steve Darlow's Fighting High has fired out three books in quick succession.  Mosquito Down, D-Day: Failed To Return and Henry Maudslay Dam Buster (check out the cover of the latter ... can you see the Lanc over the breached dam ... very clever!) are all hardbacks of typical quality from the publisher that sets the standard on the international market.  There's more to come from Fighting High in the next couple of months too.

Edit (Aug 26): sadly, I've since discovered the site is being spammed by two other blogger-based blogs.  Somewhat deflated as I have yet to work out how to block them but, for the time being, I'll keep plugging away.  What is a bit diconcerting is that these 'false' stats can cause the site to slow down and, consequently, be ignored by the search engines.  Again, thank you for your support.  It means even more to me now!

30,000 up!

I noticed earlier this week that the visitor counter on the website's front page was above 29,900. For some reason July has seen it move incredibly quickly. June was the site's best month for pageviews but all of July, so far, has produced 100+ pageviews a day. This is wonderful but I am somewhat mystified as to why as, despite my best intentions, I have, as usual, posted nowhere near as much as I would have liked in the past few months.

One thing I am sure of, however, is my immense gratitude to you all for visiting the site as you research particular World War 2 RAF and Commonwealth aircrew books. Thank you for your support and shared enthusiasm for wanting more people to learn about what these amazing men did.

I visited Hyland's Bookstore in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) today and was pleasantly surprised to be reminded of several new titles that I have yet to hunt down. There is still a good number of new books (and some new editions - The Bomber Command War Diaries and They Gave Me A Seafire to name a couple) arriving on the shelves regularly. This is a great sign of a continuing, perhaps growing, interest and awareness in the genre. Admittedly, it has always been relatively popular due to the prevalence of restored aircraft from the era and the enduring legacy of the Battle of Britain, Bomber Command, the Dams raid and many other operations. It is now, however, in the twilight years of many veterans that, as their numbers dwindle, we run the risk of the greater population 'moving on' to something else. This will ne particularly so when the people who were alive to meet the veterans take their turn to be elderly.

Happily, while the people may come and go, the written word, in some form or the other, will continue. Books are wonderful and sharing the love for them even more so. As I have said before, this site is but a mere minnow on the net but look what it has done and keeps doing. Yes, I put the content there but it is you who reads it and spreads the word. Without its readers, Aircrew Book Review would just be some bloke dribbling about events from 70 years ago as written by others (well it is anyway!).

Thank you again. Here's to 100,000.