Death Was Their
Co-pilot
This book’s title led to some mis-
givings. Its German title roughly
translates as ‘Death Rides With
Me’.Thatisbetter,butwithouta
descriptive sub-title, how would
people looking for such a book
find it?
Itdoesitsjob,though.Itpro-
vides brief biographies of the
principalacesofthewar,anover-
viewofairfightingdevelopments,
the principal types of aeroplane,
andtheairservicesinvolved.An
experienced reader will find little
new, but one fairly new to the
subject would get a generally ac-
curate account. However, there
areafewerrorsandover-simplifi-
cations. If there are errors that a
reader recognises, can the infor-
mation that is new to them be
completely relied upon?
The biographies are inter-
spersed within the narrative his-
toryoftheairwar.Suchabook
needsanindexandtonothave
oneisaseriousflaw.
Given the familiar anglocentric
approach, this German transla-
tion is welcome, but the bias is
reversed. For example, Manfred
von Richthofen’s section is pre-
dictably long, but McCudden’s is
disappointingly short, even
thoughthelatterhasbeende-
scribed as his British equivalent.
There are occasional glitches
with editing and translation. In-
terestingfirst-handaccountsare
left uncredited. The publishers
appear to express opinions that
they have no place doing. The von
Richthofen section is fairly bal-
anced, but a caption suggests he
mayhavebeena‘proto-Nazi’
whichisspeculativeatbest.Heis
described elsewhere as infamous.
Why?Washemoreruthlessthan
theaceshefaced?
Interesting, useful, but flawed.
[reviewer: Adrian Roberts]
MichaelDörflinger,£25.00
plus p&p, Pen & Sword Books,
http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Carrier Pilot
The genesis of this new edition
ofoneofthegreatwartimefly-
ing memoirs is unknown, but it
is very welcome. Presented as an
affordable paperback, it is the
ideal modern vehicle for Norman
Hanson’s superb manuscript.
Almost 27 years old and mar-
ried in 1940, Hanson hoped to be
a naval aviator, much to his wife’s
amusement, and was eventually
selected for pilot training in Pen-
sacola, Florida. He returned to
theU.K.andendedupinEgyptin
1942flyingtheFaireyFulmar.A
year passed before he returned to
theU.S.asseniorpilotof1833
Squadronworkinguponthenew,
and tricky, Corsair.
ThesquadronjoinedHMSIl-
lustriousin Scotland and sailed
for Ceylon. From there they
sailed with the USSSaratogato
fly strikes on Sumatra before
some time in South Africa. The
carrier’s return to Ceylon
markedthebeginningsofthe
BritishPacificFleetandthe
subsequent raids on the Palem-
bangoilcomplexes.Movinginto
the Pacific, they hit the Sakishi-
maIslandsrepeatedlytopre-
vent their use as Kamikaze
staging bases. Life becomes a
routineofairfieldstrikes,re-
plenishment by fleet train, and
Kamikaze attacks before theIl-
lustriousis sent home via Aus-
tralia in April 1945.
Hanson is observant, well-
read,empatheticandhighly
amusing. He is able to step back,
perhaps because of the passage
of time, to describe the absurdity
and devastation around him. Ab-
surdity and devastation, sadly,
regularlygohandinhand.
This must be the finest Fleet
AirArmmemoireverwritten.[re-
viewer:AndyWright]Norman
Hanson, £14.99 (includes
p&p),SilvertailBooks, http://www.
silvertailbooks.comShot Down
When the fates of an Eighth Air
ForceFlyingFortresscrew
range from - killed in action,
capture, imprisonment or eva-
sion, to fighting with the Resist-
ance-thechallengeistokeepa
tightreinonproceedings.
Howard Snyder’s crew named
theirbomberaftertheirskip-
per’s first daughter. As expect-
ed, they never flew the aircraft
again once it was delivered to
theairdepotinEnglandinmid-
October1943duringthebuild-
up of aircraft and crews follow-
ing the Schweinfurt raids that
almost spelled the end of the
USAAF’s European campaign.
Each man was destined to fly a
numberofmissionseach,but
rarelywithallofthemenhehad
completed training with. They
eventually flew a series of raids
together before they were shot
down on 8 February 1944.
Afterthefirsthalfofthebook,
where the crew’s early experi-
encesareswampedalittlebythe
myriad of well-written technical
details of American strategic
bombing, each of the eight survi-
vorsisfollowedfromthetimeof
their bail-out to the eventual cul-
mination of their journeys.
Exceptionally well illustrat-
ed, but with several captioning
errors, the main body of text
fills340pagesandissupported
by a strong bibliography and a
very good index.
The author has tirelessly
raised awareness of the Snyder
crew and the many thousands
likethem.Itisaneffortthat
matches the epic sweep of
this beautifully produced book.
Education and remembrance
istheultimategoalforthis
genre,andShotDownisanad-
mirable example. [reviewer:
Andy Wright]Steve Snyder,
US$27.95 plus p&p, Sea
Breeze Publishing, http://www.
stevesnyderauthor.comBattle of Berlin
–FailedtoReturn
Fighting High's latest release in
its respected 'Failed to Return'
series concentrates on the car-
nage of the Battle of Berlin, over
late 1943/early 1944, that ended
with the infamous raid on
Nuremberg,whenallofthe
holesintheSwisscheeselined
upandmorethanthirteenper-
cent of the attacking force was
lost. It was a campaign designed
to break Germany and throw it
out of the war, but did not just
involve raids on ‘The Big City’.
This period of Bomber Com-
mand's history cost more than
1,000 bombers and even more
damaged. The human loss, mostly
killed, but also wounded and tak-
en prisoner, is, as is always the
case with Bomber Command, so-
bering when one considers the
sevenmancrewofaheavybomber.
This is the sixth volume in the
series. Steve Darlow and Sean
Feast,whohavecontributedto
allsixbooks,arejoinedbyfour
series regulars (Australian re-
searcher Andrew MacDonald re-
turns for his third contribution)
and first-timer Nicole Russell
who contributes a typically well-
illustrated account of the jour-
ney to finally identify and lay to
restfourofasevenmancrew.
The majority of the men featured
(each chapter usually focuses on
an individual) are from the UK
this time.
The book’s crisp layout, superb
image reproduction and trade-
mark large format hardback
are standard for this publisher.
Loss and death are prevalent, and
themoodycoverreinforcesthis,
butthebookgivesavoiceto
the aircrew that can no longer
speakforthemselves.[reviewer:
Andy Wright]Steve Bond et
al,£25.00plusp&p,
Fighting High, http://www.fighting-
high-books.myshopify.com22 |FLIGHTPATH
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