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A REPRINT OF a good story first published in 1987. There are only a few illustrations, but Ron Smith describes his 65 operations as a Lancaster rear gunner, from kitting out at Blackpool in 1940 through to his time with the Pathfinders. This story is well told and easy to read.
--Aeroplane Monthly - FEBRUARY 2009
--Aeroplane Monthly - FEBRUARY 2009
Book Description
A Bomber Command book with a difference, the story of the air war over Germany as seen from the small Perspex bubble of a `Tail-End Charlie' rear gunner in a Lancaster.
Flying firstly with 626 squadron, and later 156 Pathfinder squadron, Ron Smith flew 65 operations and recorded them with the intensity brought on by the isolation of being cocooned in his lonely gun turret.
Flying firstly with 626 squadron, and later 156 Pathfinder squadron, Ron Smith flew 65 operations and recorded them with the intensity brought on by the isolation of being cocooned in his lonely gun turret.
`Suddenly we were over the Big City... after long hours of searching the night sky from the coast, to be suddenly propelled into the brilliant hell over Berlin produced a freezing of the mind...flak sliced up through the broken illuminated clouds, ascending gracefully to stream past the turret. A Lancaster slid across at right angles with a single fighter just behind it, as if attached by an invisible thread... the city far below was bubbling and boiling, splahes of fire opening out as the blockbusters pierced this terrible brew.'
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Today would be a journey without return and, as the ancient tram droned noisily towards the centre of Sheffield, I moved uneasily on the hard seat. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Today would be a journey without return and, as the ancient tram droned noisily towards the centre of Sheffield, I moved uneasily on the hard seat. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
There are few WWII Bomber Command books written from a gunner's perspective and I can't think of another by a 'Tail-end Charlie'. This is a quite exceptional account; Ron Smith, who flew more than two tours on Lancasters gives us some breathtaking glimpses of his experiences, some of which, like the ill-fated Nuremburg raid on 30th March 1944, have you on the edge of your seat.
His writing is vivid yet reflective and understated; at no time does he lay claim to heroism on his own part or that of others, yet the quiet courage of all these brave men is apparent on every page. He intertwines the operational narrative with the difficulties of trying to sustain wartime romances and the equally tricky business of needing to behave like a normal human being when on leave, of trying to leave the emotional and psychological impact of 'the night job' to one side.
He disabused me of a couple of my own preconceptions. Firstly, I had always thought that Pathfinder squadrons were composed of elite crews with long experience, yet his own was scooped out of 626 squadron at Wickenby and transferred to 156 Pathfinders at Warboys after just a few missions! Secondly, I thought that all tail gunners felt that they had drawn the short straw, that theirs was the most vulnerable and precarious of positions on the aircraft. Yet Smith revelled in it, enjoyed his solitude and responsibilities and never, as far as we see, requesting anything else.
Not a long book, but it's one of the most intimate and revealing accounts I've read and I would recommend it strongly to anyone who wants a fuller picture of Bomber Command in WWII. Ron Smith was not a professional writer, but for me he is the first to capture perfectly the sheer outlandishness of what these remarkable men had to do night after night for years.
Only one quibble. The publishers should have employed a decent proof-reader as the text is peppered with grammatical errors, most frequently plurals expressed as possessives - eg 'the aircraft were standing at their dispersal's'. Pedantic it may be in this increasingly illiterate age, but personally I find it irritates and devalues the story.
His writing is vivid yet reflective and understated; at no time does he lay claim to heroism on his own part or that of others, yet the quiet courage of all these brave men is apparent on every page. He intertwines the operational narrative with the difficulties of trying to sustain wartime romances and the equally tricky business of needing to behave like a normal human being when on leave, of trying to leave the emotional and psychological impact of 'the night job' to one side.
He disabused me of a couple of my own preconceptions. Firstly, I had always thought that Pathfinder squadrons were composed of elite crews with long experience, yet his own was scooped out of 626 squadron at Wickenby and transferred to 156 Pathfinders at Warboys after just a few missions! Secondly, I thought that all tail gunners felt that they had drawn the short straw, that theirs was the most vulnerable and precarious of positions on the aircraft. Yet Smith revelled in it, enjoyed his solitude and responsibilities and never, as far as we see, requesting anything else.
Not a long book, but it's one of the most intimate and revealing accounts I've read and I would recommend it strongly to anyone who wants a fuller picture of Bomber Command in WWII. Ron Smith was not a professional writer, but for me he is the first to capture perfectly the sheer outlandishness of what these remarkable men had to do night after night for years.
Only one quibble. The publishers should have employed a decent proof-reader as the text is peppered with grammatical errors, most frequently plurals expressed as possessives - eg 'the aircraft were standing at their dispersal's'. Pedantic it may be in this increasingly illiterate age, but personally I find it irritates and devalues the story.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
If the fact that the author managed survive the number of operations he volunteered to undertake is bordering on amazing it's the self effacing humility of Ron Smith's book that's truly humbling. Having initially joined the RAF Regiment the author then volunteered to serve as an air gunner in Bomber Command. His operational career started with 626 squadron before, somewhat to his surprise, a move to 156 squadron and PFF.
The book follows the author and his crew through 65 operations seen through the eyes of Lancaster tail gunner and the ongoing battle to overcome the fear and the trepidation of what awaited them. Truly fantastic reading and a fine tribute to a those who served in Bomber Command.
The book follows the author and his crew through 65 operations seen through the eyes of Lancaster tail gunner and the ongoing battle to overcome the fear and the trepidation of what awaited them. Truly fantastic reading and a fine tribute to a those who served in Bomber Command.
We "baby boomers" are incredibly lucky that we have avoided having to fight in a global conflict such as that which engulfed our parents and grandparents in the first half of the 20th century. My own father was
involved in WW2 and the Korean War, but rarely spoke of it afterwards.
Ordinary people, like Ron Smith DFM, author of this relatively slim memoir, volunteered for the incredibly hazardous life in Bomber Command. The odds of surviving a "tour" of 30 operations were frighteningly slim, yet
these young men did their duty night after night, never knowing when their end might come.
What I like about this book is the honesty and the real sense of what it was like, the fear and above all the fear of letting one's crew mates down. No grandstanding, no boasting, just a real sense of what Ron Smith and countless thousands of others went through
because it was their job. This a very worthwhile read for anyone like me, who is endlessly fascinated by this period of our history.
involved in WW2 and the Korean War, but rarely spoke of it afterwards.
Ordinary people, like Ron Smith DFM, author of this relatively slim memoir, volunteered for the incredibly hazardous life in Bomber Command. The odds of surviving a "tour" of 30 operations were frighteningly slim, yet
these young men did their duty night after night, never knowing when their end might come.
What I like about this book is the honesty and the real sense of what it was like, the fear and above all the fear of letting one's crew mates down. No grandstanding, no boasting, just a real sense of what Ron Smith and countless thousands of others went through
because it was their job. This a very worthwhile read for anyone like me, who is endlessly fascinated by this period of our history.
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