Duty with Honour: the Story of a Young Canadian with Bomber Command in the Second World War

Duty with Honour: the Story of a Young Canadian with Bomber Command in the Second World War PDF Author: Elizabeth A. Reynolds
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1453563822
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
The role of Bomber Command in World War II has been hotly debated over the years. Whatever one may think about the effectiveness and morality of the overall strategy, it is difficult to question the commitment of the individual airmen. Bomber Command suffered the greatest loss per capita of all the Allied forces, experiencing a 63 per cent casualty rate. At one point during the war a navigator could expect to survive fewer than 12 bombing operations. Duty With Honour is the story of one young navigator who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, from 1940-1945. Flight Lieutenant Lindsay Reynolds completed a tour of operations in the Middle East and returned home in 1943 to instruct in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. This is the story of the impact of his experiences in a time of war, on the life he lived when World War II was over. It is a story of one mans commitment to duty with honour.

Duty with Honour: the Story of a Young Canadian with Bomber Command in the Second World War

Duty with Honour: the Story of a Young Canadian with Bomber Command in the Second World War PDF Author: Elizabeth A. Reynolds
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1453563822
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 167

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Book Description
The role of Bomber Command in World War II has been hotly debated over the years. Whatever one may think about the effectiveness and morality of the overall strategy, it is difficult to question the commitment of the individual airmen. Bomber Command suffered the greatest loss per capita of all the Allied forces, experiencing a 63 per cent casualty rate. At one point during the war a navigator could expect to survive fewer than 12 bombing operations. Duty With Honour is the story of one young navigator who served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, from 1940-1945. Flight Lieutenant Lindsay Reynolds completed a tour of operations in the Middle East and returned home in 1943 to instruct in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. This is the story of the impact of his experiences in a time of war, on the life he lived when World War II was over. It is a story of one mans commitment to duty with honour.

A Thousand Shall Fall

A Thousand Shall Fall PDF Author: Murray Peden
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 177070681X
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 507

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Book Description
One of the finest war memoirs ever written. During World War II, Canada trained tens of thousands of airmen under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Those selected for Bomber Command operations went on to rain devastation upon the Third Reich in the great air battles over Europe, but their losses were high. German fighters and anti-aircraft guns took a terrifying toll. The chances of surviving a tour of duty as a bomber crew were almost nil. Murray Peden’s story of his training in Canada and England, and his crew’s operations on Stirlings and Flying Fortresses with 214 Squadron, has been hailed as a classic of war literature. It is a fine blend of the excitement, humour, and tragedy of that eventful era.

The Job To Be Done

The Job To Be Done PDF Author: Clint L. Coffey
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1039146554
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
A unique blend of historical narrative and personal memoir, this is the powerful true story of seven young men, including the author’s father, who served in Bomber Command in World War Two. Based on a pilot’s logbook and years of research, this beautifully crafted historical exploration follows the young airmen through training and then vividly relates their experiences in almost sixty combat operations against targets in Germany and France. The story of their lives after returning home, including the burdens they carried with them, is told with empathy and compassion. The Job To Be Done is a compelling combination of original WW2 records and historical fact with thoughtful analysis and insights. Using unique maps, photographs, logbook pages and interviews and anecdotes, it crafts a deeply personal story that will resonate with fans of both military history and memoir. The Job To Be Done is a heartfelt tribute and a uniquely rewarding reading experience.

Dad's War

Dad's War PDF Author: Dan McCaffery
Publisher: Miles Kelly Publishing
ISBN: 9781550288667
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Join young tail gunner Jim McCaffery as he fights to survive the horrors of the air war in Europe. When James Cyril McCaffery joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and headed off to the Second World War, he expected a rollicking adventure. What he experienced instead was the worst of aerial combat -- in all its violence and danger. He served his country bravely but returned forever changed. Based on lengthy interviews with his father and the people who served with him and years of tireless research, acclaimed aviation author Dan McCaffery has pieced together his father's career as a tail gunner in Bomber Command. Gunner McCaffery participated in many of the best-known and most controversial actions of the war, including the raid that created the firestorm that destroyed Dresden and killed tens of thousands of civilians. Unlike many of Canada's airmen in Bomber Command, McCaffery survived his tour of duty -- without ever firing his guns in combat. This book is a compelling and emotionally honest look at the horrors of war, and the story of an inexperienced Canadian teenager struggling to cope with the conflict between his beliefs and what he is being asked to do in the name of duty. Dad's War is an exceptionally written view of the air war over Europe, told from a unique perspective. It goes a long way toward explaining why so many veterans have been reluctant to talk about this period in their lives.

Failed to Return: Canada's Bomber Command Sacrifice in the Second World War

Failed to Return: Canada's Bomber Command Sacrifice in the Second World War PDF Author: Keith C. Ogilvie
Publisher: Heritage House
ISBN: 9781772033816
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A compelling look at the stories of fifteen Canadians killed in the line of duty while serving in the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, one of the most dangerous assignments in the Second World War. Royal Air Force Bomber Command was one of the most dangerous divisions for Allies serving in the Second World War. Despite the risks, the opportunity to fly was seen as exciting and glamorous, attracting a steady stream of young volunteers. Of the some 40,000 aircrew who served in Bomber Command, 45% were killed in action. Nearly 10,000 Canadians were among those who perished. Failed to Return tells the stories of fifteen Canadian flyers who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Many of the stories in this book are heroic, like those of two Canadian participants in the famous Dambusters raid, while others are simply tragic, describing staggering losses where entire aircrafts and crew disappeared without a trace. At its core, Failed to Return presents these individual accounts as an illumination of, and memorial to, the unique lives that lay behind the dreadful statistics.

Under the Maple Leaf

Under the Maple Leaf PDF Author: Ken Cothliff
Publisher: Fighting High
ISBN: 9780993212918
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Canadian contribution to the Second World War Allied bombing campaign, from the first days of the war to the last, proved instrumental in securing the defeat of Nazi Germany. Author and historian Ken Cothliff has pieced together the extraordinary stories of four Canadian volunteers who chose to fly 'Under the Maple Leaf'. There was no mandatory conscription in Canada. They chose to serve their country and the British Commonwealth in it's time of greatest need, and the choice was theirs and theirs alone. Reg Lane joined Bomber Command relatively early and was in action by the autumn of 1941, rising from NCO pilot to become a 'Master Bomber' with the elite Pathfinder Force. Jim Moffat, the 'Evader', ended his flying combat career after twelve operations, becoming a fighter on the European mainland with the Resistance. Steve Puskas's comprehensive diaries and unpublished writings provide an extraordinary insight into his training as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, an experience familiar to many Commonwealth and British air crew. Bill Gracie, a Scot who had emigrated to Canada as a boy, was keen to take up the fight when the war began, with the sole aim of becoming aircrew. Sadly, he was one of the 55,573 Bomber Command aircrew, of which over 10,000 were Canadian, who never returned home. These young men volunteered three times; once to join up, the second time to go overseas, and the third to become aircrew. All came from different backgrounds and found life in the air force very different. With the exception of one man, all came home with their lives radically changed for ever. The debt owed to the people of Canada can never be forgotten. Ken Cothliff's 'Under the Maple Leaf' is the story of a few of Bomber Command's many young Canadian aircrew, all of whom made their contribution to the eventual victory over tyranny.

A Thousand Shall Fall The True Story of a Canadian Bomber Pilot in World War Two

A Thousand Shall Fall The True Story of a Canadian Bomber Pilot in World War Two PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
One of the finest war memoirs ever written. During World War II, Canada trained tens of thousands of airmen under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Those selected for Bomber Command operations went on to rain devastation upon the Third Reich in the great air battles over Europe, but their losses were high. German fighters and anti-aircraft guns took a terrifying toll. The chances of surviving a tour of duty as a bomber crew were almost nil. Murray Peden’s story of his training in Canada and England, and his crew’s operations on Stirlings and Flying Fortresses with 214 Squadron, has been hailed as a classic of war literature. It is a fine blend of the excitement, humour, and tragedy of that eventful era.

Reap the Whirlwind

Reap the Whirlwind PDF Author: Spencer Dunmore
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 470

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Book Description


Over the Wire

Over the Wire PDF Author: Andrew Carswell
Publisher: Wiley
ISBN: 9781118109687
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
A POW's Journey from Hell to FreedomHis story exemplifies the courage and integrity of the generation that sacrificed so much for the cause of freedom ... The greatest single attribute these men who enlisted possessed was the virtue of high moral character and a willingness to do their duty ... It is my pleasure to recommend this book wholeheartedly. Read it, it will make you proud to be a Canadian.-T.J. Lawson, Major-General, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff National Defence, Canada This is a quiet Victory in Europe story ... Carswell's story of personal liberation in the dying days of World War II, and his harrowing bailout over Germany, reads like an epic.-Scott Simmie, The Toronto Star In 1943 RAF Bomber Command was losing planes and aircrew at an alarming rate on its nighttime missions over Germany and occupied Europe. Volunteers across Canada answered the call to duty. This is the story of one of those who served and survived against almost impossible odds.Andrew Carswell grew up in Toronto and, shortly after his eighteenth birthday, enlisted and began the training that would soon qualify him to fly a Lancaster bomber. On his fourth operational mission his plane was shot down over Germany. Andrew and his crew bailed out of the burning airplane just before it crashed in flames.Alone and unarmed, but unhurt, Andrew found himself deep in forest on a bitterly cold night. He was taken prisoner, as were four other members of his crew, and spent the next three years as a prisoner of war in eastern Poland at Stalag VIIIB.His account of life in the camp and his two daring escapes from the heart of this fascinating story of a boy sent to do a man's job. He risked death daily yet never gave up and never lost hope. He was finally liberated by Montgomery's Second Army in 1945 and returned to England.This is Andrew's story, but it is also the story of tens of thousands of Canadians of his generation who were proud to serve their country in its hour of greatest need.

Dam Busters

Dam Busters PDF Author: Ted Barris
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 144345544X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
National Bestseller Foreword by Peter Mansbridge “Barris tells the jaw-dropping story of a night that changed the war.” —The Globe and Mail It was a night that changed the Second World War. The secret air raid against the hydroelectric dams of Germany’s Ruhr River took years to plan, involved an untried bomb and included the best aircrewmen RAF Bomber Command could muster—many of them Canadian. The attack marked the first time the Allies tactically took the war inside Nazi Germany. It was a military operation that became legendary. On May 16, 1943, nineteen Lancaster bombers carrying 133 airmen took off on a night sortie code-named Operation Chastise. Hand-picked and specially trained, the Lancaster crews flew at treetop level to the industrial heartland of the Third Reich and their targets—the Ruhr River dams, whose massive water reservoirs powered Nazi Germany’s military-industrial complex. Each Lancaster carried an explosive, which when released just sixty feet over the reservoirs, bounced like a skipping stone to the dam, sank and exploded. The raiders breached two dams and damaged a third. The resulting torrent devastated enemy power plants, factories and infrastructure a hundred miles downstream. Every airmen on the raid understood that the odds of survival were low. Of the nineteen outbound bombers, eight did not return. Operation Chastise cost the lives of fifty-three airmen, including fourteen Canadians. Of the sixteen RCAF men who survived, seven received military decorations. Based on interviews, personal accounts, flight logs, maps and photographs of the Canadians involved, Dam Busters recounts the dramatic story of these young Commonwealth bomber crews tasked with a high-risk mission against an enemy prepared to defend the Fatherland to the death.