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.