by John Rowland
ISBN 978-1- 84884-407-0
Pen & Sword Books, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS
6 1/2in x 9 1/2in hardback; 231 pages; illustrated
£19.99

Some years ago personal memoirs were out of favour, but they have been enjoying a revival of late. This is no bad thing, as history without some intimate first-hand impressions to liven it up can be very dull and matter-of-fact. Here we have a pilot’s recollections of his RAF service from Cranfield in the immediate pre-Second World War era to airline flying in the early post-war years. It has to be said that better editing would have helped the narrative, which has its repetitions and shortcomings. For example, Waghorn could not have won the Schneider Trophy contest in 1938 as it ended in 1931, the Desoutter was not a biplane, the Link Trainer was not invented by “an American called Sperry”, and Very pistol should not have a second “e”. Reference is made to a “gooseneck flarepath” on page 10, but it is not described until page 67, and we again find that misleading practice of converting old money in decades past directly into its modern equivalent, halfa- crown being converted as 12p, when its purchasing power was far greater than that.

Nevertheless, the author has interesting tales to tell, although they are sometimes buried in minutiae. Serving as an instructor, an army-cooperation pilot and a bomber pilot he flew Hawker Harts, Hinds, Hectors and Hurricanes, Miles Magisters and Masters, Airspeed Oxfords, Avro Lancasters and Handley Page Halifaxes in the Service, and was then seconded to BOAC, where he got his hands on Douglas Dakotas, Handley Page Haltons and Avro Yorks. In May 1940 he was one of a few pilots of 613 Sqn who flew their bombed-up Hectors to Calais on ground-strafing diversions to aid the Dunkirk evacuation. This book merits a read.

PHILIP JARRETT

RATING: ΘΘΘ