2007-07-24 Fascinating and Moving Documentary

There are plenty of books on this subject and this is the second which I have read, so I can't make any comparisons. My area of interest is in the experiences of those involved in the war and Bomber Crew dealt with this in a way which was easily digestible.

I believe that the book was an accompaniment to a TV series which attempted to recreate the experience of flying a Lancaster. I have no time for this kind of tosh: a serious and emotional subject presented as reality TV when a documentary would have been a far better option. Surely this speaks volumes about todays audiences. That aside, Bomber Crew represents that documentary. It is constructed with a well written and informative narrative which is heavily punctuated with contributions from veterans, taking the reader from training through to the end of the war. The contributions are remarkably honest, matter of fact and modest and dispel any notion that these men consider themselves heroes. This in itself is tremendously moving. The power of the written word over visual images is strong here as the imagination is the key instrument in interpreting the book, although there are a few images present and sadly these are poorly reproduced. One however, stayed with me: silhouetted ground crew waving off a bomber against the late evening sky. A poignant and evocative image.

There are many poignant, moving, humorous and occasionally horrific moments in the book. A crew member describes the ground crew swilling out the rear turret with a pump and hose: 'the water was running away pink. I looked at the guy doing the job and he looked at me, but neither of us spoke. I just carried on with what I was doing, but it gets to you a little bit'.

Reflect on that for a moment.

It got to me more than a little bit. Young men, barely out of their teens, flying out in a rattling Lancaster through flak and enemy fighters, simply not knowing whether they would end the night dead or alive and if it was to be dead, how? The spirit, comradeship and teamwork are explored here to great effect; it's powerful stuff and the book takes you to the heart of it. These men remain remarkable human beings, dead or alive.