W.W. Frazer

Written in the form of diary with each day dated. How he kept such detail, he does not explain as he only mentions writing letters but not a dairy. He gives us a clear description of flying a Liberator from the starting routine to taxing and take off. He is also very candid about the fear he experienced from flying over vasts bodies of water to jungle and mountains one could not always see because of cloud cover. Then there was the flak and the fighters with which the crew had to contend.

One flight left a lasting impression on him and worried him on every mission after. Sent out to search for an American crew that had ditched in the Indian Ocean, he decided to stay out extra long to be sure they covered as much ocean as possible. When he landed, a ground crew member informed his tanks were dry when he thought he had allowed enough fuel to have another half hour of flight. His co-pilot had suggested they turn for home 15 minutes sooner than planned which they did and that decision saved their lives. Ever after, he always kept his crew monitoring fuel consumption.

Another part of this book is its description of India during WW II. The poverty, the disease, the racism of the British, and the smells bother Frazer but he has a war to fight. He describes traveling on the India rail system with its crowed social strata system. In one incident he just escapes being killed by Indian nationalists who hate the British and attack his train car because of an incident where a small boy is denied entrance to the car. Only the timely movement of the train saves his life,

While containing great detail of the boring part of war, this is a surprisingly very readable account of a war theatre about which one does not see as many books.… (mehr)