Reap the Whirlwind: The Untold Story of 6 Group, Canada's Bomber Force of World War II

Sidney Allinson is the editor at the Royal Canadian Military Institute
and author of The Bantams: The Untold Story of World War I.

A promising new military history team has emerged with the partnership
of Dunmore and Carter. Dunmore, a best-selling aviation novelist, and
Carter, a professor at the University of New Brunswick, have compiled an
enthralling account of 6 Group, Royal Canadian Air Force. They chronicle
how the fledgling formation from Canada grew from early inexperience to
become a first-class fighting unit. Their book details as never before
the crucial role played by Canadian airmen in the Allied bombing
offensive against Nazi Germany.

More than 52,000 members of RAF Bomber Command died in the skies over
Europe during World War II, and 10,000 of them were Canadian. Once the
logistics and tactics of night bombing had been thoroughly learned—at
an initially heavy cost—the all-volunteer members of 6 Group evolved
into legendary fliers.

Whirlwind combines official records with scores of first-hand
reminiscences by veterans of 6 Group. Their experiences ring with a
you-are-there immediacy, offering authentic testimony about how it
really was up there in the bomber streams 50 years ago. This book
enables us to better understand the gallant Canadians who carried out
retaliatory air bombardment of the Nazis, who had first introduced that
terrible mode of warfare.

The authors conclude with this thought: “Most of the ex-airmen have
had to put up with the accusing stares of the self-righteous, the kids
who were not even born then. They demand to know why decent Canadians
brought themselves to drop bombs on civilians. Why didn’t they refuse
to fly on such missions? However one may mourn the fact, declarations of
brotherly (and sisterly) love are not noticeably effective protection
against the ambitions of despots. The kids will have to discover this
for themselves, and one can only hope that it will be history that
teaches them.”