Amazing Airmen: Canadian Flyers in the Second World War

Gordon Turner is the author of Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s
Greatest Ship and the editor of SeaFare, a quarterly newsletter on sea
travel.

During the Second World War Canadian airmen served with great distinction in the European Theatre. Most were members of the Royal Canadian Air Force, but several flew with Britain's Royal Air Force. Ian Darling has interviewed 17 former aircrew, or in some cases their families, in their latter years and brings to life the stories of their wartime exploits. Most were members of bomber crews but a few were fighter pilots. Some of their planes were brought down over Germany, others over German-occupied countries such as France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and a few aircraft limped back to airfields in England, often badly damaged and with the occupants injured. The airmen who parachuted into German-occupied lands found refuge with Allied sympathizers: local residents who sheltered them from the German army at huge risk to their own lives. Some aircrew, however, had to bale out over Germany and ended up in prisoner-of-war camps, but even some of these men managed to escape their captors.

The author has compiled a list of stories of uncommon courage by men who were modest and unassuming about their wartime accomplishments. We can be grateful that the Mr. Darling has recorded their deeds, especially because age has thinned their ranks and the survivors are now of advanced years. The author's writing style is rather flat and the book would have benefited from a more rigorous editing. Nevertheless, the accounts are compelling and they serve as a salutary reminder of how Canadian airmen met the challenges of war so many years ago.