Invasions Without Tears: The Story of Canada's Top-Scoring Spitfire Wing in Europe During the Second World War

Dean F. Oliver teaches history at York University.

Most air unit histories focus on the pilots, but this one presents a
more balanced view. Ground personnel (or “erks”) are treated at
length, and the logistical problems of running an advanced, constantly
moving fighter base are highlighted. Ground crews struggled to keep
their aircraft serviceable under extremely difficult conditions. Their
professionalism and efficiency were reflected in the wing’s tactical
performance.

Pilots, however, still receive the lion’s share of attention. Every
major air battle and many minor ones are summarized from interviews and
unit records, complete with numbers and types of forces engaged, losses,
and the number of kills by individual fliers. There are dozens of brief
pilot biographies, while the leading Canadian aces are given lengthier
treatment. Such detail is admirable, but too many pages read like the
dry official air force summaries prepared initially by Berger and his
intelligence mates. Interesting tactical and procedural items are
occasionally revealed—the wartime process of kill verification, for
example, or the large numbers of German fighter planes still encountered
in the winter of 1945—but these are exceptions to the rule. The combat
accounts are generally dull, plodding, and emotionless, reflecting the
documents on which they are based.

Invasions Without Tears is a straightforward chronological narrative,
unencumbered by critical analysis. The fascinating recollections of
veterans and several brief attempts to provide strategic context are
welcome additions, but the book remains more war diary than monograph,
and shares both the strengths and (mainly) the weaknesses of that genre.