Bomber County. The Lost Airmen of the Second World War.

The bomber bombs the bombed

I’d be interested to know what ‘Smith’ thinks of it as well, his Bomber Command connection being similar to Swift’s.

Regards,

Yes … I’d be interested in what I think of it too! But I haven’t read it, wasn’t even aware of its existence. I’ll see if I can track down a copy (a quick search shows me it’s not in the library here).

Just a handful of semi-random comments, based on Kev’s and Brett’s reviews.

It is suggested but not made explicit that Swift is a poet, or anyway he’s undoubtedly of a poetic disposition, and therefore well disposed to word play:
– He talks of the bombed and therefore naturally of the bombers (those giving and receiving with respect to the verb “bomb” … for example “the driver drove the driven”).
– My grandfather is a myth too! “a fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology” He served at Anzac Cove and in France. I know that heroic story. I also know a bit about his mundane reality from his army records … for the most part he went here, went there, mucked about, did this, did that, got disciplined, etc. I’ve read many accounts of war referencing predominant boredom interspersed with brief moments of action (and I’m not slighting anyone in this context).
– To suggest that we (our airmen) have the moral fortitude to stop after 100,000 sorties or whatever is abject nonsense … you’re absolutely right that Swift has missed the point. Reflect on the very opposite in terms of LMF!

Anyway, I haven’t read it (yet) but will do so.

I will also pull Sebald’s On the Natural History of Destruction off my shelf and flick back through that. IIRC he references a lot of contemporary German (the “bombed”) accounts and I think I recall some of that being poetry.

Interesting Kev, all the best, Don

Perhaps I can now have someone else describe me as almost illiterate.

Well, they’d be wrong too. 😉

However I’m sure Brett will value your input.

Done James.

Perhaps I can now have someone else describe me as almost illiterate.

Regards,

kev35

I can’t comment directly, Kev, as I haven’t read the book (and don’t wish to, it seems pretty tangential to my interests and research needs, thank to your and Brett’s reviews) but you make some good and interesting points there. I suggest you offer your comments up on Brett’s blog as well.

I’d be interested to know what ‘Smith’ thinks of it as well, his Bomber Command connection being similar to Swift’s.

Regards,

I was left with far more questions than answers. And I would question Swift’s understanding of his own Grandfather. He seems to me to have little respect for the airmen of whom he writes and assumes that his Grandfather felt guilt over his role yet never even attempts to substantiate that guilt or to explain how he ascribes that guilt to his Grandfather. The book is littered with slights against the men, of whom his Grandfather was one, who flew, fought and died in the service of Bomber Command.

Swift uses language which is both patronising and flawed on several occasions throughout the book. He describes his Grandfather’s letters to his Grandmother as ‘affectionate nothings’ without acknowledging that to his Grandmother they would have been affectionate everythings. He calls aircrew ‘bombers’ and suggests that ‘what bombers do is die.’ It is incredible to think that he can consider his own Grandfather in this totally dispassionate way. He forgets that his ‘bombers’, including his own Grandfather, lived, loved, were loved and fought. Far too many of them died, of that there is no question, but Swift concentrates on their deaths, not lives well lived.

Astonishingly, he wirtes that ‘Grandfather’s are myths.’ Squadron Leader J E Swift, DFC, MiD, was on his second tour and flying as a Pathfinder at the time of his death. Wherein lies the myth? Squadron Leader Swift’s service is recorded in both his own logbook and Squadron and OTU ORB’s. There is nothing mythical there. Legendary maybe, but not mythical.

He also subscribes to a theory that the airmen of Bomber Command should have had the moral fortitude to refuse to bomb German cities after a moment in May 1943 when the twin milestones of 100,000 sorties had been flown and 100,000 tons of bombs dropped on Germany. He does not suggest that any such moratorium be placed upon the German forces.

Throughout the book he refers to Bomber County even though his Grandfather is stationed at Wyton for his second tour. I may be wrong but I always thought it was Lincolnshire that was referred to as Bomber County?

He does Searby a great disservice by suggesting that his letters to the loved ones of missing airmen are formulaic. When you are writing so many how can they be other than formulaic?

I can’t comment on his other theme of poetry as I do not have the intellect to analyse all of it. However, I did learn some things from this theme but remain somewhat puzzled by the disjointed nature of his treatment of the topic.

Perhaps a clue to Swift’s style is provided in the link in JDK’s post above. Swift is an academic and it seems to me that much of his writing in this book serves as a vehicle in which he can flex his intellectual muscle. His passion for poetry is obvious, his compassion for his Grandfather and the other veterans of Bomber Command, fallen or otherwise, is largely conspicuous by its absence.

Regards,

kev35

Hi Kev,
Another good friend of mine, Brett Holman, reviewed it recently here: http://airminded.org/2010/11/03/bomber-county/

It’s interesting that Brett seems to have felt ‘left with questions’ as well.

Hope that helps.
Regards,