Did Roy Cross do the Airfix Short Stirling box art? One of my favourite childhood memories of all time, such a massive early Bomber Command aeroplane captured so well.

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Can I have another go?? It’s been mentioned before (twice) but ‘Bomber’ by Len Deighton was easily one of the most stunning books I have ever read. Just brilliant at being able to create a visual mind’s eye picture of a Bomber Command airfield in 1943.

Just let me jump in quickly here and apologise for the remark I made regarding the transportation of the Battle from MAPS. It was actually meant to be a light-hearted reference at an incident that causes much eye-rolling and forehead-slapping, but it seems I may have upset some folks.

So, an unreserved apology from me to all.

Cheers all, Matt

G’Day Rob, my first thought was he would have been the mid-upper gunner, as that seems to be the order crews are usually listed in.

Best regards, Matt

Weather balloons….they’re all weather balloons.

I agree, the author seemed to have it in for Bennett before he even got through his introduction. I just discovered another book on BSAA titled “Fly With The Stars”, the precis of which seems to offer a lot more in-depth research, and the unsurprising discovery of political agendas behind the demise of BSAA.

I certainly wouldn’t even begin to judge Bennett solely on the basis of Rayner’s book, especially as it struck me as so damning very, very early in the piece. It was as I said, however, an interesting book and offered a remarkable insight (be it true or inaccurate) of a master airman.

I read an interesting book not too long ago on the discovery of the Star Aeriel. It gave quite a damning review of Don Bennett and the way he ran his airline. This included:

-blindly refusing to buy better aircraft if they were ‘not British’
-all but accusing his crews of cowardice if they showed any sort of trepidation about a planned route, etc
-running the airline like Bomber Command (press on regardless)
refusing to accept that others did not have the amazing navigational abilities that he possessed, and therefore refusing to invest in navigation aids
-working crews for too long at a stretch.

It was quite an eye-opener, but as it’s an area of aviation I haven’t researched thoroughly, I can’t comment on the veracity of the accusations.

Thank you for the post pagen01, as always a timely reminder.

Phillip, I was always under the impression that it counted as an op if you crossed the enemy coast. Having said that, I’ll happily stand corrected!