edartmy

While a 'classic' of WWII aviation biography genre, and written by a leading Euro theatre Ace, in my opinion (having read countless from the era) the book did not 'hook' me as others have but was a solid reading bio. Still it comes from a large name flying the same missions with other giants as Gerald Johnson, Hub Zemke, Francis Gabrezki, Bud Mahurin, and names that in the era on the fighter pilot 'rockstar' publicity short list. It does have one of the wildest stories of survival in a crippled plane - the seminal tale of the survivability of the P-47 Thunderbolt - who through thick and thin brought its men home by unbridled power and infamous durability. The more you read the bios, the more you'll hear universal agreement on that attribute if the bird, leading to a Mustang/Thunderbolt ace author of another biography to comment about his own experiences he knew he wouldn't have survived if he'd been in a Mustang at a time or two before he rode one. Personally, I found the experiences of latter pilots more interesting - though they had far less press than the aces of this book's era of mid- WWII, but perhaps my average rating of the book is more of a comment on breadth of experiences which were not afforded the fine Mr. Johnson in his era of almost exclusive bomber escort missions, and that reality of timing prevented the book from being as enthralling as some others. Now it is time to read Gabreski's book to hear the other side of Johnson's tales...

2022-11-14 16:40