John Nichol (1) (1963–)

John Nichol served in the Royal Air Force for fifteen years. On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, his Tornado bomber was shot down during a mission over Iraq. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict. John is the bestselling co-author of Tornado Down and author of many highly acclaimed Second World War epics including Spitfire and Lancaster, both of which were Sunday Times NON FICTION bestsellers.… (more)

This is the story of the Lancaster bomber, the enormous but dream-to-fly planes that were the mainstay of the RAF Bomber Command’s raids during the Second World War. It’s the story of the plane and of the people who flew them, who are diminishing in number as we get further away from the end of the war. Every plane carried seven crew, and the odds of survival were astonishingly low, especially in the beginning. And it’s shocking how young they all were: being in one’s 30s made one an “old-timer”.

Overall, I liked this book. I think I expected a touch more focus on the plane than on the people, for some reason (maybe because “Lancaster” is the title), but a book entirely about nerdy technical details of airplanes would likely have a much narrower audience. I liked the nod to Mary Ellis of the Air Transport Auxiliary (I read her memoir last year), as well as the story of Cy Grant, who came to the UK from Guyana to serve as a navigator in the war. There were several stories the author was lucky to get; some people mentioned in the book died in early 2020, and the book was published in October 2020.… (more)

This is another book I have to rate as amazing because if the author delayed much longer there would be no first hand witnesses left. And quite a few died in the war anyway. The part I liked best was when a pilot landed after his very first bombing mission over a German city. Before anyone could exit the plane he told the crew that he would not be dropping any more bombs on civilians from that height. He was going to apply for 617 Squadron, aka the low level Suicide Squad. Was anyone else with him? And they all were.… (more)