Författarbild

Ramsay H. Milne

Författare till Sailor Boy to Typhoon Pilot

1 verk 9 medlemmar 1 recension

Verk av Ramsay H. Milne

Sailor Boy to Typhoon Pilot (1988) 9 exemplar

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Priser och utmärkelser
Thomas Pringle Award (1962)

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Milne grew up in British Columbia and joined the RCAF in 1941. During his training he showed promise as a very good pilot but also that he could irreverent and a potential trouble maker. Once in England, ,ore training on dual engine craft which led him believe he would be flying bombers but ended up flying night fighters which led to flying Beaufighters. By the time 1943 came around, he had flown Defiants, Hurricanes, Spitfires, Mosquitoes, Hamptons and Wellingtons.

The Typhoon was a notorious dangerous plane to fly but Milne loved the powerful engine and the speed it was capable at low altitude. He learned to plan for every surprise the plane may give him from the unreliable engine to the difficulty of baling out of a disable plane.

He was an excellent flyer but tended to not respect his commanding officers. He does recount many funny incidents on the bases and off. His many conquests for the females he met in England and France are also 'described.

In August, 1944 he was experiencing fatigue and turned down an opportunity to take a leave. The result was he made a couple errors and was shot down by flak. He spent the remainder of the war in a German P.O.W. camp. As the war wound down, the Germans had little food or medical aid to provide for the prisoners thus the living conditions were abysmal. Eventually freed by the Russians and quickly flown to the UK by Americans.

The last chapter covers his post war years to when he wrote this memoir in the late 1980's. A very readable volume that includes photographs and copies of letters and documents pertaining to the narrative. One aspect of the organization of the book that at times is disconcerting is his switching from the 1940's to the period when he was writing the book without warning. The first couple of times he did it, he was writing about the present but I thought I was reading about the 1940's which made the material very confusing. Once I realized what he was doing I was able to sort out what time period we were in.

Then he was assigned to fly the Typhoon
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
lamour | Apr 3, 2020 |

Statistik

Verk
1
Medlemmar
9
Popularitet
#968,587
Betyg
3.0
Recensioner
1
ISBN
1