Helena P Schrader

Compares the accomplishments and public and military reception of women pilots flying for the ATA in Great Britain with the WAFs and WASPs of the U.S. The women ATA pilots received equal pay and privileges for their work and had command authority over men. They were praised by press and public alike. In the US WASPs never received equal rights with male military pilots and were constantly criticized by pres and public alike. This book attempts to explain these differences. Among the interesting findings: page 61 - WASP instructors were of poor quality - and thus sometimes turned out graduates unprepared for the flying tasks that awaited them; that WASPs were assigned to a wide variety of flying duties, some of which they had not been adequately trained to do; that some foolish WASPs took crazy risks and pulled stunts in the air just like foolish male pilots did - there really wasn't much difference in the skills and abilities of the two genders. Certain WASPs are named in the incidents that took their lives...Marion Toevs page 201...Mary Trebing page 93...Analyses the "leaders" who determined what happened to the WASP - Arnold avoided confrontation whenever possible preferring to get his way through his friendly personality...thus he was unable to control Jackie Cochran, who never hesitated to throw a fit when it suited her. Arnold also had a habit of going his own way without official authorization and even sometimes after he had been told "no." Author gives the real credit for championing women to General Tunner - who was willing to judhe people as pilots rather than by gender. Good pilots would receive his support regardless of their gender (page 253). Describes Cochrans early life, the meeting with Floyd Odlum (already married and with four children!) and Odlum's connection to F & E Roosevelt. That social connection allowed Cochran to meet Arnold. He deflected her time and again...and she made an enemy out of General Olds (pages 266-67). She prevented Olds from simply placing women pilots within his organization (no seprate leadership post for her). The author is adamant that Cochran couldn't read/write very well...then who did the "report" she submitted on the WASP program? The only problem I have with this book is its use of secondary sources - scarcely any primary source materials used.… (mer)

What a wonderful, exciting and poignant account of of the Battle of Britain! My father was a bomber pilot of a B-17 flying missions
over Germany but never talked about his experiences. I think I now understand what he, his crew and those of the English men
who fought, went through during WWII. Helena Schrader brings to life the frightening, heartrending but realistic experiences of the
men who flew missions from Britain against Nazi Germany, the women who served and families who coped during the war.

I'd not read anything about the day-to-day experiences of the dependable ground crews who supported the fighter pilots and
bomber crews, keeping their planes up and running with relentless, constant repairs. Instead of being just a cursory topic it is
fully fleshed out as to just how important this support is to holding off the German bombing offensive over Britain. The huge impact
of the other ground staff is also shown in the descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of the Women's Auxiliary doing the jobs
of operations room plotter, radar operator, and canteen workers, cooks and other support personnel.

The realism in the book of the dogfights among the fighter pilots, the defensive maneuvers available to bomber pilots and the explanations of the advantages/disadvantages of air tactics of the English planes versus the German opened up a perspective
I'd not considered or thought much about before. It was a real chess match in the air and the author makes one feel right in
the cockpit beside the pilot, afraid, but steeling oneself to do what must be done to prevail or at least to survive.

The author touches on the class structure of England and features several characters from all walks-of-life. Despite these class differences, they are able to form up, work together, and become a formidable fighting force. The English characters' emotions,
lives, loves are fully-fleshed out and made this reader really care about them and what happens to them. Not neglected are the
Germans whose lives are also fully drawn and whose humanity is evident in the book's descriptions of their actions and feelings.

I was not only entertained but also educated by the author and learned a great deal about the events, men, women, air tactics of
both the English and German sides. The historical note, glossary of abbreviations, slang and other vocabulary greatly added to
my understanding as well as the superb photos. The poignant poem "High Flight" in the beginning pages is a perfect tribute to
the pilots-it made me feel their motivations.

I was so immersed in this book that it was impossible to put down. Highly, highly recommended and will definitely be re-read.… (mer)

I found myself as keen to turn the pages of this sequel as I did the first volume of the series.

The abrupt transitions that distracted before are fewer - the politics, battles, and alliances are center stage as before but bcs this is a work of historical biography with an emphasis on the history these events and their aftermath take the characters & their strongholds in new directions .

The horses, the equipment of the time, and the geography are all so well handled by the author that the reader is immersed in past with a feeling of practical familiarity rather than an artificial alien wonder - and here is the wordsmith's truest strength in making the past inhabitable for today's reader - commendable .… (mer)