Clarke Isaacs
reviews Under a Bomber's Moon.
UNDER A BOMBER'S MOON:
The true story of two airmen at war over Germany
Stephen Harris
Exisle Publishing, $34.99, pbk
In writing about the savagery of conflict between the Royal
Air Force and the Luftwaffe over the night skies of Germany
in World War 2, Stephen Harris has focused on the exploits of
two brave airmen on the opposing sides.
Relying greatly on the diary and letters home of his
great-uncle Colwyn (Col) Jones, a reporter on the Auckland
Star, who joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force at the
age of 32 and became a navigator-bomb aimer in the RAF, the
author undertook considerable research in the areas over
which Col risked his life.
But this is the story too of Otto-Heinrich Fries, a German
fighter pilot, who survived the war and with whom the author
had many conversations.
Halfway through Col's first tour of operations, he wrote in
his diary, "Essen again and coming back shot to pieces, lost
the rear gunner, collided with a Wellington, shot up by a
fighter, went down in the sea and none the worse."
Awarded the DFC in October 1942, Col made his final (33rd) op
with 149 Squadron a few days later. It was when he began his
second tour of operations in February 1944, in an Avro
Lancaster, that he was killed in action.
His aircraft was among 43 bombers lost on this single raid -
four of them from his own 7 Squadron, which suffered the
highest losses that night. He was unusual "in that his
superiors were trying to prevent him flying again because, it
seems, as navigator officer for 115 Squadron he was doing a
particularly good job of training navigators".
Unlike the RAF, the Luftwaffe did not screen, or ground
crews, after a set number of operations, so the policy of
"fly until you die" claimed many of the most seasoned pilots
by the war's end.
Fighter pilot Otto (who in later life became a professor of
architecture and was 90 last year), after having survived
being shot down once, had his life saved by parachute three
more times, as the tables were turned against the Luftwaffe.
New Zealand lost 1850 of the 6000 men who left its shores to
serve in Bomber Command.
Under a Bomber's Moon delves deeply into the wartime
exploits and personal backgrounds of the Kiwi and German
flyer foes, as well as providing detailed and heart-rending
descriptions of the savage, perilous encounters in which they
courageously participated.
The well-documented book contains 36 monochrome photographs.
- Clarke Isaacs is a former chief of staff of the Otago
Daily Times.
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